Category: Arts

Pottstown’s Weekend… at a glance

Here are just some of the activities on tap, beginning TODAY. Check them out, come into town, or come downtown… just do it!

THINGS TO SEE AND DO WHILE YOU’RE IN POTTSTOWN THIS WEEKEND

April 30-May 8 – YWCA Women’s Festival of the Arts
Location: The Gallery on High, 254 E. High St.
Opening Reception: 6-8pm, Friday, April 30

April 30 – Emily’s Toy Box
Location: The Brick House, 152 E High Street
Time:10 p.m.

May 1 – Pottstown’s First Saturday
Location: Smith Family Plaza, 100 High Street
Time: 10 am – 2 pm

Children’s activities, vendors, flea market, live entertainment
10-11– SwingKat swing & salsa demonstration
11-12 – High Street Music Showcase
12-2 – Gene Galligan

Be a part of “Car-Art” and help paint a 1949 Buick!

Compete in “Project Art-cycle” alone or bring a team. Register for this event by April 28th. You bring art supplies. On May 1st, you’ll be given a kit of recycled materials to use in your sculpture, plus an optional bonus item. Work from 10am-1pm, then let the judges do their job! Register at info@galleryonhigh.com

May 2 – Polka Gala featuring the Polka Family Band and Ray Jay & the Carousels
Location: Sunnybrook Ballroom
Time: noon-8 pm
Cover: $15 in advance; $20 at the door

May 2 – Sunday in the Park Music Series featuring Neighbor Poem
Location: Riverfront Park amphitheater, College Drive, Pottstown
Time: 2-4 pm
Cover: Free.

May 2 – Kinnara Choral Ensemble
Location: Emmanuel Lutheran Church
Time: 7:30 pm
Cover: Free. (A free-will offering will be collected.)

May 5 – Wine After Five Celebrates Cinco de Mayo
Location: Gallery School, 254 E. High St.
Time: 6:30 pm
Cover: $45, fundraiser. Must purchase tix before April 30.

Calendar

Wow. I had the sense that there was plenty going on, but until I tried to put together a calendar, I didn’t realize just how much.

Maintaining a calendar & putting in all the links is – um – kind of a lot of work. I don’t know if I have the stamina for it… but WAIT!

The Pottstown Arts & Cultural Alliance is going to be unveiling its new website in the very near future, and they’re going to have a calendar, so maybe the calendar here can just serve as a temporary clearinghouse until the PACA page comes along? For now, here you go…

April 22-25 – A Night of David Ives One-Acts
Location: Tri-County Performing Arts Center, 245 E. High Street
Times & Tickets:
Friday, Apr. 23 – 8:00 pm
Saturday, Apr. 24 – 8:00 pm
Sunday, Apr. 25 – 3:00 pm
ADULT: Thurs $15; Fri, Sat & Sun $17
STUDENT/SENIOR(65+): Thurs $13; Fri, Sat, Sun $15
CHILD (12 & under): Thurs $11; Fri, Sat & Sun $13
$2 off per ticket for groups of 10 or more!

April 23 – DJ Bruce Miller, dance to sounds of 50s, 60s, 70s
Location: Sunnybrook Ballroom, Colonial Room
Time: 8-11pm, doors open 7:45 pm
Cover: $5
Age: Over 21

April 24 – Rian Wallace 4th Annual Goals Over Obstacles Football Clinic
Location: PHS Grigg Memorial Field, 750 N. Washington St.
Time: 10 am – 4 pm
Cost: Free
Register: GoalsOverObstacles@gmail.com

April 24 – Wondabubba and the Big Splash
Location: Tri-County Performing Arts Center, 245 E. High Street
Time: 11 am and 3 pm
Tickets: ADULT: $8, Children: $5, Senior/Student: $8
Age: Recommended for grades K-3

April 24 – Singer Songwriter Showcase
Location: Churchill Artisan Baker & Chocolatier, 137 High Street
Time: Every Saturday, see schedule & performers here

April 25 – Schuylkill Valley Regional Dance Co. Fundraiser
Location: Limerick Bowl
Time: 2-4 pm
Cover: $15 (includes shoes, ball, raffle ticket)

April 30-May 8 – YWCA Women’s Festival of the Arts
Location: The Gallery on High, 254 E. High St.
Opening Reception: 6-8pm, Friday, April 30

April 30 – Emily’s Toy Box
Location: The Brick House, 152 E High Street
Time:10 p.m.

May 1 – Pottstown’s First Saturday
Location: Smith Family Plaza, 100 High Street
Time: 10 am – 2 pm

Children’s activities, vendors, flea market, live entertainment
10-11– SwingKat swing & salsa demonstration
11-12 – High Street Music Showcase
12-2 – Gene Galligan

Be a part of “Car-Art” and help paint a 1949 Buick!

Compete in “Project Art-cycle” alone or bring a team. Register for this event by April 28th. You bring art supplies. On May 1st, you’ll be given a kit of recycled materials to use in your sculpture, plus an optional bonus item. Work from 10am-1pm, then let the judges do their job! Register at info@galleryonhigh.com

May 2 – Polka Gala featuring the Polka Family Band and Ray Jay & the Carousels
Location: Sunnybrook Ballroom
Time: noon-8 pm
Cover: $15 in advance; $20 at the door

May 2 – Sunday in the Park Music Series featuring Neighbor Poem
Location: Riverfront Park amphitheater, College Drive, Pottstown
Time: 2-4 pm
Cover: Free.

May 2 – Kinnara Choral Ensemble
Location: Emmanuel Lutheran Church
Time: 7:30 pm
Cover: Free. (A free-will offering will be collected.)

May 5 – Wine After Five Celebrates Cinco de Mayo
Location: Gallery School, 254 E. High St.
Time: 6:30 pm
Cover: $45, fundraiser. Must purchase tix before April 30.

May 8 – Otherwise-Poetry at Churchill’s featuring Jules Gibbs & Bruce Smith
Location: Churchill Artisan Baker & Chocolatier
137 High Street
Time: 7 pm
Host: Glenn McLaughlin (featured readings followed by open mic)

Kinnara Choral Ensemble – May 2, 7:30 p.m.

Thanks to Mike Holliday for tipping me off about this upcoming performance when I ran into him last weekend at Churchill’s. On Sunday, May 2 at 7:30 p.m., the Kinnara Choral Ensemble will be performing at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 150 N. Hanover Street in a FREE concert. Check out the Church’s phenomenal music series, which is truly one of Pottstown’s performing arts gems.

Kinnara, a 20-voice chamber choir conducted by J.D. Burnett, hails from my neck of the woods here in central NJ. They’re in their second season and making quite a name for themselves.

The concert is called “all the letting go,” and Kinnara’s Facebook page describes the musical selection as, “An hour-long choral concert exploring music of death, loss, hope, and healing. William Schuman’s compelling Carols of Death and movements from the fresh and agitated a cappella Requiem by Zdenek Lukas anchor a journey through the gamut of human emotion.”

While all the concerts in the series at Emmanuel Lutheran are free, a free-will offering will be collected.

Trash Talk

Although I’ve done my share of trash-talkin’ on basketball courts in PA and NJ, this post is actually about real trash 🙂 This Saturday from 8 am – noon, there will be neighborhood clean-ups happening around Pottstown. The clean-up was organized by Councilman Mark Gibson and Bill Sharon of the Codes Department. Details can be found on the Borough website & in The Mercury. The gist of it is that you can get trash bags at Borough Hall or Empire Hook & Ladder at Franklin & Chestnut. Fill the bags with trash from your neighborhood and leave them on pre-approved street corners, where they’ll be picked up later in the day. (Exelon has donated two dumpsters for the stuff.) And don’t forget to stop by Empire afterward for free refreshments, donated by Genesis Housing Corp.

For information contact: Bill Sharon 610-970-6507 or Mark Gibson 610-960-9445

And now for another kind of trash-talk…

The current exhibit at The Gallery on High is “Ecoart,” and it features pieces made from recycled, re-used and salvaged materials. It’s free and open to the public and runs until April 24. Check it out. Who knows? You might pick up something Saturday morning that you’ll want to turn into a work of art!

The Gallery is at 254 E. High St. Hours are Tuesday through Thursday 10am to 4:30pm; Friday 10am to 5:30pm; Saturday 10am to 3pm. Closed Sunday and Monday

US Rails at Tri-Pac this Friday, 4/16

The indie folk/rock group US Rails is performing at the Tri-County Performing Arts Center for one show only this Friday, April 16th at 8 p.m.

If you’re not familiar with US Rails, they are Ben Arnold, Scott Bricklin, Joseph Parsons, Tom Gillham and Matt Muir. Here’s how they describe themselves at their MySpace page:

“Echoing some of the great folk, pop and rock unions of the 60’s and 70’s as well as the newest super-groups and dream bands spanning the globe these days, US Rails emerges as the underdog collective of songwriters, singers and musicians who deliver not just a night of cool songs and great harmony… It’s in the sum of the parts, not the star of the show… US Rails is five distinctive personalities who met originally while living in and around Philadelphia, PA but have since scattered all over the map to France, Germany and Austin, TX… Their first recording, produced in a cottage house just South of Paris, will be released overseas this spring.”

Sounds pretty cool, huh? It definitely intrigued me enough to click through and listen to some of their tunes. The folk influence is evident in “Rainwater” and “Burning Fire, ” the latter of which is filled with sweet harmonies. And “Simple Plan” is light rock – the electric guitar and back-up vocal harmonies reminded me of the overall sound of Elton John’s 1970 Tumbleweed Connection album. (FYI, to me, invoking the great Elton John is the highest praise possible!)

Ticket prices for US Rails:
Adults: $17
Student & Seniors: $15
Children 12 and Under: $13

Tri-Pac is at 245 E. High Street, Pottstown, PA 19464
(610) 970-1199
info@villageproductions.org

Bon jour! Get your tix to Fashion Plates 4!

The Gallery School’s major annual fundraiser – Fashion Plates 4: An Afternoon in Paris – takes place this Sunday, April 11 from 1-4 pm at Brookside Country Club. Tickets must be purchased in advance & the deadline is noon tomorrow – Thursday – April 8th!

Tickets are available online, in person at The Gallery at 254 E. High Street, or by phone (610-326-2506).

Your $60 ticket ($55 for members, $30 for kids 12 & under) gets you:
* selection of food with a Parisian flair, prepared by Brookside’s chef
* a seat at the show featuring fashions from the Philadelphia Premium Outlets
* music by Magical Sight & Sound
* a Paris flea market-style silent auction.

Best of all, you can feel good about supporting arts programming in the community all year long. Merci!

Welcome… and a few shout-outs!

Welcome to Positively!Pottstown, the blog for all the good stuff happening in town! The increasingly vibrant arts and business communities are capitalizing on the Borough’s rich history, beautiful and affordable real estate, walkable downtown and waterfront park… and I think the world should know about it! Apparently, I’m not the only one.

When The Mercury recently put out a call for local bloggers, the idea for Positively!Pottstown crystallized for me. I’d started some volunteering in my hometown and had been thinking about a way to effectively tell “the glass-is-half-full” stories about the revitalization scene. When I made the call to Nancy March, editor at the paper, and pitched the idea, she said that she and Evan Brandt had been thinking of just that sort of blog and they would have called it… you guessed it… Positively Pottstown.

A half-hour later, I stopped in at The Gallery School and Gallery on High, and mentioned my idea to Erika Hornburg-Cooper, who said that singer/songwriter Mike Holliday had just set up a MySpace page for… yup… Positively Pottstown. It lists music and cultural happenings, so definitely check it out, bookmark it, join and, most importantly, attend the events!

And, finally, as I set up this blog, I discovered that the domain name positivelypottstown.com is owned by none other than Tom Carroll, now president of Preservation Pottstown.

So, all of this is by way of saying that I’m not so clever as I thought. And maybe I just got caught up – like a lot of other people – on the breeze of positivity that’s blowing through 19464 these days. Hope you’ll let yourself get carried along, too!

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