The Pella Opera House kicked off its Youth Entertainment Series (Y.E.S.) Tuesday, hosting the free early elementary kids show Overall Buddies with Lori Lynn. 

The program was performed by Lori Lynn Ahrends, who is a children’s singer/songwriter and international speaker with a Master’s Degree in education. Ahrends says her goal with Overall Buddies for children attending the program is to simply enjoy music.

“I want children to just enjoy music for music’s sake. I know music can teach and I train on that actually, how music can build literacy, math, and all kinds of skills, but when I do concerts I just want them to really go away with the fact that music lit their soul.”

Pella Opera House Executive Director Cyndi Atkins said it was fun to see the children in attendance enjoying the program.

“To see them so excited, and to see them dancing and twirling, and the itsy bitsy spider with all the different animals and everything else that they were doing here, it’s wonderful to have this late summer break where moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, daycare providers have a place where they can just bring their kids to enjoy a little something different and enjoy the music.”

The Overall Buddies program is part of the Pella Opera House’s Youth Entertainment Series sponsored by Vermeer.