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    Ever after all these years, it's still a little exciting to me every time I get my picture in the media.
    This time, it's three (3!) photos in the River Valley Market Newsletter: two on the cover -------------------> and one on page 3! ↓

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Wahoo! Yipee!! and Hoka Hoka Hey!!!

 

    On WMUA today, a man was speaking about siting new coal plants and he said that N.I.M.B.Y. (Not In My Back Yard) has become B.A.N.A.N.A. (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone). 

 

     Because I go to a family camp out weekend, Lindsey Briggs's 6th birthday party in Hardwick MA was a whole lot of FUN this year! I met her parents — Steve & Wendy Briggs — at May Day last year. And this April, I got a call from Wendy to entertain the kids at Lindsey's party. I was thrilled! I love performing for my friends! It's so great.
    Anyways, Lindsay is not your typical noisy kid... she's obviously thinking about what's going on. It was delightful to hear her laughing so much, though! More than a dozen other kids were laughing along with her, too.

    Wendy & Steve run a horse farm in Hardwick, so the setting was terrific, too: long, flowing lawns; scenic views in many directions; and the whole mystique that goes along with anything associated with horses.
        I wished I could have dawdled and stayed for a while afterwards and just hung out for a while... I mean, who can beat being in a great setting with nice friends at a fun event? But I had a long drive ahead of me.

 

    Because my second performance was at the  Burlington VT Independence Day celebration, a good 4-hour drive from Hardwick. The festivities were held in Waterfront Park, a long narrow strip of green on the "West Coast of Vermont": the shores of Lake Champlain. There's a walkway about 15' above water level all the way along the entire western edge of the park. In the middle of the walkway, is an enlargened part of the boardwalk specifically for performances. When I got there, ther was a delightful Afro-Brazilian percussion group called Sambatucada playing for a huge, happy crowd.
    I was on stilts, so it was a really tight squeeze to get through that crowd... but that's just part of the whole stiltwalker gig: wading through crowds! Everybody enjoys watching "the big guy" walk through a large throng of people. Oh, did I mention? They were expecting 35,000 people at this event! And they were definitely all there and then some!

    Behind the walkway is lots of lawn with a sidewalk all the way across the back edge of the park, and just a very few cross paths. On the lawn were tons of carnival-type activities, like moon bounces, inflatable mazes, pony rides, hit-the-balloon-with-a-dart, etc.... at least 30 of them. There was also this really cool group called Skyriders that did an awesome acrobatic dual trampoline act.

    I was one of two stiltwalkers; the other was my good friend Henry the Juggler in his cool spiraled outfit. There were so many people there and so much going on in every corner of the park that I never saw Henry the entire time I was there. Imagine, two stiltwalkers at the same event and they don't see each other!? Actually, Henry told me afterwards that he had come pretty close to me at one point, and was about to make contact with me but it was really obvious that I was just about to start a little show, so, professional that he is, he cleared out quickly so as not to distract my audience. Performers do that for each other.

    Another friend, Hoopoe (a.k.a. Chris Yerlig) was there doing both mime (in traditional white face, of course!, he's a professional, too!) and his very popular Man or Machine living statue act. On my first pass, he was standing on a little platform completely motionless. Several families were standing there just staring at him. One little boy said loudly to his dad, "Is he real?" And then the robot act kicked in and the statue moved on its platform in a very robotic manner. The dad says, "I thought it was a person made-up to look like a robot, but now I'm not so sure." It is a supreme moment for an entertainer when it works so well that even the grown-ups are impressed!
    Here's a little factoid you might enjoy: Waterfront Park in Burlington VT completely crowded with thousands and thousands of people takes a professional stiltwalker just under an hour to walk completely around the perimeter.
    It was a terrific event and next time I hope I can be there for the whole thing.
    Chris and Henry are neighbors at Amherst Co-housing in Amherst MA, so they carpooled together up to Burlington. But Henry had plans to spend the night there and visit with some local friends and family. (I didn't know that he lived in Burlington for a while.) But Chris had a gig the next day, so he rode up with Henry and back down with me. It was nice having Chris's company on the way home. We talked about business, what our kids are up to, things that bug us, our relationships, etc. It was nice to have the opportunity to talk with Chris for a while 1-on-1 for longer than usual. And then he fell asleep because he'd been going all day even longer than I had. (Besides, I'm a night owl.)

 

     Independence Day USA! Happy birthday America! Politics aside, I love this country! Early on in my career, I performed at the Amherst MA fireworks like 10 or 15 years in a row. Then, when I became successful in my career, I stopped volunteering my services for that event and just went and watched the fireworks. They're always awesome! Lots and lots of people, the Amherst Community Band, vendors, glowsticks, the whole deal. But then afterwards, it takes at least 45 minutes just to get out of the parking lot, and at least that long again until you finally get home. A 20-minute drive becomes 1½-hour oddysey.

    This year, I wanted to see the fireworks without the long drive home. So I grabbed my binoculars, drove two miles south to River Valley Market, parked next to the wheelchair ramp (where the red truck is in this file photo, and climbed the steep, steep, steeeeep path behind the co-op that goes along the edge to the top of the 75' cliff -------------> that is the amazing backdrop to the co-op. (The cliff actually goes a little bit higher than this stock picture shows, and then goes all the way across the back of the property, and then  angles down to road level on the other side by the driveway; so the co-op is inside this big, rock amphitheater.)
    Before we built our new store, before we broke ground, before we'd even done any work on the site, RVM general manager Rochelle Prunty had asked me to explore the woodland path system behind the store and see how the store was connected. So this was not the first time I'd seen the wide angled view from the top of the Old Quarry Site where River Valley Market now sits.
     The view is tremendous. You can easily see the tall UMass-Amherst dormitories to the west, Mount Sugarloaf to the north, and the Holyoke Mountain range to the south. I settled in with
my back leaning against a rock, my water bottle next to me, and my binoculars around my neck where I sat and swatted mosquitos while I waited for it to get dark.

    I saw quite a show, too. Even before it was completely dark, small fireworks were shooting up all over the place. I must have seen fireworks from at least a dozen private parties. Pretty good ones, too,  for small time affairs, that is. When a great big huge green & white "carnation" appeared in the sky over Northampton, and I thought maybe Northampton was having fireworks this year and I was going to get two big shows tonight. However, it was an isolated incident. I always wonder how much someone paid to have just one big firework. Weird, huh?

    So after a lot of small fireworks (all of which were great!), the Amherst Fireworks finally began. And for the next half hour, my binoculars and I took in a terrific show from an awe-inspiring location.

    Happy Birthday, America! 

 

     I was really expecting more businesses to be open today than actually were. I had a bunch of shopping I had planned to do yesterday before I realized it was a holiday. So I rescheduled it for this morning. But only two out of five destinations were open today. I'm happy for their staff, but now I have to try again on Monday.
    And then, just before lunchtime, I drove to Bridgewater MA where I met my lovely wife at the General Convention of New Jerusalem Churches annual convention on the campus of Bridgewater State College. We were both very active in our national church denomination as teens and young adults, and then you get busy. So I hadn't been to our church convention since sometime in the mid-80's. It was really great to be back, reconnect with old friends, and meet some of the new people. Much to her surprise, my lovely wife got nominated for and elected president of the Women's Alliance!

    But my ostensible purpose in being there was to lead a "mini course" in New Games & Cooperative Play for adults. And despite the fact that only half of the people who had registered actually showed up, those of us who were there had a great time together. ←Before hand, one woman said, "I came here instead of taking a nap. Is this going to be as invig-orating?" Afterwards→ she commented, "This was definitely more invigorating than any nap!"

    So after a brief wait for a few more people to arrive, I called everyone to attention, introduced myself and told them very briefly what we were going to do together.

    Leaving all their purses and papers in their seats, we all stood up and held hands in a circle. (I just like holding hands in a circle... it feels good.) And then the FUN began!

    We started out with a game called Knots ↓.  Next we played a whole lot of different partner games, including Quick Draw, Switcheroo, 7/11, Back-to-Back Dancing, Number Letters Shapes Together, and Train Station.

    After that, we sat down for some brain teasers and thinking games like Amatuer Detctive and Famous Characters.      

    All of a sudden, our time was almost up, so we ended with the fastest game in the world as a closer: a game of instant freeze tag called Everybody's It! (It lasts about 1 second!)

    Participants were still smiling and laughing as the exited the conference room!
    And a special thank you to my lovely wife who was there to take these terrific photos.
    After a pretty mediocre meal(think college dining hall food) we  took a scenic bus trip to Cambridge MA the absolutely gorgeous Swedenborg Chapel --------------> for an ordination service, with reception afterwards at the Center for International Religious Studies (or something like that) just a few short blocks away.

    Both event were well-done. Rev. Andy Stinson gave a particularly delightful address to the two newly ordained ministers.
   Returning to campus afterwards, several people arranged to have a "liquidation" party ("Everything must go!") in the 2nd floor lounge in the dormitory. So the night owls and party penguins had a little bash until the wee hours of the morn. It was great to just sit around and just talk and joke and enjoy ourselves together after most of a day of such seriousness.

    So a good time was had by all. 

    I got home at about 5:00 a.m. 

 

    Once again, it's time for the regular monthly meeting of the Hats Off Performers Guild. This time, only 4 out of 7 of us were there. That's what happens in the summer: some of us get very busy. And every single one of us will definitely pick a gig over a guild meeting every time! Absolutely. We're performers. It's what we do. It's what we live to do.
    And once again, it was great to catch up with the guys that could make it! These guys rock!

 

    ← My lovely wife and I took the day off together today. (What? Again?) Nancy's sister and brother-in-law, Audrey & Michael just got a brand new flat screen tv and offered us their old set if we'd drive the hour west to Pittsfield MA and pick it up. We decided we'd be happy to do a little excursion into the Berkshires. So yesterday, we dug out the guide books, scanned through various map books, and did some exploring on the internet looking for some cool places to visit. We picked one place I wanted to go back to and one place Nancy has wanted to go to for a while.  

   So, after lollygagging around most of the morning, we finally got out of here a little before noon and headed west on Rte 9. Our first stop was Waconah Falls ↓ in Waconah Falls State

Park in Windsor MA. This amazing waterfall is less than five minutes from Rte 9. It's so close, I stop there pretty much every time I go by. The photo above shows only about half of the lower falls. Just above them is a nearly as spectacular upper falls. And above them are quite a few 3-10' drops that you can see only if you go exploring upstream.
    My lovely wife had packed us a nice lunch that we enjoyed right there at the waterfall. Nancy had her chair set up practically in the stream bed, while I went scampering all over the rocks with sandwich in hand.
    Next, we headed further west and one town north to Balance Rock State Park â†“ in Lanesboro MA. BRSP is actually part of the Pittsfield State Forest but there were no directions on the official Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation web site. The MA DCR oversees all the Massachusetts State Parks. The other state parks that I've checked out on line all had good directions, but Balance Rock only gets a brief mention in the middle of a paragraph about Pittsfield State Forest. I had to go to someone else's web site to get directions. Arrrgh.

    Anyways, the actual rock is huge and is seemingly very precariously perched on a big flat rock. You can see in the photo how it nearly touches the ground on the left, but you can't see that the rock is really sort of "L" shaped with the tall part directly over the base facing us, and the short part sticking out to that point where it nearly touches the ground.

    This photo also doesn't really give you any idea of how big this thing is. So just to give you an idea of how large it actually is, if I were standing on that flat base rock under the right side and reached up as high as I could on tiptoe, I still wouldn't be able to reach that big huge horizontal crack that goes from the middle of the rock to the farthermost point on the right edge.

    This photo also (purposely) doesn't show that the entire lower half of the rock is completely covered with graffiti in loud, gaudy, ugly colors all the way around. It's very disturbing that this amazing natural formation has been so wantonly desecrated. And there's trash everywhere. It was so sad we only stayed at this amazing piece of limestone for a very few minutes.
     We had originally planned on hiking some of the trails, too, but while we were there a couple of four-wheelers came roaring out of the woods. We checked the trail map and discovered that all the paths at this end of the park were 4-wheeler trails. I don't know about you, but my wife and I go hiking for the peace & quiet, the commune with nature, and all that. Loud, smelly vehicles roaring by kind of destroys the ambiance of a hike in the woods for us.

    The heartless graffiti and the ATVs was a combination punch, the old one-two that really knocked the wind out of us. So we just left.
    We pulled out the map book and noticed a park on a lake just a couple miles away. So we drove south into Pittsfield to Burbank Park, a really sweet park on the edge of Onata Lake. Lots of grass, some woods, lake shore, postage stamp beaches (with trucked in sand), swing sets, park benches facing the lake, a couple of piers, a bath house, a boat ramp, plenty of parking... just what we were looking for. We enjoyed a delightful strolled most of the length of the park.
    At one point, I suddenly got a whiff of some really acrid, foul-smelling smoke. And rounding a point of land, we came across an abandoned camp fire that some idiot (and I use that word lightly) hadn't bother to put out. To top off the blatant stupidity of not dousing their fire, the fire circle was full of half-melted plastic bottles, metal trash, and various other things that have no business being in a fire at all. "What a bunch of maroons."
   So we did our good deed for the day: broke up the fire, doused it with lake water, and pulled all the non-burnables out of the fire ring. And then we were able to continue our nice walk from which we were so rudely and anonymously interrupted. 

    From the "beach", I'd seen cool point of land with some great rock formations --------> that I didn't think my geologist wife had seen, so I steered us in that direction. The rocks sticking up out of the ground in this photo are also limestone. There's not much of it in Massachusetts, and most of it that is is in the Berkshires. This particular formation involves nearly vertical strata. Rock forms in horizontal layers, so somewhere in the geological past, there was enough upheaval to push the leading edge up so far that it's done practically a 90° turn from it original formative position.
    See, I didn't know that before I hooked up with Nancy, so it's kind of cool knowing these things now and actually seeing them in nature. She's good for me.
    To add to our pleasure, Nancy found a wooden handled spatula in great shape, and I found one of those big plastic curved scoop toys used for throwing a ball with. Treasures! 

    We spent about an hour at Burbank Park before heading into town where Audrey & Michael's new home is just a few blocks from the rotary in the center of Pittsfield. When we got there, Audrey wasn't home yet, so Michael gave us a little tour of the place, we spent some quality time with their cats, and Michael filled us in on the legal ordeal they've been going through with their previous landlord... hence the new home.

    By the time Audrey got home, it was nearly time for us to go, so we lugged this big, huge tv out to my truck, along with the cabinet it sits on and a bag full of video cassettes which they "can't play anymore".

    When we got home an hour later, our housemate's boyfriend Joe helped me schlepp the big lug into the house (thanks, Joe) while Nancy put together a quick dinner (thanks, Nancy) which we enjoyed in front of our brand new tv (thanks Audrey & Michael).

    So, we went to three sites, visited with Nancy's relatives, got a free 36" tv, a bag of movies, a free spatula, and a big blue scoopy thingy throwing toy. Not bad for all in one day! 

    Carol Boles from Carol's Main Events <eventsbycab@cox.net> called me three days ago in desperation. Some unprofessional person she had booked months ago for an event today had just canceled. On a referral from Ed Popielarczk ("the balloon guy") of Ed's Magical Moments <edpop.com>, Carol gave me a call. It was just total luck for both of us that I was available in the afternoon on a weekend in July at last minute notice.

    So today, I entertained for two hours at the MicroTek company picnic at the pavilion out back at Summit View Banquet on Rte 5 at the north end of Holyoke MA. Let me tell you, Carol puts on a terrific event! I recommend her heartily!
    First of all, there was the standard dj, balloon guy (not Ed, he was booked elsewhere), face painter, and good food. Each of these was quite good. But wait, there's more. Carol also booked a massage therapist to to 10-minute chair massages. What a great idea! Now there's something that every single adults would enjoy! Okay, that's good, but wait, there's more. She also hired a professional photographer to not only take pictures or the event, but also to take free family portraits of any families (or groups) that wanted a group photograph. And the coolest part was that she had instant printing on site and nice 9x12 (or so) frames to put the photos in so that everyone could take their family portrait home today! Another just wonderful idea.

    On top of all that, I was there actively entertaining the kids for two hours as. I began with Stiltwalking & the Aerial Delights Show, an up-in-the-air extravaganza on stilts. For the second Â½ hour, we played Parachute Games (see The Outdoor Special) with the kids (and some adults!), followed a Â½ hour of active games for the teens: The On-the-Go High-Octane Special. And the final Â½ hour was Project: Ribbon Dancer, a combination craft project, party favor, and really cool toy.

    Also, the decorations were fun, people were pleased with the food, and they had these unique pens shaped like the company logo: a pair of pliers! ↓

     All in all, it was a terrific event!

 

 

    This evening, my lovely wife's college chum Jocelyn arrived for a several-day visit. I met her once 10 years ago, but haven't seen her since. She and Nancy got along well at their alma mater, so they had a grand time catching up before Nancy got too tired to stay awake any longer. Jocelyn's interested in checking out the Pioneer Valley, so tomorrow, they're going to spend the entire day touring the area together. They'll have a real good time. And then Tuesday, the three of us will be doing some more group exploration.

 

    For the 7th time since the year 2000, I spent a full day at the Glastonbury CT KinderCare. Nearly every year, they book me to come in and do one of my very popular 1-day residencies as an "in-house field trip".
    It works like this: they have seven classrooms sorted by age (of course). One of those is the babies and toddlers, who don't need entertainment, so there's six groups I work with while I'm there. The office sets up a schedule that always has me working with the three younger groups in the morning and the three older groups in the afternoon.

    So today, I drove an hour south to Glastonbury, did three 45-minute shows in a row without any time in between, then I had a half hour lunch break, and then I did three 1-hour shows in the afternoon also without any breaks in between. And then I drove the hour home again. It was absolutely fabulous! I LOVE MY JOB!

    It was great to see the kids who saw me last year again. It was great to teach them some New Games. It was wonderful that several of the staff mentioned out loud that they definitely wanted to play these games with the kids again. It was great to be back at Glastonbury KinderCare again. Plus, on the way there, I found a great new short-cut that avoids all the Hartford rush hour traffic. YAY!  

      

    What a great FUN kind of day! Nancy & I and her visiting friend Jocelyn went to Shelburne Falls MA where we visited McCuskers Market, the Bridge of Flowers, and the Glacial Potholes. We tried to go to High Ledges, too, but the gate was closed for some reason and we didn't have time to walk the mile in and the mile back, so we drove to the top of Mount Sugarloaf in Deerfield instead.
    Here's some of my lovely wife's terrific photos of the day's excursion:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Clockwise from lower left: Glacial Potholes, a tiger lily at the Bridge of Flowers, looking north on the Bridge of Flowers, me on the Bridge of Flowers, and the view north from the top of the lookout tower on top of Mount Sugarloaf (which, by the way, is the most photographed and in print view of the Connecticut River).

 

 

 

    Quietly but quickly, a small group of dedicated people is working to create a new, arts-based, modern church called "Gateways" in the Pioneer Valley. Tonight was the first meeting of the Gateways Outreach committee. I was very pleased. This is going to be so cool!  

 

    Today, on a referral from someone at Acton MA KinderCare (where I'll be performing on Monday), I entertained for Nicole Nelson's last day at Westborough MA KinderCare. Her mom Cathy booked me to celebrate her "moving up". So I had about 25 kids in a day care classroom that had about 4" of ceiling clearance when I was on my stilts. The kids were telling me ahead of time as I was putting on my stilts that I was going to "hit the ceiling". I guess that's better than hitting the roof!

    Anyways, lots of laughter, lots of FUN, and sweet little Nicole was a charming hostess, both outgoing and modest. What a delightful child!

    Plus, I'd never performed at this particular day care center before, but now they've expressed interest in booking me themselves. So thanks to Cathy not only for booking me but also for the introduction.

 

    Sharon Conaci has booked me twice for her daughter's birthday party, so it was a cool when she called again, but this time for her husband Tony Conaci's 40th birthday celebration! 

    After what sure smelled like a terrific home-cooked dinner, all 25 or so of Tony's guests packed into the Conaci's living/dining room area for The Party Game Show: an hour of inter-active, social, good-clean-fun party games for adults.
    In between mixing margaritas for his buds, Tony sure was having a blast playing the games with his friends. He particularly seemed to enjoy the stand-up partner games, especially Quick Draw and People to People.
     After the show, every single person took one of my souvenir "I had FUN with TREVOR" stickers! That doesn't always happen with adults. Sure, the women all take one, but lots of men are just too cool for stickers! But these guys understand the pleasure of the little things in life. (That's my story and I'm sticking with it.)

 

 

    When I got home, my wife met me in the driveway all fretful and worrisome because she'd just gotten an email from my older brother Ross saying that my ← Pop was doing kind of poorly and there's a possibility he may not make it. So that kind of took the wind out of my sails.
    My Pop is a terrific man, and I love him dearly. He's lead a very full life as a father, husband, minister, editor, and Swedenborg crusader among other things.

    Yay POP!

 

    Three important things in my life today:

    1. I did a repeat performance at the Acton KinderCare in Acton MA. They have this little tiny stage in a fairly small room with a fairly low ceiling, so when I put on my stilts and stand up, not only do I have to take of my tall Cat In The Hat hat, but my head still touches the ceiling! But we entertainers make do. The kids had a grand time. And it was great after the show to do my Project: Ribbon Dancer with the older kids, too.

    2. My lovely wife got officially accepted to Simmons College!!! She's going to go back to school to learn how to be a science librarian. She's all excited about it. And I'm very excited for her. I took her out to dinner at an expensive restaurant to celebrate.

    3. Got word from my older brother Ross that Pop is (relatively) okay. Ross drove from his home on the west coast of Vermont to my parents home near Brunswick Maine and took Pop directly to the local V.A. Hospital. Turns out Pop had some sort of food poisoning and was severely dehydrated because he hadn't been eating or drinking much of anything since he first got sick two weeks ago. It's a great relief to know that lots of water and bedrest was all he needed to turn it around.

 

    Today I did a little, harmless boo-boo: I arrived at my gig 3 hours early. I usually try to arrive 30-45 minutes early. So I decided to explore a nearby park or nature area. I pulled out my map book and found a good possibility only about 10 minutes away: Riverside Park in Haverhill MA. 

    On the way there, however, I passed a very nice, brand-new looking sign for the Buttonwood Riverside Trail on the northern bank of the Merrimack River on Rtes 97 & 113 . The sign was new, but the trail was obviously not maintained. The first part of it was along the top of a wide cement retaining wall along the edge of the river. It was so overgrown with weed trees (like sumacs) that I was continuously bending back and breaking off branches just so I could get by. Then it became a very narrow dirt path that was even more overgrown. The views of the river were wonderful, but after ten minutes of trail clearing, when I came to a set of stair back up to the street, I took them rather than continue along the river trail. It had such potential.
    So I walked back to my car on the sidewalk and drove the rest of the way to Riverside Park. First, I sat at the bottom of a set of stairs made of railroad crossties right on the edge a little  river beach and read my "emergency book" that I always keep in my gig bag.

    Then I explored the park along the river banks. The first thing I found was a nice viewing area with benches and tables and a great view of the river. So after a nice lunch there, I continued along the path. It entered the woods and turned to dirt, just ambling along the edge of the river. A young couple passed me on mountain bikes, and then an elderly couple walking in the opposite direction. It was a really nice walk.
   Then I drove back to North Andover MA for yet another repeat performance, this time at the Brooks School Day Camp. I've led a Cooperative Play Staff Development Trainings for their summer camp staff orientation several times over the last decade,  but this time I got to work with some of the campers! Specifically their "Group Four" campers, who are the 11-12 year olds. It was my job to teach each of the three Group Four units some new outdoor active games, so this definitely called for my On-the-Go High-Octane Special. We played Fishy Fishy, Lemonade, Elbow Tag, Smaug's Jewels, Triangle Tag, Everybody's It, Buddy Tag, Catch the Dragon's Tail, and the incomparable May I Borrow Your Cat? and maybe a few others I'm not recalling right now. 

    Several times during the three sessions, the kids complained loudly when it was time for the next game because they were having so much fun with the one we were playing. But they also liked the next one just as much. Afterwards, each group kind of gushed and enthused about how much fun they had. And, of course, I was delighted.

    When I got home, I googled the Buttonwood Riverside Trail, and the sole entry was a newspaper article about two local Boy Scouts who made Eagle Scout for clearing the trail, making and putting up that brand-new sign, and putting in some viewing benches, too. They'd probably be disappointed to know that their hard work clearing the trail has pretty much been negated. Oh well.
    I was actually hoping for a trail map, but it obviously didn't exist on-line, so I checked out the satellite view on Google Maps. It sure seems like that trail goes along the edge of the river for nearly four miles all the way to Riverside Park!

 

     My lovely wife Nancy came along for the ride today to my gig at the Gale Free Library in Holden MA ----> and took a whole bunch of terrific pictures for me. What a gorgeous, old, stone building this library is, with an impressive 2-story modern addition on one side.
    Children's librarian Beverly Dineen had called me that morning to say that she had reserved a parking spot for me nearest to their outside stage.  But still she was waiting for me out in the parking lot when we arrived anyways. Their outside stage is a 2-tiers platform under a HUGE, amazingly large beech tree. â†“   So today, it was my immense pleasure  perform under this stunning 

tree with audience members carefully spread out only in the more- than- ample  shade of this leafy giant. Just to give you an idea of  the sheer size of this tree, my red suitcase  that you can see  the top half of near the center of the bottom edge of the photo... that suitcase is more than two feet wide! There was way more shade on one side of the yard than the other, so the audience was sort of in a large "L" shape with the tall part of the letter stretching out away from one corner of the stage.

    After my Stiltwalking and the Aerial Delights Show, I pulled out my large parachute and got a several dozen kids and a dozen or so parents all playing parachute games together.!↓

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

         And then for the third ½-hour, it was time for Project: Ribbon Dancer, a combination craft project, party favor, and really cool, simple toy!  With the help of several very helpful parent volunteers, we streamlined this and managed to make and help the kids decorate the handles of their very own Ribbon Dancer that they then got to play with and take home! YAY!!!

 

    Then after a delightful scenic drive up Rte 68 and west across Rte 2, we had another delicious Scooter meal together on the patio in our backyard. After Nancy went to bed, I put together this blog entry and also inserted several of my show page for Project: Ribbon Dancer. This improved this page considerably. Yipee! Yahoo! and Wahhoolazooma! In a word: wowser!

 

    Two birthday parties today.

    First, about 15 kids and a few parents gathered for Nalaysza Moczo's 10th birthday party in Amherst MA. When I first arrived, I had a little trouble finding their apartment because of the weird way the apartments are lettered. But we were going to be outside anyways, so it didn't really matter. Grouped in the shade of the only tree in the huge lawns at the Southpoint Apartments complex, a wonderfully mixed group of kids laughed their way through the first part of The Outdoor Special. Then the birthday girl in her pretty floral print dress decided she'd rather play parachute games as opposed to running games for the second part because it was pretty hot. Wise girl. So after the usual assortment of laughs, giggles, yelling, and whooping during the Parachute Play, we all gathered back in the shade of that lonely tree again for Project: Ribbon Dancer... and the kids all did an awesome job decorating the handle of their new toy! Happy birthday, Nalaysza!

    Second, a much smaller group of only 7 kids gathered for Mia Ezell's 7th birthday party in Springfield MA. Her mom Tunisia booked me nine years ago for a small Halloween party in their old apartment in Forest Acres. But life goes on, and now they live in a house with a nice aboveground pool in the backyard. All the kids had obviously been swimming already when I arrived, and were busy eating fried chicken and chips. So I entertained them with portions of my Aerial Delights Show (not on stilts) while they finished eating. All part and parcel of the entertainer's life: you just have to deal with the way it is. We barely had room for my small parachute between the pool and the garage, but the birthday girl in her pretty pink bathing suit finally laughed during the first game! Yay Mia!! I was afraid that during the game of Popcorn, some of the plush toys that we bounce around on top of the parachute would end up in the pool, but they didn't at all... they ended up on the garage roof! We managed to get them down with the pool's long-handled skimmer net. Good thing we were between a pool and a garage! And a good time was had by all. Happy birthday, Mia!

 

    This afternoon, my lovely wife and I went to a matinee showing of The Visitor at the newly re-opened Pleasant Street Theater ---------------> in Northampton MA. It's about a Connecticut professor who goes to his New York City apartment to find a couple of squatters living there. It both poignant and depressing in its betrayal of the U.S. immigration system.

    It was drizzling a little when we left the theater, but when we got home we found it must have been a brief but massive storm because there were a lot of big branches down and our outside stuff was blown all over the place: chairs overturned, play equipment halfway across the yard, playhouse flattened, etc. Even our flat, little, rubber door mat had been blown all the way across our porch and was hidden in the rhododendron bush! And the southbound lane of Interstate 91 (that's only a block from our house) was at a standstill and backed up for miles because a tree had come down across the highway and took out a car and put two people in the hospital. Whoa!

    We had left a few windows open. All the ones on the west and south side of our house had let in significant amounts of rain. Nancy's cookbooks got wet again. And the heavy fluted-edged glass cups (called "spooners") ----------> that usually stand in that empty space behind them on the windowsill over the kitchen sink were now standing on the counter. They'd been blown off the windowsill, but had somehow remained upright!  Simply amazing.

 

    Got up around 6:15. Left about 6:45. Drove to R.E.A.D.S. Collaborative Academy in Middleboro MA where I first worked with the 35 or so jr. and sr. high school students and then the 35 or so other READS kids at the elementary school! What FUN! All the way there, I was wondering if the staff would want me to do a stage show or if one of my more active programs would be more appropriate... especially with the upper grades.
     It was good to find that they agreed with me. So today I had about 35 teenagers ages 13-18 plus 15-20 staff in a grassy area beside the school parking lot enjoying The On-the-Go High-Octane Special. We played Elbow Tag, Smaug's Jewels, Lemonade, Everybodys It & Everybody's It Triple Tag, Buddy Tag, Doctor Tag, and maybe a few others that I'm not remembering right now. The teens who played (and not all of them did) sure seemed to be having a blast! Lots of FUN. Lots of excitement. Great group. The games were a blast. And all the teens wanted a souvenir "I had FUN with TREVOR" sticker, too. When I told them to visit my website, some of the kids said, "We did. We already checked you out," with big grins on their faces! Cool.

    And then an hour later a few miles away at the elementary school, once again the staff and I ended up readily agreeing on format and location. So this time, I had about 35 kids ages 5-12 plus 15-20 staff in an air conditioned, mostly-cleared, 2nd floor classroom. I did a ½-hour show and then a Â½ hour of mostly active games. We played Who's the Leader?, Elbow Tag, Smaug's Jewels, Amateur Detective, and Instant Everybody's It.  And this time, not only did everyone have a blast and all the kids want one of my stickers, but also, most of the teachers  took a sticker and/or my brochure. Cool.

 

    ← My younger brother Lee lives in Middleboro, and it turns out I had most of an hour of free time between the two schools, so I was able to pay him a surprise visit. (I didn't know if I was going to be able to or not.) He was pretty surprised to open his front door at 11:10 a.m. and see me standing there! It was a brief but thoroughly enjoyable visit. We had a quick but nice chat about our ailing father, family scandal, and what we're each up to. Then the 20 minutes I had was over. I could have stayed a little longer, but I didn't realize that the READS elementary school was practically around the corner from his house!

 

    This morning, my lovely wife left her devoted husband and furry kitty home all alone and left on vacation several days early. She is the registrar for our summer camp in Maine and went up early to help our lifelong friend Lee Dyer clean cabins.

    So when the cats away, the mouse will follow any old eating and sleeping schedule and location he jolly well feels like!

    This afternoon, we had a Gateways Outreach committee meeting at the Haymarket Cafe in Northampton MA. Gateways in the new church were starting in Western Mass., and our outreach committee sure has it's work cut out for it! Despite the fact that our fearless outreach leader couldn't be there today, we had a very efficient and effective meeting. One of our latest task is to select a tag line, a catch phrase, a little ditty of some sort to attach to our church name. So far, I'm not drawn to any of the current crop of suggestions, but I'm sure we'll come up with something that works.

 

    And today, I helped our new minister the Rev Hunter Roberts -------------> move some furniture into her new apartment in Northampton. The original plan had us being done by 2:00, but I didn't get home until nearly 5:00. Such is moving.

trevor@trevorthegamesman.com

PO Box 463, Haydenville, MA 01039