DANCE - FINE ARTS - MUSIC - THEATER - WRITING

ARTBITS by Richard B. Harper


VOLUME 14 * * All Arts News On the Web * * May 13, 2010

STUFF YOU SHOULDN'T MISS

      ArtBits always features a calendar of the goings on of Franklin County artists. Check out these events around Franklin County. Each issue includes the entire text of our weekly newspaper column.


      Stop in for live music and more at the Fairfax Music Sessions at the Foothills Bakery in Fairfax most Saturday afternoons at 1 p.m., at various restaurants around Franklin County throughout the week, at the Bayside in St Albans Town most Sunday afternoons, and the Cambridge CoffeeHouses at 7 p.m. on the first and third Wednesday of every month.
     These gatherings bring new opportunities, gossip, "show-and-tell" and occasional workshops. The booked performances and acoustic Open Mike Nights feature music, readings, and more from the best new artists in Vermont.

      Find links to these events and more in our Spotlight!

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SUE TESSIER DAY

      Sue Tessier has been an active participant in the arts and in the community at large. She has lived in St. Albans all her life, so far. Sue's friends will host a Sue Tessier Day Celebration and benefit at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church on Saturday at 1 - 4 p.m. The day will honor Ms. Tessier's faith, courage, and cheerfulness with music, refreshments, a silent auction, and other opportunities to donate to the van fund and other perks for Sue.
      There will be entertainment but it is a surprise.
      Ms. Tessier was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1991 and is an advocate for the MS Society. She will chair the MS Walkathon in September for Franklin County.
      Long interested and active in Franklin County music, she was a member of Side Effects Barbershop Quartet, St Paul's long time organist and choir director, a music teacher, piano accompanist, and a member of Four Hits and a Miss. She has been part of Cardiac Capers since the first show and was music coordinator for the Millennium Show and appeared in the pit orchestra led by Verne Colburn. She still teaches piano on a limited basis.
      The Celebration includes entertainment, a silent auction of art, and more. The list of art already includes the fine art photographs Bright Daze and Frozen Path by Casey Boeve; a framed signed print Preparing for Winter by Fred Swan; a gift certificate for the Flynn; giclee print of the original watercolor The Hope is in the Feathers by Mary Ann Duffy Godin; the novel Russell & Elisa, signed author Johanna Hurwitz plus Nora & Mrs. Mind-Your-Own-Business, SuperDuper Teddy, and Make Room for Elisa, all from the Riverside Kids series; and a St. Albans Historical Museum membership. There will be more.
      Ms. Tessier's MS has progressed to the point that she has a new super duty wheelchair that is too large and too heavy to carry in a regular-size vehicle. That means she is confined to her wheelchair in her apartment, especially during inclement weather. She needs the freedom to participate in MS, church, and community activities. A properly equipped van will provide that.
      People’s Trust Company has opened the Sue Tessier Van Fund at the St. Albans branch on Kingman Street. The goal of this fund is to buy a handicapped vehicle.
      The celebration is a lighthearted afternoon hosted by Friends of Sue. Call 802.524.5290 for more info.


ON STAGE LIVE

ENOSBURG FALLS--The Opera House at Enosburg Falls invites you to a student production of The Boy and the $1000 Pants, a play written and directed by Em Frappier, at the Enosburg High School Auditorium tonight and tomorrow evening at 7 p.m.
      Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens. All proceeds benefit the Enosburg After School Program. Tickets are available at the door.


MORRISVILLE–Summer Sounds favorite Tammy Fletcher brings Mountain Girl to at the Bee's Knees tonight at 7:30 p.m.
      Click here for more info.


ST. ALBANS and MORE--It is a full Counterpoint weekend with Darling Buds of May. The Chorus performs tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. in Hanover, Saturday at St. Lukes at 7:30 p.m. in St. Albans, and Sunday at 4 p.m. in the McCarthy Arts Center at St. Michaels College.
      "The concert is a wonderful mix of tunes based on Shakespeare texts and revolving around the text from 'It Was A Lover and His Lass'." Claire Hungerford said. The music spans 400 years from Thomas Morley to The Swingles to contemporary composers. Ms. Hungerford, Piero Bonamico, Eric K Brooks, Stephen Falbel, Melissa Chesnut-Tangerman, Carolyn Dickinson, Miranda Harris-Bergmeier, assistant conductor Nathaniel G Lew, Marybeth McCaffery, Brett Murphy, and Linda Radtke make up the Counterpoint Chorus. Mr. Lew conducts.
      Admission is $20 adults, $15 seniors, $5 students and financially challenged. Call 802.540.1784 to reserve tickets.


BURLINGTON--This is Young Tradition Weekend with events featuring young singers, players and dancers performing folk and traditional styles tomorrow and Saturday around Burlington.
      Events include a Family Dance tomorrow evening at 6:45 p.m. and a Contra Dance at 8 p.m. featuring the Mad Robin Callers Collective and Les Poules a Colin both at Edmunds School. There will be a beginner’s workshop at 7:45 p.m.
      The Saturday Showcase Contest at Waterfront Park starts at 10 a.m. It will feature the Bosnian Lilies, Willie and Owen Bays, Haliana Burns, Jan Monteagudo-Meese, Hannah Beth Crary and Latimer Hoke, Jaden Gladstone, the Irregulars, Jane Keir, the Heather Morris Celtic Dancers, the St. Andrews Highland Dancers, Matching Orange, the McFadden Academy of Irish Dance, Rockfish, Ross Rossano, the Sap Run Fiddlers, Sophia Smith-Savedoff, the Windborne Trio, and more.
      The Saturday Awards Reception at Union Station will starting at about 3:30 p.m. with short performances by Les Poules a Colin, Rehana Pothiawala, Pete Sutherland, plus 2010 winners, and guest presenters Brent Bjorkman from the Vermont Folklife Center and Rep. David Zuckerman. There will be free pizza!
      Audience favorites will win cash prizes of $1000 for 1st, $500 for 2nd, $250 for 3rd, and $125 for 4th. $200 and a trophy will be presented to the best fiddler and $200 to the best guitarist. There is a sap bucket full of other prizes and professional performance slots.
      Proceeds benefit the Tom Sustic Fund, supporting families with children with cancer. Call Mark Sustic (802.849.6968), email, or click here for more info or to register to perform.


JEFFERSONVILLE--The Village Tavern hosts Open Mic at 8 p.m. on Thursdays.


ST. ALBANS--Chow Bella offers Music to Dine By with John Cassel on the piano on Wednesdays at 6:30 and the jazz and improv of Vern Colburn on the Piano on Fridays at 5:30. Call 524.1405 or click here for more info.


LET'S DANCE

ST. ALBANS--Ballroom Wednesdays continue at the St. Albans Museum on Wednesday. The First Step Dance lessons will conclude May 26. The lessons include Rhythm I, covering Rumba, Cha Cha and Merengue, at 6-7 p.m.; Smooth I, covering Waltz, Foxtrot and Tango, 7-8 p.m.; and Smooth II, continuing with Waltz, Foxtrot and Tango, 8-9 p.m.
      The cost is $50 per person for each four week session. No experience and no partner required. Call Kevin Laddison (802.598.6757) or click here for more info or to register.


YET ANOTHER TAX

      The Vermont House and Senate negotiating committee and the governor all signed off on "Challenges for Change" yesterday. The bill includes a 6% sales tax on tickets to cultural institutions and performing arts events presented by non-profit cultural organizations like the All Arts Council or the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts. Organizations with admission revenue over $50,000 must collect this tax starting next year.
      The Vermont Tax Department notified the Flynn that it owed $190,000 for taxes on tickets covering the past three years of ticket sales. That past due tax notice would be forgiven by the new bill but the bill ensures collection going forward.
      "The committee did it in the dark of the night at the end of the session," State Senator Randy Brock (R-Franklin County) said of the section of the bill meant to clarify the question of admissions taxes.
      "The Senate took no testimony" on this, so it went forward unvetted. he said. That leaves the legislature with some unanswered questions.
      Challenges for Change has one excellent feature; it is the first law passed that concenrtates on outcomes. Unfortunately, it is not the first time the legislature has snuck some new tax into an otherwise good bill.
      The downside to this new tax is two-fold. (1) Ticket prices at larger venues and events will rise which means ticket buyers will pay more. (2) Rather than cutting spending in times of reduced revenue, the House and Senate conference committee opted to create yet another new tax.


CLICK HERE: ART SITE OF THE WEEK

     Community artist Maggie Sherman offers workshops and products that casts works to address topics such as diversity, conflict resolution, respect, and community-building through her company, Hands On Productions. Her site has an artist's statement, info, a client list, testimonials, shopping, a blog, and contact info.


FRANKLIN COUNTY BOOKSHELF

      ArtBits features a quick weekly peek at the bookshelf or night stand of the folks you know in and around Franklin County. That popular feature has a page of its own at the Franklin County Bookshelf here on the AAC site.


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      This article was originally published in the St Albans Messenger and other traditional print media. It is Copyright © 2010 by Richard B. Harper. All rights reserved. Archival material is provided as-is. Links are not necessarily maintained (if a link in this article fails, try Google.com or your favorite search engine).
      Thanks to recent misuse of copyright material on the Internet by individuals and archival firms alike, we emphasize that your rights to this article are limited to viewing it and printing it for personal use only. You must receive explicit permission from the All Arts Council and the author before reprinting or redistributing this article in any medium.