Benefit Concert in Staples

St Cecelia Trio plays benefit concert
By Rin Porter

The St Cecelia Trio played a benefit concert for Quantum Connections International, a Browerville nonprofit organization, on Sunday, February 12, at the Sacred Heart Rectory in Staples.
The trio consists of three local musicians: pianist the Reverend Richard Collman of the United Methodist Church of Motley, flute player Lisa Winter who teaches German at Wadena-Deer Creek High School, and cellist Father Peter Kirchner of Sacred Heart Catholic Church of Staples. The three musicians have played classical and contemporary music together for a number of years, performing mainly in Morrison, Wadena, and Todd Counties.
The purpose of the benefit concert was to raise funds to assist with one of Quantum Connections International’s current projects: shipping computers to schools in Ghana.
Mr. Arday Ardayfio, who was born in Ghana and came to the U.S. in 1998, spoke to the concert audience about the project during intermission.
“Concordia College gave us 100 computers that were no longer needed. Microsoft Incorporated gave us all new software for the computers. This will put technology into the hands of top students in top schools in Ghana,” said Ardayfio. “We need to raise the money for shipping the computers to Ghana. It will cost about $12,000.”
Ardayfio, an admissions counselor and technical consultant at Concordia College-Moorhead, persuaded the college to donate the computers, and obtained the software donation from Microsoft. When Ardayfio left Ghana in 1998, there were no computers available to students at any school in the nation. He is eager to help Ghanaian students get access to computer technology so that they can help their country economically when they finish school.
The benefit concert raised several hundred dollars toward the goal of shipping computers to schools in Ghana. Anyone interested in receiving more information about the project can contact Arday Ardayfio at 218-299-3004, or Rowland Joiner at Quantum Connections International, 594-7196.
The St Cecilia Trio will perform its next concert on March 19 at 3 PM at the Motley United Methodist Church. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door.