The Sing Out Troupe came to town in October 1967 to perform an original musical, “Up With People,” at the Minneapolis Auditorium, the St. Paul Auditorium, Hopkins High School, Blake School, and several other area schools.  The group started in 1965 with 130 young people at a youth conference sponsored by the Moral Rearmament, a nonprofit, nonsectarian group espousing “absolute moral standards, and love of home, homeland, and humanity.”  By 1967 there were three troupes of 150 members each.  They traveled the country, with members staying in the homes of the host cities and subsisting on money from home and donations (e.g., Munsingwear donated some underwear..)  They travel out of suitcases on a bus:  “Sometimes it’s rugged, but directing your lives to absolute moral standards takes much more guts than doing just what’s easy and fun,” one participant said.  “Hippies who discuss problems but don’t do anything about them don’t accomplish anything, and they hurt us.” (Minnetonka Herald)  The group morphed into Up with People, founded by J. Blanton Belk in 1965 as a positive voice for young people during a turbulent period in the United States. Its historic path officially began in 1968 when it was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) international, educational non-profit entity.