Message from the Mayor: FNL, RiverArts Music Tour, Artists’ talk
Posted on: May 31, 2016 - 11:23pm
Fellow Residents;
Memorial Day was as, well, memorable as ever. Thanks go to the volunteers from the Fire Department, Parks & Recreation, and all the participants who make Sunday the day it is each year. The service personnel marched, and then had a good time. The general and admiral presided. The gun salute went off, noisy as ever (I always startle, even though I know it is coming). The sun blazed, just short of too hot (as defined by that Memorial Day parade a few years ago which provoked heat strokes and ambulance calls a couple of times during the parade). Over 2000 poppies commemorating the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor formed a backdrop on the VFW lawn. A fitting day.
This coming weekend is yet another crazy cornucopia of events that underscore the wealth of musical and artistic talent in this village. We start with a Friday Night Live on Friday night, and then, well, I hope you have set Saturday aside (like, from 10:30AM to 10:30PM) because there is much on offer.
Friday Night Live
We start with a Friday Night Live (6PM-9PM) featuring Rock 'N' Roller Derby. (Yes, Roller Derby.) Suburbia Roller Derby will be doing demos at 6:30 and 7:30. A Beatles tribute band Ob-La-Di, (a really, really good tribute band, I may add) will play from 6:30 onwards. We will be closing Warburton. Come on out and enjoy the evening at the end of the week.
Saturday
Artist's talk - Exhibit at the Municipal Building: 10:30AM to 12PM
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The artists responsible for much of the exhibit now up at the Municipal Building (Alison Collins, Mary Fennell, Suzanne Levine and Meg Hitchcock) will be providing brief talks and will be around to discuss their work Saturday morning, which coincides happily with the Farmer's Market. The exhibit, “Drawing on Language”, graces the walls of the Municipal Building first floor and is really quite remarkable - thought-provoking, enriching, deep. But don't take that from me. Go see for yourself. It's worth whatever time you grant it, whether a sip or a deep drought. Free. The show runs through June 23rd. (You can also head over after the artist's talk or the Farmers' Market and hit the Library, which has a book sale the same day from 8:30AM to 1PM.)
RiverArts Music Tour: 12PM to 8PM
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This is the second annual event hosted by the RiverArts organization which provides musical performances at venues throughout the Rivertowns all day long. It's cleverly organized so that all sets start on the the hour and end 45 minutes later. This gives you a chance to organize an itinerary where you can wander from set to set to and see the absurdly broad range of talent - from gifted amateur to award-winning professionals - all over the Village and Rivertowns. We suffer from a true embarrassment of riches - over 90 performances at 30 venues ranging from living rooms to churches to auditoriums to the waterfront. And it is all free, which is absolutely crazy. My wife and I probably hit 6 different performances last year, with a waterfront picnic worked in, and it ended then as it does this year with a live-band karaoke at Purpl starting at 8PM which was fun and outrageous. Come and make the day (and night) what you want it to be. If there was ever a moment to haul the out-of-town friends into town for a day out, this is it. (And did I mention it is free, no tickets required?) All the information you need is here (musictour.riverarts.org). Eight hours of free, excellent music in intimate settings.
Off in the distant future (next weekend, Sunday, June 13th) there will be a Library fundraiser for the "two Sues", former library director Sue Feir and former pretty-much-everything director Sue Smith who has stepped down or away over the last year from so many committees that to list them would be just too intimidating. Keep an eye out for announcements on that.
You live in a pretty cool community – enjoy it this weekend. See you around on Saturday.
Sincerely,
Peter Swiderski
Mayor