Four years ago I was one of a small group of local writers from The Floyd Writers Circle who helped design and decorate a writers suite at the Hotel Floyd, our downtown green lodging with locally themed rooms that showcase Floyd’s art and literature, handmade furniture, music and mountain culture. An antique wooden desk with [...]
Kari Kovick and a chorus of children sing her adapted version of Pete Seeger’s This Land is Your Land for Floyd at the town’s 4th of July Celebration on Saturday.
AKA: Mikephin Day It was an old school gathering of family and friends of the Zephyr community where Dolphin grew up. There were bagpipes playing (by Mike’s dad), people wearing fake mustaches, fresh halibut on the fire-pit, and smoked salmon from Alaska where Mike and Dolphin met and now live. Dolphin’s father Bob sang an [...]
Sometimes I follow Kari Kovick around. I’m a fan of her work teaching music to young children and as a member of the band Windfall. I’ve documented her children’s music programs for the local paper in the past and written about Windfall for the Floyd Compass (a one time visitor’s guide). Recently, I spent some [...]
The National Music Festival’s family concert at the Presbyterian Church of Floyd (just one of dozens of concerts in the two week event) was geared towards children. It not only appealed to the child and the early childhood educator in me (my primary job before I had my own kids), but I learned a lot [...]
It took attending classical music solo performances like the one above at The Floyd Country Store to force me to figure out how to mute my camera beep. Check out THIS double bass performance and a lively conducting style of the NMF Symphonic Wind Ensemble HERE. More coverage and photos coming in The Floyd Press [...]
Belfast born musician Tom Martin made some new friends in Floyd County, fans who stayed for all three of his Dogtown Roadhouse sets Saturday night and bought a collection of his CD’s to pass around between them. For me, hearing Martin perform was a perfect compliment to hearing Michael Meade, author of Fate and Destiny, [...]
In my bright turquoise crocs that someone left at Joe’s sister’s beach house and my dirty green gardening shorts, I walked with my weekend houseguest down our long gravel driveway singing “in your Easter bonnet with all the frills upon it,” stopping first to pull down a branch of an apple tree and sniffing the [...]
Somewhere in between covering Floyd’s big Earth Day expo, Land’s Sake, and going to the relocation opening of Troika gallery, we managed to celebrate our old friend Marsh’s and his wife Dana’s visit to Floyd with some impromptu hooping at Dogtown’s Winter Sun. Watch the videos HERE and HERE.
The first thing I said to Joe when I woke up Sunday morning was ‘What would we do without water?’ He answered, “Shrivel up and die,” as I took a big gulp from the cup on the bedside table. Later in the morning, while drinking my tea, a thought ran through my mind: would I [...]
I’m working on St. Patrick’s Day (supporting an adult with disabilities), so the extent of my celebratory wearing of green will likely be the two green wristbands from the two bands I saw perform this weekend. I earned the first one Friday night at Dogtown Roadhouse where I heard Paleface perform and fantasized them singing [...]
From the outer space photos of yesterday’s post to the outasight shots of Floyd’s second annual Mardi Gras ball at the Sun Hall. There was glitter and glamour, fancy feathers and fun to benefit Floyd’s Blue Mountain School. There was dancing and merriment, costume contests, the crowning of this year’s King and Queen, and more. [...]
Last week I was on my way to an upstairs meeting room at The Floyd Country Store to interview SustainFloyd director Mike Burton for a story of local foods initiatives when this photo-op stopped me in my tracks. In a five minute stop, I learned that Farm Girls and Feed Sacks had formed in January, [...]
Despite the frigid temperatures and wintry mix of weather, our weekend was full of the fun and the famous coming to Floyd, including a mid-week sing-a-long concert at the Zion Lutheran Church with songwriting folk singers Jim Scott (of the Paul Winter Concert fame) and James Durst. I hadn’t heard Jim sing Common Ground since [...]
Fresh off a plane ride from Boston (where it hasn’t snowed yet), I stopped at Winterfest at the Jacksonville Center to take some pictures for the local paper, but vendors were closing down early because of the snow and I didn’t even get to see Santa. All fun was not lost though. Ilima Ursomarso surprised [...]
Gary Boyd’s wife Sherry refers to his online blog buddies as “imaginary friends.” For the past few years, I’ve been one of those friends, but I came to life on Friday in downtown Floyd when I met Gary and his wife in person. They were in the mountains visiting from their home near Houston, Texas, [...]
I see Dead people. Keep the Scene Clean Grateful Steve as the evening’s doorman. Remember what the doormouse said, “Feed your head.” Or was it “Leave your head?” The launch pad for Grateful Dead time travel performed by the premiere cover band The Kind. Listen HERE and HERE. Old Dead Heads and the Gratefully Dead [...]
A couple of friends who wandered into Mickey G’s balloon decorated restaurant for lunch on Wednesday and did not know about the party were bewildered. I joked that they were the restaurant’s 1000th customers and the party was for them. In reality, it was my friend Mara’s daughter Kyla’s 13th birthday. She got off the [...]
