08.14-08.21.2019 Blue Sky

08.14-08.21.19
Blue Sky

If you’re a biker, you eventually learn this secret: wherever your eyes go, that’s where your head goes; wherever your head goes, that’s where your shoulders go; wherever your shoulders go, that’s where your bike goes. So you keep your eyes on where you want to go. And you don’t go peeking over the cliff. Or that’s where you end up.

It’s all blue sky in our region this week, with late summer events charging ahead like back to school wasn’t just around the corner. Akron’s Hot Pepper Festival at Shanti Community Farms benefits the Bhutanese refugee immigrant community in Akron. Kamm’s Corners’ Saymo Gallery presents The Power of Word. Women and Wine at BOP STOP spotlights three women comics.

Vote for Clevelander Bob Frank, who’s up for a BluesBlast award, then go check out some of the 130 bands performing at Akron’s PorchRokr Music & Art Festival. The annual Blue Sky Folk Festival makes a big move to Willoughby’s Fine Arts Center. Downtown Painesville’s Art in the Park showcases local artists and craftspeople. After the Burn at Artists Archives of the Western Reserve looks at the aftermath of the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire.

Columnist C. Ellen Connally implores the Democrats to cease their circular firing squad, SPACES hosts a timely exhibition on guns, and Mansfield Frazier wonders what it will take to “rouse such public outrage that Congress would be forced to finally act on gun control.” The National Assn of Black Journalists is observing the 400th anniversary of the first Africans arriving, against their will, in America. Interestingly, that’s much earlier than the ancestors of those shouting, “Send ’em back.” Our eyes are raised to the sky, but our feet are firmly planted in our community. –Thomas Mulready

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More Jammin’

The annual Blue Sky Folk Festival in Lake County is making a big move this year, out of its former home at East Shore Unitarian Universalist Church to Willoughby’s Fine Arts Center. There they’ll have more room for what’s become one of the main attractions of this festival: impromptu jam sessions, along with performances, workshops and a kids’ tent.

“At the church we often had 500 people for the last few years, so it was getting too large. Now we’ve got this awesome facility with plenty of workshop classrooms at Fine Arts,” says event VP/treasurer Nancy Tozer. It also gives them space for two separate events: the more informal daytime session and a concert in the evening with Toronto folk duo Madison Violet, Detroit folkie Matt Watroba and Cleveland singer/songwriter Charlie Mosbrook. Sat 8/17.

First Harvest

The incoming harvest brings us special festivals, dedicated to the arriving crops. Akron’s Hot Pepper Festival at Shanti Community Farms is special because it’s also an opportunity to get to know the city’s Bhutanese refugee community, the largest immigrant community in Akron. Their cuisine is very hot, and they enjoy hot pepper-eating contests. You can participate if you like – but be careful. The Bhutanese are pros at this! Sat 8/17.

Sadly, heavy spring rains wiped out much of northern Ohio’s corn crop, but it didn’t wipe out the annual Cliff Schultz Memorial Corn Roast at the Coit Road Farmers Market. This year, people are also invited to bring their own corn-based dishes for a potluck and the chance to win a cash prize. Sat 8/17.

Democratic Candidates Should End the Circular Firing Squad

Our columnist C. Ellen Connelly watched the Democratic presidential debates a few weeks ago and wasn’t happy with what she saw. “Every candidate reveled in trying to shoot lethal daggers into other candidates,” she says. “Anyone who was a point or two ahead of a candidate in the polls was fair game, with the main whipping boy being former Vice President Joe Biden. It was dog eat dog, no holds barred.”

While she’s not optimistic about Democrats picking and rallying around a single candidate early in the campaign, she feels they should. “Maybe it’s time for the two dozen Democratic candidates to bury their collective egos and the hatchets that they are using to kill each other off and come together for the sake of democracy as we know it and the future of our nation,” adding that “[the president’s] racist tweets, nativism and downright bigotry are bringing out everything that is evil in the country.”

The Cleveland chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists is observing the 400th anniversary of the first Africans arriving in America. Starting at noon, people are invited to gather at Channel 19 report Harry Boomer’s Garden Park in Hough. Potluck and traditional dress are welcomed; Cool Cleveland’s own Mansfield Frazier will be providing libations from his nearby vineyard and winery. You don’t have to be of African descent to come. Sat 8/17.

Veteran Cleveland musician Bob Frank, known from his long-time stint with local jump/blues/swing/rock band Blue Lunch, released an acoustic blues solo album late last year. He’s been nominated for a BluesBast award in the acoustic blues category. You can vote for him here through Fri 8/16. He’ll also be performing at the awards ceremony in Rockford, Illinois on 9/13.

Akron’s PorchRokr Music & Art Festival is the largest such festival in the area with more than 130 bands playing throughout the day, and more than 100 booths hosting local artists, craftspeople, vendors, businesses & organizations. Sat 8/17

* Mary Bridget Davies and her Blues Siren Band play a benefit for HOLA Ohio & the Music Alliance at the Beachland. Sat 8/17.

* There are TWO parties today celebrating the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, one in Uptown, one at Public Hall. Sat 8/17.

* ContempOpera blends pop and classical music at Tremont’s Arts in August. Sat 8/17.

* Cleveland alt country/punk band Cap Gun Cowboys play a 20-year reunion show at the Beachland Tavern. Fri 8/16.

WED 8/14
Erie Islands Green Week concludes today with a picnic at South Bass Island State Park, which also commemorates the 1919 Hotel Victory Fire. Games, tours and local artists make the event more festive.

* The Cleveland Print Room hosts a show of work by its youth fellowship photographers.

* 21st Century Jazz Orchestra plays contemporary and classic big band music at the BOP STOP.

* Local travel photograher Alex Shaland talks about his African safari to raise awareness of protecting the world’s animals, at Artists Archives of the Western Reserve.

Click here for more events on Wed 8/14

THU 8/15
If you haven’t gotten the 50th anniversary of the moon landing out of your system yet, come to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s Party on the Moon, a special summer version of its Think & Drink With the Extinct evenings, dedicated to space travel.

* Americana duo Sugarcane Jane returns to Riverdog Retreat with a full band.

* Learn about the diverse aromas of scented geraniums at the Cleveland Botanical Garden.

* It’s Feast time in Little Italy, with the actual religious observance today, and feasting and partying carrying on through Sun 8/18.

* The Rock Hall’s Bike Night features local blues rocker Colin Dussault and his band.

Click here for more events on Thu 8/15

FRI 8/16
When SPACES booked its new shows months & months ago, it never dreamed how immediate two of the three – dealing with Americans’ attitudes about guns – would be. “We’d rather live in a peaceful society than present such timely exhibitions,” they say. On view through Fri 9/27.

* The Cleveland Orchestra’s Summers @ Severance takes on an Italian flavor.

* St. Mary church festival offers a taste of Romanian food and culture.

* Learn about “The Power of Word” at Kamm’s Corners’ Saymo Gallery.

* Artist Lady Noel, new to town, mounts her first Cleveland show at 78th Street’s KINK Contemporary.

* Local filmmaker Johnny Wu debuts his latest feature film at Atlas Cinemas Lakeshore.

* Ex-photographer Bob Holcepl pulls his old life out of storage for an exhibit at Tower Press Building, through Sat 8/24.

Click here for more events on Fri 8/16

SAT 8/17
Hop a trolley and explore some artsy neighborhoods in and around downtown Cleveland at the Sparx City Hop. The hub is Playhouse Square, and from there you can go to the Warehouse District, the Superior Arts District, Ohio City or the Flats Festival of the Arts on the East Bank.

* Upcycle Parts Shop hosts creative maker challenge event for families.

* West Creek Conservancy’s Up! a Creek gala benefits its sustainability mission.

* Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances highlight Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom concert.

* St. Emeric church shares its culture at its Hungarian Festival.

* Flats Festival of the Arts returns to the East Bank. Also tomorrow.

* Shop local artists and craftspeople at Downtown Painesville Art in the Park.

* Backyard Nature Bash at West Creek Conservancy teaches sustainable practices you can use at home.

Click here for more events on Sat 8/17

SUN 8/18
Bonus Beach Day at Pinecrest features Clevelander Carl Jara creating a sand sculpture masterpiece, Bubbleologists Dr. U.R. Awesome and Steve Langley attempting the Guinness World Record for largest soap bubble blowing net, plus family activities and a concert with the Big 5 Show Band.

* How do butterflies become butterflies? find out at Geauga Park District’s Caterpillar Extravaganza at West Woods Nature Center.

* Come to Cleveland Metroparks’ Mill Stream Run Reservation to get up close & personal with heavy working vehicles.

* There are activities for dogs and their owners at Frostville Museum’s Doggone Funday.

Click here for more events on Sun 8/18

MON 8/19
County fair crowds love vehicles belching smoke even more than they love country music. The Lorain County Fair, one of Ohio’s largest and oldest, opens today with country singer Granger Smith and presents classic rockers Foreigner tomorrow. The rest of the week, the grandstand will be filled with smoking vehicles. Through Sun 8/25.

Click here for more events on Mon 8/19

TUE 8/20
Improvisational sax player Ritwik Banerji opens the evening at the BOP STOP before the monthly Outlab improv jam takes place.

* The Chagrin Falls Contra Dance is family-friendly and fun for even those with two left feet.

Click here for more events on Tue 8/20

WED 8/21
Who says women aren’t funny? Three women comics will take the stage of the BOP STOP tonight for Women and Wine – and your ticket gets you two glasses of wine to drink while you laugh.

* “After the Burn” at Artists Archives of the Western Reserve looks at the aftermath of the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire.

* Rush fans will gather at the Cedar Lee Theatre for screening of concert film with previously unseen footage.

Click here for more events on Wed 8/21

Send your cool events to: Events@CoolCleveland.com

Cry, Havoc!

Well over a year ago I penned an opinion piece in which I put forth a proposition that was deemed by some to be mean-spirited, preposterous and downright wacky: I essentially said that instead of a mass shooting occurring every two or three months in America as they had been occurring, that if they’re going to happen, it would be better if they were aggregated into a very short time span…

Read other stories from Mansfield Frazier here