The Small Town People

Felipe (“The Indian Native American”) Rose and David (“The Construction Worker”) Hodo — two members of the Village People — were on NPR’s quiz show “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me…” last weekend, doing creditable work on the celebrity-appearence segment titled “Really, really not your job.”

Despite their skills at answering questions, I practically fell out of my chair laughing when this email solicitation came through today:

Village People Tickets on Sale Saturday

Tickets go on sale Saturday, April 17, at 8 a.m. for the Blue & White Bash featuring Village People!

The Blue & White Bash will celebrate the 125th anniversary of Dakota Wesleyan University. Tickets are $30 for general admission or $320 for a reserved table of eight; tables are limited. Tickets will be available at the Corn Palace ticket office, by phone at (800) 289-7469 or (605) 995-8430, or online at www.cornpalace.com/shop/.

The concert will be on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010, beginning at 7:30 p.m. with the DWU alumni quartet from the 1960s, The Highlanders, followed by Village People at 8:30 p.m.

For more information, go to www.dwu.edu/press/2010/mar26.htm.

Dakota Wesleyan — in the small town of Mitchell, South Dakota, a couple hours’ drive from Sioux Falls — is the alma mater of Sen. George McGovern, and the campus I visited when I went to the McGovern Conference several years ago. It’s about as unlikely a place as you might expect to run into the Village People, but you’ve got to give the bookers for the Blue & White Bash credit for thinking outside the box.