Date: Fri 20-Aug-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Gaudet-Weber-Anderson-Ashlar

Full Text:

One Final Note...

(with photos)

BY SHANON HICKS

Talk about tempting fate.

As far as superstitious days go, there isn't a day on the calendar that brings

out more harbingers of doom and gloom than a Friday the 13th. So when the

final concert of Booth Library's summer concert series was announced as August

13 -- a Friday -- psychics could have had a lot of fun predicting all kinds of

treacherous things that could have happened during a concert of the

husband-wife duo The Denns.

The concert at the library last week was the final concert for this year's

free summer series. At Ashlar of Newtown, a similar series wrapped up its free

concerts earlier this week. Hard to believe, but at mid-August music lovers

are already saying goodbye to another summer.

By the time the 7:30 starting time rolled around last Friday evening at the

library in Newtown, the winds were kicking up and the sky had a dreadfully

ominous look to it. Right up to showtime at Booth Library, organizers of the

three-concert series at Newtown's library were trying to decide whether last

week's show should remain an outdoor event or be moved into the library's

meeting room.

Kim Weber, the adult programs coordinator at Booth Library, felt the show's

spirit would have been compromised if it had been moved indoors. Mrs Weber

crossed her fingers and the show went on as planned on the library's back

lawn.

"At quarter to 7 -- 45 minutes before the show -- we made the decision to stay

outside," Mrs Weber said this week. "It was between me and Val Denn, and it

was really up to what she wanted to do. It was just much better to keep it

outside." Valerie and James Denn were the evening's performers.

The clouds continued to roll ominously, and the wind almost roared a few

times, but Friday's concert by The Denns was a welcome return by the Texas

duo. A smaller crowd turned out for the show than the couple attracted last

year, but the weather certainly had a lot to do with the low attendance.

Those who did turn out -- armed with chairs and blankets, picnic baskets and

plastic forks -- were some of the smartest in town, because the show was

another wonderful mix of old-fashioned country and western, popular tunes of

years gone by, and original songs the couple has written about everything from

home-grown tomatoes to their plans for retirement.

Children danced and chased each other around the lawn area. Grown-ups chatted

with companions and with groups on blankets next to them. About 60 people

enjoyed the show.

"This is really good," commented Lisa Chaloux, who was at the concert last

week with her husband, Stephen, and their two children. The Chaloux daughters,

Nicole and Danielle, were among the children who were on their feet from the

opening song to the last note Friday night, dancing in their black leotards

with each other and then with other children who joined the fun as the concert

went on.

One thing the library did this year with the concerts was change the set-up of

the shows so that the musicians were at the lower end of the back lawn, while

the audience was sitting on the upward slope. Past summers have had the

performers at the top of the hill, facing into the woods.

The new arrangement took advantage of the lawn's natural amphitheater setting,

bringing the music directly to the audience with a lower degree of disturbance

to surrounding properties.

The free concert series is hosted annually by Booth Library. Earlier shows

this year were performed by the Easton Banjo Society in June, and the Sandy

Hook trio Treblehook in July. Mrs Weber said the library tries to offer

different sounds during each concert in order to attract a variety of music

lovers.

"Overall, attendance was very good this year," Mrs Weber said. "The last one

was poor, but we had between 150 and 200 people during the first two. The

Chamber of Commerce had its picnic during the first concert, which of course

drew people in, and Treblehook has a really big following in the area.

"People came to all three with wine and picnics. Grandmas and grandpas came

with their children and grandchildren. It turned out to be exactly as we had

hoped: it was something for all ages."

Summer Sounds At Ashlar

At Ashlar of Newtown, the annual Summer Sounds concert series, also was an

attraction for all ages. Presented on the grounds of the skilled nursing and

assisted living facility on Toddy Hill Road, the concert series was guaranteed

a large audience for each show, but a large number of people also came from

the community to enjoy the shows.

Like the Booth Library series, Summer Sounds 99 presented free concerts open

to the public by myriad performers. Ashlar's series also was set up to attract

music lovers of all ages, and by the looks of the crowd at the August 17

concert by Easton Banjo Society, the public certainly answered the call.

Carl Anderson has been scheduling the Sounds of Summer series since its

inception 13 year ago. Thanks to good evening weather, Mr Anderson's crowds

were good all summer.

"The weather was really beautiful this year, we had wonderful groups

performing, and we have a great, loyal, supportive audience."

Summer Sounds '99 presented six concerts this year, beginning June 15 with The

Berkshire Big Band. Subsequent concerts, held just about every other Tuesday,

were performed by The Galvanized Jazz Band, The Brass Guild Quintet,

Housatonic Dixieland Jazz Band, The Frank Porta Band, and then this week's

act, the Easton Banjo Society. Nearly 200 people turned out for that show,

with chairs set up in tight configurations for the 7 pm event.

Mary Gaudet-Wilson was at a few of this year's Ashlar concerts. Her husband

Jim taped the shows for Charter Communications, to be shown on the cable

company's local access station. Some of the concerts have already been aired,

and Mr Anderson expects the entire series will be re-broadcast during the next

few months.

"I think most of those chairs were full last night," Mrs Gaudet-Wilson said

Wednesday afternoon. "The crowd was certainly much larger than for the Big

Band show we went to earlier, but people seemed to enjoy that earlier show

just as much.

"You get a lot of participation at shows like these," she continued. "People

are clapping, or tapping their feet, even bobbing their heads. They're

obviously having a good time."

Even very noticeable Tuesday night was that the band itself seemed to be

having a lot of fun performing for the large crowd. The men were laughing and

joking among themselves, and encouraging the audience participation. Children

were dancing just a few feet away from the front row of the band, which only

seemed to add to everyone's enjoyment of the summer evening.

"I think that was part of the appeal," pointed out Mrs Gaudet-Wilson. "Those

guys seemed to be having fun among themselves, and that kind of thing is just

contagious."

Like the concert series at the library, the Ashlar concerts are meant to be

enjoyed by the entire community, which was something else Mrs Gaudet-Wilson

picked up on immediately.

"The thing that was nice was that there was a mixture of ages. There were a

lot of folks who live right there at Ashlar, but there were also young folks

there, too," she said. Mr Anderson agreed, estimating the crowds at the

concerts tend to be about one-third Ashlar residents and two-thirds members of

the community.

Kim Weber, at Booth Library, and Carl Anderson at Ashlar are both already at

work thinking about the groups who will be performing at their respective

venues next summer. While it may not feel like the end of the season outside,

the concert calendars have been wiped clean for another summer in Newtown.