Friday, March 28, 2008
DONDINO SETTING UP FOR SHOW AT PRAIRIE MEADOWS RACETRACK AND CASINO
AUTHOR HILARY C. GEORGE and DONDINO
Steve Capp owner and producer of Capp Audio Productions in Norwalk, Iowa, author Hilary C. George, and Dondino, singer entertainer, work together to produce Hilary's first audio book recording session.
(Left to right: Steve Capp/Producer, Chad Jacobson/Engineer, Hilary C. George/Author, Dondino
(Left to right: Dondino, Hilary and Ron George)
MS. SENIOR NEVADA
Dondino was the first official Musical Host for Ms. Senior Nevada Pageant, Las Vegas, Nevada. Director, Ms. Patti Ogren and Dondino crowned many Ladies from Nevada in one of the most spectacular events in Las Vegas. CEO/Jeannie Hood (right to right, back left) welcomed Queens to the Four Queens Hotel/Casino and the Dondino Show.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
AS SEEN ON MARTHA
Donna Gummelt for Story Store Collection Publishing, co-wrote with Nicholas Sinclair, Dondino wrote and arranged and recorded The Cookie Story theme song, Juan Varela illustrated and translated The Cookie Story.
"As Seen on Martha"
written by: Donna Gummelt
Published by: Publishers Marketing Association
Sitting at the kitchen table, I watched the tiny screen as Matt Laurer reported that a silver SUV containing Martha Stewart had slipped past photographers and into the Alderson Federal Prison Camp, where she would begin serving a five-month sentence.
Since my idea of a gourmet lunch is grilled cheese with the crust cut off and my idea of decorating is putting twinkle lights in an artificial banana tree, the news that America's lifestyle diva was entering federal prison, although interesting, seemed certain to have no impact on my life. How wrong I was.
About a year earlier, after 25 years in the Las Vegas entertainment industry, I had begun to write stories for my niece, stories that she seemed to enjoy very much. One story became two and two became ten and before I knew it, I had a co-writer, Dondino Melchiorre, and an illustrator, Juan Varela, and a small publishing company, Story Store Collection Publishing.
Juan doesn't exactly speak the king's English, but his Spanish is superb (unfortunately, my high school Spanish had disappeared into a black hole along with the date of Magna Carta), and we often found ourselves dancing a tango of jumbled languages and cultures.
From that often frustrating beginning came the idea that would transform our books from just another collection for children-we'd make them bilingual. Story Store Collection Publishing could not only give young readers a head start in acquiring reading skills; we would contribute to their acquisition of a second language as well.
During our first year, we experienced all the pain, joy, and frustration that every self-publishing entrepreneur goes through. Dondino and I wrote; Juan illustrated; and we made calls and wrote to printers, marketing experts, toy manufacturers, investors, family, and friends. But if there is one thing I learned from the experience, it's that the manner in which events unfold can be mostly a matter of serendipity.
My next-door neighbor Jim Sinclair, A Des Moines lawyer, had shown up at my door one evening with a story about cookies that his eight-year-old son, Nick, had written for class. Would you and Dondino like to heart it? he asked. We'd love to!
At first we listened out of neighborliness, but soon we were listening out of sheer pleasure. The Cookie Story told about a little boy and his dog, Lola, who adore cookies so much they begin to see them everywhere. For this cookie-loving pair, television was worst--there were the Nestle Toll House commercials, Cookie Monster, and even "the queen" of cookie making, Martha Stewart.
Until then, we had published only our own work. The idea of publishing Nick's seemed ludicrous, but the more times I read his story, the more convinced I became that it deserved a wider audience than his teacher, his father, and the next-door neighbors. It should be published, and were just the publisher for it.
Three months later I sat at my desk looking at the first prototype of the lavishly illustrated, now bilingual book entitled The Cookie Story by Nicholas Alexander Sinclair, with a little help from his friends. Our wonderful book seemed to provide an angle--eight-year-old author with cookie lust--that would attract attention. But whose? Two words seemed to jump into my head: Martha Stewart. And I knew just where I could reach her.
I pulled out a yellow legal pad and began to write. Surprisingly, the words poured out as I told Martha about Nick and his story and about what he thought of her incarceration, what he thought about her life, and how she was still the Queen of Cookies.
Later that day, I dropped a copy of The Cookie Story in the mail, along with my letter, and by evening I had all but forgotten about it. Martha Stewart probably got a thousand letters a day, more than she could read in a lifetime, and in truth, I couldn't believe I had even written to her. What had I been thinking?
Almost two weeks after that, in a state of shock, I read Martha Stewart's heartfelt response. She and her prison colleagues loved Nick's book, she said, and as soon as she returned to television, she wanted to have Nick bring his book and appear on her show. Although I was thrilled, I also knew that her room in a federal prison and our appearance on the show were probably light-years apart. Still, there was reason to hope.
I soon learned that Martha Stewart is a woman of her word. Shortly after her release and return home, I received a phone call from her personal assistant, who passed me on to one of the producers of "Martha."
And as they say, the rest is history. Nick, his father, his step mom, Dondino , and I flew to New York to watch Nick make his debut on national television. What an incredible interview! Everyone at Martha's show loved him. With sales up and Nick planning his second book (The Flying Cookie), our company's future is beginning to look brighter.
We at Story Store Collection Publishing live by words written by Mahatma Gandhi: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
www.storystorecollectionpublishing.com
"As Seen on Martha"
written by: Donna Gummelt
Published by: Publishers Marketing Association
Sitting at the kitchen table, I watched the tiny screen as Matt Laurer reported that a silver SUV containing Martha Stewart had slipped past photographers and into the Alderson Federal Prison Camp, where she would begin serving a five-month sentence.
Since my idea of a gourmet lunch is grilled cheese with the crust cut off and my idea of decorating is putting twinkle lights in an artificial banana tree, the news that America's lifestyle diva was entering federal prison, although interesting, seemed certain to have no impact on my life. How wrong I was.
About a year earlier, after 25 years in the Las Vegas entertainment industry, I had begun to write stories for my niece, stories that she seemed to enjoy very much. One story became two and two became ten and before I knew it, I had a co-writer, Dondino Melchiorre, and an illustrator, Juan Varela, and a small publishing company, Story Store Collection Publishing.
Juan doesn't exactly speak the king's English, but his Spanish is superb (unfortunately, my high school Spanish had disappeared into a black hole along with the date of Magna Carta), and we often found ourselves dancing a tango of jumbled languages and cultures.
From that often frustrating beginning came the idea that would transform our books from just another collection for children-we'd make them bilingual. Story Store Collection Publishing could not only give young readers a head start in acquiring reading skills; we would contribute to their acquisition of a second language as well.
During our first year, we experienced all the pain, joy, and frustration that every self-publishing entrepreneur goes through. Dondino and I wrote; Juan illustrated; and we made calls and wrote to printers, marketing experts, toy manufacturers, investors, family, and friends. But if there is one thing I learned from the experience, it's that the manner in which events unfold can be mostly a matter of serendipity.
My next-door neighbor Jim Sinclair, A Des Moines lawyer, had shown up at my door one evening with a story about cookies that his eight-year-old son, Nick, had written for class. Would you and Dondino like to heart it? he asked. We'd love to!
At first we listened out of neighborliness, but soon we were listening out of sheer pleasure. The Cookie Story told about a little boy and his dog, Lola, who adore cookies so much they begin to see them everywhere. For this cookie-loving pair, television was worst--there were the Nestle Toll House commercials, Cookie Monster, and even "the queen" of cookie making, Martha Stewart.
Until then, we had published only our own work. The idea of publishing Nick's seemed ludicrous, but the more times I read his story, the more convinced I became that it deserved a wider audience than his teacher, his father, and the next-door neighbors. It should be published, and were just the publisher for it.
Three months later I sat at my desk looking at the first prototype of the lavishly illustrated, now bilingual book entitled The Cookie Story by Nicholas Alexander Sinclair, with a little help from his friends. Our wonderful book seemed to provide an angle--eight-year-old author with cookie lust--that would attract attention. But whose? Two words seemed to jump into my head: Martha Stewart. And I knew just where I could reach her.
I pulled out a yellow legal pad and began to write. Surprisingly, the words poured out as I told Martha about Nick and his story and about what he thought of her incarceration, what he thought about her life, and how she was still the Queen of Cookies.
Later that day, I dropped a copy of The Cookie Story in the mail, along with my letter, and by evening I had all but forgotten about it. Martha Stewart probably got a thousand letters a day, more than she could read in a lifetime, and in truth, I couldn't believe I had even written to her. What had I been thinking?
Almost two weeks after that, in a state of shock, I read Martha Stewart's heartfelt response. She and her prison colleagues loved Nick's book, she said, and as soon as she returned to television, she wanted to have Nick bring his book and appear on her show. Although I was thrilled, I also knew that her room in a federal prison and our appearance on the show were probably light-years apart. Still, there was reason to hope.
I soon learned that Martha Stewart is a woman of her word. Shortly after her release and return home, I received a phone call from her personal assistant, who passed me on to one of the producers of "Martha."
And as they say, the rest is history. Nick, his father, his step mom, Dondino , and I flew to New York to watch Nick make his debut on national television. What an incredible interview! Everyone at Martha's show loved him. With sales up and Nick planning his second book (The Flying Cookie), our company's future is beginning to look brighter.
We at Story Store Collection Publishing live by words written by Mahatma Gandhi: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
www.storystorecollectionpublishing.com
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
DONDINO & THE CARDIAC CROONERS
(left to right: top row Dr. Jay Patel, Dondino second rowDr. Steve Savaran,Dr. Steve Portz,Dr. Thomas Ahern) 
by Marjorie Drew-Las Vegan magazine"SO LAUGH, but a lovely black tie dinner was held at the Four Queens Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas, and the Mistress of Ceremony was the always elegant and exquisite, Patti Ogren, whom you may identify as the Executive Director of Ms. Senior America, Inc. Patti has made dreams come true and pleased the hearts of many women in Nevada, but now in association with Donna Gummelt and Dondino, has created a new sensational group called Dondino and the Cardiac Crooners. This group was formed to please everyone's heart, literally.
The affair was to celebrate the sneak preview of the launching of a new musical video and CD "Listen to My Heart", words by Dondino, Donna Gummelt, and music by Lou Ragland.
All Las Vegas knows Dondino, long time entertainer, and the Cardiac Crooners are real Las Vegas cardiologists. Months ago, Dr. Steve Sarvan, Dr. Steve Portz, Dr. Jay Patel and Dr. Thomas Ahern; Dondino, Motown's Master of Moves, Cholly Atkins, and pianist/conductor Debbie Richards, teamed up with Skip-A-Beat Records for their first release.
With each sale of the CD goes the hopeful desire that "Dondino and the Cardiac Crooners" will be invited to be on the Late Show with David Letterman and that this unique entertainment team will join the fight with the American Heart Association against heart disease and stroke. Through the creation of this experience, the Medical Miracle vocals of these notorious cardiologists were under the direction of Dondino, Dondino and these guys are amazing and talented to think that they created a whole new sound: four are Cardiologists and from Las Vegas and donating their time and efforts to help fight heart disease and stroke. Now who wouldn't want to take a few bucks and buy a tax-deductible piece of entertainment from LAS VEGAS CARDIOLOGISTS? Buy a LISTEN TO MY HEART CD and make that thump-thump of your own heart help thump out heart disease and stroke!
With each sale of the CD goes the hopeful desire that "Dondino and the Cardiac Crooners" will be invited to be on the Late Show with David Letterman and that this unique entertainment team will join the fight with the American Heart Association against heart disease and stroke. Through the creation of this experience, the Medical Miracle vocals of these notorious cardiologists were under the direction of Dondino, Dondino and these guys are amazing and talented to think that they created a whole new sound: four are Cardiologists and from Las Vegas and donating their time and efforts to help fight heart disease and stroke. Now who wouldn't want to take a few bucks and buy a tax-deductible piece of entertainment from LAS VEGAS CARDIOLOGISTS? Buy a LISTEN TO MY HEART CD and make that thump-thump of your own heart help thump out heart disease and stroke!
DONDINO LAS VEGAS TELEVISION SHOW
Dondino's Las Vegas weekly television show
(Las Vegas McCarran's International Airport Show)
Monday, March 17, 2008
DONDINO AND CELEBRITY FRIENDS
David Anthony Higgins and Dondino
Has recurring role on Fox's "Malcolm in the Middle." Starred as Joe Farrell, Master Coffee Brewer on the ABC hit series Ellen. Best known as part of the sketch comedy trio, The Higgins Boys and Gruber. IN addition to TV, he is a frequent guest star at comedy clugs all over the United States.
Dondino, Senator Richard Bryan/Nevada, Chubby Checker
Las Vegas
Dondino, Senator Richard Bryan/Nevada, Sammy Davis, Jr.
Dondino, Senator Richard Bryan/Nevada, Sammy Davis, Jr.
+Donna,+Nathaniel+Best,+Gerald+Levert,+Dondino.jpg)
Donna Gummelt, Composer/Pianist Nathaniel Best, Gerald LaVert (deceased) from the vocal group LeVert and the son of Eddie Levert "O'Jays" and Dondino at Dondino's Las Vegas Recording Studio
Emma Samms, Dondino
Starred in General Hospital, Dynasty, The Colby's and many, many movies
Jason Cook and Dondino
Starred as Shawn-Douglas Brady or Shawn D. on "Days of our Lives". Currently working on a
movie in Australia.
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Brandon Routh from Norwalk, Iowa. Roles in Odd Man Out, Gilmore Girls, and Undressed before landing Clark Kent/Superman role in Superman Returns. He has recently signed to repeat the role in the next Superman movie
A WCW champion, Hacksaw is known for his running clothesline tackle and his trademark 2x4. Now working for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
Dondino, Grahame Mapp and wife Sue. Grahame is Chairman and Proprietor of Omnilab Media Group, Australia's largest vertically-inegrated media services organization. Their services have expanded into content development, production and distribution of television programing, children's animated series and feature films including The Bank Job
Dondino, Lisa Carponeli and Chris Flanagan, TV 5 ABC anchors, Des Moines, Iowa
Dondino (right)/entertainer and Ed Podolak/ Sportscaster, former Hawkeye football star and All-Pro running back for the Kansas City Chiefs.
(Left to right: Dondino, Bobby Vinton, Gus Rameriz, Prairie Meadows Race Track and Casino, back stage after Bobby's performance.
DONDINO'S MEMOIR BOOK COMING SOON! written by Donna Gummelt
COMING SOON TO YOUR LOCAL BOOK STORES......
JESUS IS COMING TO BRANSON AND SO IS WAYNE!
JESUS IS COMING TO BRANSON AND SO IS WAYNE!
written by: Donna Gummelt
edited and designed by: Reta Stewart Allen
Only those in the "show-biz" field would have any idea of the excitement,over-exaggerated adoration and sometimes sheer craziness that fans often bestow on entertainers. A couple of examples of the wildness that Dondino and his partner Donna Gummelt experienced are a "love-bit" stalker and a haunted house.
After performing in Las Vegas for 12 years,Dondino and Donna moved his show to what they thought would be the "safer" and more "normal" atmosphere Branson, Missouri. They were in for a surprise. Show business is show business, wherever it happens to be.
Two billboards that welcomed them to town could have been a tip-off. On one side of the road a billboard said "Jesus is Coming to Branson." The billboard across from it read "Wayne (newton) is Coming to Branson!" (Thus the title of the book).
Although they made many good friends in Branson, Dondino and Donna eventually decided it was time to return to Las Vegas, and later on to Iowa.
Dondino has been featured on the MDA Telethon, and even wrote a Variety Club Telethon theme song that has been re-recorded and incorporated into a children's bilingual picture book entitled "My Sunshine Friend," with the proceeds to benefit Variety, Children's Charity of Iowa.
Van Harden from the Van and Bonnie Show, WHO Radio, Clear Channel, Des Moines, Iowa wrote: "After hearing an Iowa legend like Dondino for so many years, what a treat it is to hear ABOUT him. Many great things make Iowa what it is. Dondino is certainly one of them!"
Maxine Porter, President of Bill Pinkney's Original Drifters "I sincerely congratulate you for this literary effort. It is important to chronicle musical journeys for posterity, as we have done in 'Drifters 1: Bill Pinkney'.
Bill and I always treasured our friendship with Donna and Dondino, as well as our long standing business relationship, and I wish great success for you.
Dic Youngs KRNT 1350 AM, Des Moines, Iowa, "It has been my honor to know Dondino both as a friend and entertainer. As a friend he is very caring and has given to our community a great deal of his time. As an entertainer he also gives his all. He lights up the stage and has the ability to make every song his own. On a scale of 10, he's a solid 11. I'm very proud to be able to call him my friend."
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Barbara Whitten Todd "Donna Wall Gummelt is a very special friend that goes back many, may years. We went to school together in Lubbock, Texas, and were friends during a very important time of our lives, adolescence. We graduated high school together and lived just a few doors apart our freshman year at Texas Tech University. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding in college. It is funny how life will have you go in different directions. Then one day the Lord put in my heart the need to find her, and I began searching for her. After many years wanting to find her, I came upon a website for children's bilingual books and discovered she was co-writing books with her entertainment partner Dondino. I feel lucky to call her my friend and I am so glad she is back in my life."
Ruth Schroeder (Tony Orlando's mom) "When I first met Dondino, many years ago in Las Vegas, I was immediately drawn to him. He was singing "Tie a Yellow Ribbon, of course my favorite song, and he instantly reminded me of my son Mickey (to his fans..Tony Orlando). Next to Tony, Dondino is the best singer I've ever heard. We became friends for life! Dondino became my second son. I will never forget him, and will love him always. He is an incredible singer and performer, but he is also a wonderful person."
DONDINO SINGS AT EL BETH JACOBS SYNAGOGUE
Dan Hartzer, musical director for the Ralph Zarnow orchestra, invited Dondino to sing at a special anniversary event for the members of the El Beth Jacobs Synagogue, Des Moines, Iowa. Michael Libbie and his wife Georgie were instrumental in bringing over 40 Synagogue members to Dondino's Christmas Show. This had to be a first for members of a Jewish Synagogue to attend a Christmas Show.
The guest were wonderful and Dondino honored them with his Fiddler Medley.
DONDINO AT WHO RADIO
WHO RADIO-CLEAR CHANNEL
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Dondino joined Steve Plym as a guest on Steve's radio show at WHO Clear Channel Radio, in Des Moines, Iowa. Steve filled in for Jan Mickelson with his "Retro" show. Special guest on the program where Dondino, Las Vegas entertainer, and Dick Dale from the Lawrence Welk Show.
WHO-AM's Van & Bonnie Show (Van Harden and Bonnie Lucas) with Dondino at the WHO Radio Station in Des Moines.
Van & Bonnie were named medium market personality of the year at the 2007 National Association of Broadcasters'Marconi Radio Awards.
The prestigious awards recognized radio's outstanding personalities and stations in 21 categories.
(Left to right: Dondino, Dick Dale of the Lawrence Welk Show, Don Tietz, at Don Tietz's house in Algona, Iowa)
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