Cache is Not at the Posted Coordinates
Mr. Toot is the mascot not only of the North Iowa Band Festival, but also for Mason City as a whole. His image has appeared on everything from T-Shirts to business cards to city light poles. Now his image also appears on the geocaching map just south of Mason City Iowa. Each of these puzzles will include a fact or story in theme with the art series. Some may also include a question or two for you to answer correctly to find the coordinates.
The Music Man
N 43 05.639 W 93 14.469
In the 1957 musical, the original cast included Robert Preston as Harold Hill, Barbara Cook as Marian, Eddie Hodges as Winthrop, Pert Kelton as Mrs. Paroo. Lggie Wolfington as Marcellus Washburn and David Burns as Mayor Shinn. Eddie Albert and Bert Parks each replaced Preston as Hill later in the run, and Paul Ford was a replacement for Mayor Shinn.
Sidebar:
Eddie Hodges made his professional acting debut on stage in Meredith Willson's 1957 Broadway musical, The Music Man, in which he originated the character of Winthrop Paroo and introduced the song "Gary, Indiana." He made his film debut in the 1959 film, A Hole in the Head, with Frank Sinatra and Edward G. Robinson, in which Hodges and Sinatra performed a song called "High Hopes". When Sinatra recorded the song for Capitol Records, Hodges was not included as Decca Records would not grant him permission to record the duet with Sinatra. Hodges made eight feature films and numerous TV guest appearances. He is probably best remembered for playing the title role in Michael Curtiz's 1960 film The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Both Hodges and Archie Moore, his co-star who played Jim, received generally positive reviews for their performances. He also appeared in the 1962 film Advise and Consent in a minor role as well as the Disney films Summer Magis and The Happiest Millionaire.
In 1959 at age 12, Hodges became Mississippi's first Grammy Award winner for his contribution to the original Broadway cast soundtrack album of The Music Man for which he sang a solo and was credited as the lead singer on another song. It was the first year that the Grammys were awarded. At the age of 14, Hodges recorded for Cadence Records and his biggest hit was "I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door" in 1961. He also scored a minor hit with "(Girls, Girls, Girls) Made to Love," a song written by Phil Everly and originally recorded by the Everly Brothers. He recorded for several other record labels. Before he left Hollywood, he was a union musician, record producer, songwriter and music publisher. He collaborated with Tandyn Almer ("Along Comes Mary") with whom he wrote and published several songs and owned his own music publishing business.
