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The Felton Library Festival, an old-fashioned ice cream social and
watermelon feed, will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, at the
site of the future library next to the post office on Gushee Street.
The Felton Library Festival, an old-fashioned ice cream social and watermelon feed, will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, at the site of the future library next to the post office on Gushee Street.
The annual event celebrates the site of the new Felton Library, offered to the Santa Cruz Public Library system by the Verutti family and is a fundraiser for Felton Library Friends.
This fun event has free admission and features Marianne’s ice cream cones and sundaes for sale as well as farm-grown watermelons, and pizza and drinks from Felton’s Redwood Pizzeria. Desperately Seeking Chocolate will provide gourmet hot fudge for the sundaes and will also have a tasting booth for other yummy products.
Frank Lima, aka The Great Morgani, will play his accordion to greet the public at the gate from 1 to 1:30, while The Great Blindini, Brent Gifford of Felton, gives a magic show on the stage.
At 1:30 p.m., the Common Cents Bluegrass Band, which includes longtime Felton Library Friends Eric Burman and Elicia Burton, will perform. Patti Maxine and a group of her musical friends will play at 2, followed at 2:30 by African music and dance group Panther Percussion & Dance, which includes Ben Lomond resident Beth Dyer. At 3 p.m., singers from San Lorenzo Valley’s own Little People’s Theater will follow a short talk by Santa Cruz County Supervisor Mark Stone regarding progress being made toward the new library.
According to event coordinator Michele Mosher, there will be plenty of free activities for children and also a popular literary cake walk. A special feature of the event will be a children’s book swap and sale organized by Sue Kuivanen — children 12 and younger are encouraged to bring up to five books to swap.
A drawing for prizes, each valued at $100 or more, will wrap up the event. Tickets for the raffle are on sale at the Felton Library. Frank Adamson has also been selling tickets like in front of the local New Leaf Market.
If you’d like to volunteer, e-mail coordinator Nancy Gerdt at
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Blind magician
Brent Gifford — known to audiences as The Great Blindini — is, as his name implies, a blind magician.
He lives in Felton with his well-known guide dog, Yankee Doodle, two cats, Purrl and Lennie, and his wife of seven years, Myra Gifford. Together, this busy couple opened the Felton Wellness Center, 6116 Highway 9, in Felton.
Brent is a hypnotherapist there, and Myra is an acupuncturist as well a registered nurse for Hospice of Santa Cruz County.
Myra drives Brent to his many performances at libraries, parties and stage shows and to magic classes, which he often hosts at libraries.
His first performance as a magician was at a library when he was 12. Brent grew up in Maine and lost his sight when he was 11, when his retinas detached from his eyes. He says he was born a “shaman” and is a healer who can help people with chronic pain or illness, people who have been abused as children’ and others.
For fun, Brent says he likes to create new magic tricks — he builds his own props in his workshop — and that he likes to use original tricks in his act.
To have The Great Blindini at your function, call 704-7162 or visit www.blindini.com.
Learn to play ukulele
“The ukulele is the easiest instrument to learn to play,” says Marty Carlson, a popular ukulele instructor.
His Monday night classes at the Santa Cruz Mountain Art Center, 9341 Mill St., in Ben Lomond, will start again Sept. 22. The eight-week beginner class begins at 6:30 p.m., and the beginner-intermediate class, which starts at 7:30 p.m., will go until June.
Marty invites everyone to join his classes.
“We’re playing the ukulele, singing and having fun,” he said. “My new students go home the first night playing two songs.”
Marty’s rule is: “If it isn’t fun, don’t do it.”
He says ukulele is easier to play than guitar — and inexpensive. For less than $50, you can buy a ukulele and tuner in the class. Some $25 ukuleles will be for sale the first night.
Marty’s Scott Valley Senior Center classes will start Sept. 23, with beginners starting at 10 a.m. and intermediate learners starting at 11.
The cost Marty’s classes is $3, and no preregistration is required. If a private class is more your thing, give him a call at 440-9382.
Carolee Burrows will also teach a 1 p.m. ukulele class at Highlands Park Senior Center starting Sept. 23. It will be followed by tea.
They live to play music
The fourth Open Mic, organized by Bobby Carr and Dr. Madd, will be at Rainbow’s End in Boulder Creek on Saturday, Sept. 13, from 5 to 8 p.m.
This every-other-week event is a family affair, with no alcohol. The microphone is turned over to the public from 5 to 7:30 p.m., and at 7:30 all the performers jam. Some of the Open Mic events are being recorded for broadcast on public television.
At the third Open Mic, songwriter Bluzar Blue played folk rock; Eddie Donohue played American Indian-style flute music in the tradition of the Lakota tribe; Richard Hensolt, Mike Banning and Dr. Madd played some rock and roll; Diana Rohrbough played keyboard and sang some original songs; and songwriter Mike Martyn played folk songs.
Meanwhile, behind the coffee bar worked Norine Beal, who has worked at Ron and Olga Whittall’s Rainbow Inn for six years. Norine also has a side business, No Fret Pet Sitting, which she has had for nine years.
Tessie Kennedy, a longtime observer of the valley scene, writes about local people. To reach her, call 336-2612 or e-mail
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