DANCE - FINE ARTS - MUSIC - THEATER - WRITING

ARTBITS by Richard B. Harper


VOLUME 20 * * All Arts News On the Web * * March 10, 2016

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.


     Franklin County's arts and music gatherings bring new opportunities, gossip, "show-and-tell" and occasional workshops. There are also booked and acoustic Open Mic Nights that feature music, readings, and more from the best new artists in Vermont.

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IN THE ARTS COUNCILS

ST. ALBANS--The St. Albans Community Arts Ballroom Dance Lessons and Community Dances continue this week in the Bliss Room at the St. Albans Historical Museum on Monday. The Lessons will begin at 6 p.m. and the Community Dances from 7 - 9 p.m.
      Kevin Laddison of First Step Dance teaches. Admission is $15 per person per lesson; the Community Dance costs $5 per person or $8 per couple. Call (802.578.4716) or email to register.


SWANTON--The Swanton Arts Council is planning an informal Art Gathering to be held every week; it's the kind of project that needs people and ideas. There will be a spontaneous get-together in the Swanton Public Library this evening at 6 p.m. The extempore parlay will determine a day and time to dedicate to meet, socialize, work on art, and more. The systematic questions that need answers are the best location, day and time, where to display art, and how to get younger people involved.
      The SAC Art Journaling Class will take place at the Library on Saturday at noon. SAC artists will help turn paper, paint, stamps, ribbon, collage materials, and found objects into incredible books. Registration is required. Call the Swanton Free Public Library (802.868.7656) for more info.
      Celebrate Swanton, the presentation of Swanton Enhancement Project Task Forces' accomplishments, will be held in the Swanton Central School on Wednesday at 5:30-7 p.m. There will be free fun, food, and a chance to revel in a year of highlights.
      Email for more info.


ON STAGE LIVE

Thursday
ST. ALBANS--The St. Albans Historical Museum presents Laz Scangas on the Rutland Railroad Through the Champlain Islands this evening at 7 p.m.
      The local architect and historian's program covers the construction, history, and life of the railroad on its route through the Champlain Islands. It's a chance to "discover unique perspectives with a [virtual] trip along the railroad from Burlington to Rouses Point."
      The program is part of the Museum's 50th Anniversary series.


Friday and Saturday
ST. ALBANS--Twiggs presents local singer/songwriters Troy Millette on Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. and Bethany Conner on Saturday at 7 p.m.
      Mr. Millette weaves his comedy around his original material on stage. He has shared the stage with Bethany Conner, Dionysia, Rusty DeWees, Jack Grimmer, Steve Hartmann, Wayne Warner, and more. Ms. Conner has performed in Solo gigs, with Mr. Millette and in area benefits for four years. She "loves playing music, whether it's in a grocery store or on a stage."
      Call 802.524.1405 or click here for more info.


Saturday
ESSEX JUNCTION--Justice makes some pre-St. Patricks Day fun at the Backstage Pub and Restaurant on Saturday at 9:30 p.m.
      With Scott Belisle on bass and backup vocals; Rodney Bushey, lead guitar and vocals; Gary Greeno, lead vocals; Mike Stella, drums; and Scott Guptill, rhythm guitar and backup vocals, Justice return to Essex for some crazy times with a strong mix of 70s, 80s, 90s, and current dance rock before the day of the green arrives.


Through St. Patrick's Day BURLINGTON--Céad Míle Fáilte. The 21st annual Burlington Irish Heritage Festival continues today with a schedule of music, dance, history, genealogy, and other cultural events leading up to St. Patrick's Day.
      There will be a Young Tradition Vermont Touring Group concert featuring special guests Haley and Dylan Richardson, and Gerlisa Garrett at Main Street Landing on Saturday at 7 p.m. Originally from Richmond, Ms. Garrett is a vocalist and Irish step dancer who competed in the 2015 World Championships. The Touring Group includes 20 members ranging in age from 12 to 20. They begin a performance tour on the West Coast of Ireland in April.
      The Festival Ceili and Grand Prize Drawing takes place at ArtsRiot on Sunday at 1-3 p.m. Ceili is Irish for a music, dancing, hand-clapping good time. The annual Ceili has Irish step dancing and some of Vermont's finest traditional musicians. There is dancing at Lughnasa almost every day.
      Click here for more info


Plan Ahead
ENOSBURG--Prydein returns to the Opera House at Enosburg Falls for a family friendly St. Patrick's Day themed season opener on Saturday, March 19.
      Admission is $10. Click here for tickets.


FRANKLIN COUNTY BOOKSHELF

FAIRFAX--The Fairfax Community Library Non-Fiction Book Group discusses both The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition and Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World this evening at 6:30 p.m. The Vermont Humanities Council's 2016 Vermont Reads books are offered free at the library; take a copy of either book to keep or pass along when you finish.
      Also as part of the Vermont Reads program, the library hosts an ice carving demonstration outside the library with local sculptor Colleen Bunnell on Saturday at 10 a.m. This program is for all ages and will include lots of interaction with the artist, as well as observation of the actual sculpting process.


ST. ALBANS--The Eloquent Page Book Store will host a reading and book signing for new Franklin County novelist Pat Esden's first book, Hold On Me, on Saturday from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
      The gothic suspense novel has strong romance and is "part of a trilogy, so there is a lot more story to look forward to," bookstore owner Donna Howard said.
      Ms. Esden spent her childhood exploring abandoned houses and old cemeteries. She still does. When not out on her own adventures, she can be found in her northern Vermont home writing stories about brave, smart women and the men who capture their hearts. She is a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, and the League of Vermont Writers. Her short stories have appeared in Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, the Mythopoeic Society's Mythic Circle literary magazine, George H. Scithers' anthology Cat Tales.
      Click here , or find her on Facebook, @PatEdsen on Twitter, or read her blog Click here . Call 802.527.7243 for info about the Eloquent Page.


      The St. Albans Public Library second annual Memorial Food Drive in honor of Roger Boucher begins Monday and continues through March 26 at the Library. The non-perishable food drive benefits the local food shelf and help "keep his generous spirit alive by helping your neighbors in need."
      Classic Movie Night this evening features the 1931 production M at 6 p.m. The German drama-thriller film starred Peter Lorre in his first major starring role, as serial child murderer Hans Beckert. Films are shown on the 4' by 6' screen in the upstairs conference room cinema. Admission is free, along with popcorn and beverage.
      The Classic Readers Book Group gathers on Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. for The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.


SWANTON--The Swanton Free Public Library will build Recycled Robots on Friday at 3 p.m. The library will supply the materials; you build the bots, from the simple to the sophisticated.


ON THE 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 © 2016 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).
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