2007 Summer Art Series Schedule
Shows start at 7pm at the Westelcom Stage, Downtown Plattsburgh. Admission is FREE!
Donation Buttons on sale prior to concert.
JULY 13th
"Father & Son Night" featuring Lucid and Blind Pigs Blues Band. Fund raiser for Strand Theatre Project.
JULY 14th
"Reggae Fest" featuring Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad and Slow Natives.
JULY 21st
"Gospel Night" featuring The Malawi Youth Choir and The Lake Champlain Mass Choir (at the Presbyterian Church on Brinkerhoff Street).
JULY 28th
"Country Music Jamboree" featuring Keegan Nolan and Branded. Fund raiser for Kent-Delord House.
AUGUST 4th
"Family Day" featuring Adirondack Regional Theatres Seussical Jr. (Matinee and Evening Shows).
The Slow Natives get things grooving with a little music Saturday during the reggae Fest as part of the Summer Concert Series at the Westelcom Pops Stage in Plattsburgh. Also performing was the band Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad.
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Father, Son Musical Tradition to
Rock Art Series
By STEVE OUELLETTE
Press Republican Features Editor
There is much that fathers can hand down to their sons. Wise sayings. Financial dvice. Fishing tips.
For the Wurster clan, however, a legacy of music is the, most important parental gift.
“Music is very powerful,”’ said George Wurster, lead singer and harmonica player for the Blind Pigs Blues Band. “It can do a lot of things for a lot of people. It can soothe you, it can excite you, it can make you feel better ... it sounds corny, but it can bring people together.”
Music will bring George and his son Lowell together again Friday night as their respective bands kick off the Summer Art Series at the Westelcom Stage in downtown Plattsburgh.
Lowell provides drums, percussion, harmonica and vocals for one of the area’s most popular young progressive bands, Lucid, which will take the stage first at 7 p.m.
George’s band will follow, but there’s likely to be a lot of intermingling between the two bands.
“It’s not going to take long to change the set because we’re all going to leave our instruments out there,” said Lowell. “We all want to play with the those guys.”
It certainly won’t be the first time the two Wursters took the stage together.
“When 1 was six or seven he’d bring me up on stage and I’d bang around the tambourine,” said Lowell. “Growing up we were constantly surrounded by music. Not always the blues, it was a huge, wide gamut of music.
“I think (my parents) went over to the Bob Marley concert.when 1 was in the womb. That was my first concert. I looked it up on the Internet and my mom had to be seven months pregnant with me.”
George’ admits that his children showed an early aptitude for music - daughter Catie is in the underground thrash band Ota Benga,but said he never pushed them to follow his path. “Our theory, my wife and I, was to expose them to as much as possible, musically, socially, culturally, and never pressure them to go in any specific direction,” he said. “But they were real receptive to music; they grasped it, embraced it and still do.”
The two diverse bands first shared a stage together at a “Help Feed Your Neighbor” fundraiser at Olive Ridley’s in Plattsburgh in January. It was the Blind Pig Blues Band’s first show ‘after a long hiatus and the room was packed.
“It was our first time back
in the spotlight and it was just humbling the number of people who came out,” said George. ‘
The Blind Pig Blues Band ended up jamming with several members of Lucid and other bands in attendance in a joyous convergence of sound.
Since that time, George has attended several Lucid shows, and is invariably invited up on stage by his son.
“If there’s one person I don’t mind being shown up by, it’s my dad,” said Lowell.
“It’s been interesting seeing him play with a band that isn’t very structured. At first he was a little uncomfortable, I could tell, but when he got into the whole free-form jam thing - that’s what we do, we’ll play our songs a hundred different ways - he got really good at it.”
“They keep me on my toes,” said George, with a shrug. “We play the same song on different nights and they come at them in a completely different way... but it’s fun to play with the young guys.”
Friday night’s performance kicks off a month-long series of shows.
Saturday is the Reggae Fest, featuring Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad and Slow Natives.
Saturday, July 21 is Gospel Night, followed by the Country Music Jamboree on July 28 and, on the first weekend of August, performances of
“Seussical Jr.” by the Adirondack Regional Theatre.
Irises Cafe and Wine Bar Executive Chef David Allen's (right) Seven Bean and Fire Chili with Sweet Port Reduction was voted the best chili during the Plattsburgh Downtown Association's Cabin Fever contest. Downtown Association President Chris Dominianni (left) said more than 120 people paid $5 for buttons that allowed them to vote for their favorite chili and to attend concerts.
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Cabin Fever Chili Cookoff Winners Announced
By DAN HEATH Press Republican Staff Writer
PLATTSBURGH - The Plattsburgh Downtown Association has presented the Chili Bowl to the winner of its Cabin Fever Chili Cookoff. The trophy, two peppers and a tomato in a gold-colored chalice, was presented Monday to Irises Cafe and Wine Bar Executive Chef David Allen for his Seven Bean and Fire Chili with Sweet Port Reduction. Allen said it’s a traditional chili with seven beans added for color. “The port reduction is an extra flavor. It adds sweetness to offset the acidity.” Allen said the chili will be available at the restaurant this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, a chance for those who missed the event to try his creation. Cafe Cumberland’s Apple Cider Chili came in second. Manager Kevin Hough said the recipe was a team effort. “It is kind of unique, because there’s no cider,” Hough said. The cider flavor comes from concentrated cider vinegar, combined with other ingredients, such as hot sauce and worcestershire sauce. “When you get those three going, there’s a lot of stuff going on,” Hough said. “You could taste it in the air.” He said the chili should be available at the restaurant all week. “After last year, we had a spike in business for a couple weeks. We’re looking forward to that.” Campus Corner’s traditional chili finished in. third place. Co-owner Kathy Nephew said the chili is well received by I customers. I “We run it as a special, mostly in the winter,” she said. Co-owner Susan Upton said the cookoff was interesting and they would like to enter. again next year. “This was our first year. It was the first time we were asked,” she said. The Great Adirondack Soup Company took first prize in the vegetarian division. Bradley Griese created the vegan recipe, which featured a tomato-pumpkin base instead of a traditional tomato base. “It was designed to simulate a meat texture by using quinoa and bulgar,” Griese said. Downtown Association President Chris Dominianni said several people made positive comments on their ballots, particularly about Minnie’s creole-style. chili with shrimp, black beans and chorizo and Olive Ridley’s white bean and chicken chili. More than 120 people paid $5 for the buttons, which allowed them to judge the 13 chili recipes and attend concerts at the Soup Company and the North Country Cultural Center for the Arts. The concerts were well received, Dominianni said. People particularly liked the variety of music at the Cultural Center for the Arts, with acoustic, folk, gospel and a capella performances, he said. “A lot of people also came to hear Lucid and stayed at the Great Adirondack Soup Company.” Right after the chili judging started, there was a line right out the door, Dominianni said. “So many people came at once, we had to send some out with takeout containers.” The event will be held someplace with more room next year. Dominianni would like to see four or five venues for entertainment spread throughout downtown. Hough said the event was a lot of fun, mainly thanks to Dominianni and his wife, Laura. “They put a lot of labor into this. Hat’s off to him,” he said.
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Momentum on Downtown's Side
Press Republican "Viewpoint"
August 10, 2007
It appears the Plattsburgh Downtown Association is becoming more of an active player in its efforts to attract people to the inner city instead of sitting on the sidelines waiting for things to happen. We like it.
On the heels of its successful Gumbo and Jambalaya Challenge last month - we say successful in that around 60 people showed" up on a largely lousy day weather-wise and paid five bucks to sample different recipes and vote for their favorites - are plans to further expand the group's offerings.
Another cook-off is planned to coincide with the Wal-Mart BFL fishing tournament Sept. 22 and 23. This time it'll be a chowderfest. The food-themed events appear to be popular around here, and with the bass fishermen in town, success is almost guaranteed.
Association President Chris Dominianni tells us the group is looking to build on its successes this summer. In fact, it's looking for an events manager; someone who could put in a couple hours a week to organize fundraising, membership drives and plan events. He or she would be compensated on a commission basis for their work.
That tells us the association is serious about its mission.
The Summer Arts Series has been a real plus. Performances by local musicians like Lucid and the Blind Pig Blues Band attracted almost 200 people, to the Westelcom State on Durkee Street on a recent Saturday. One hundred and twenty five people or so attended the Reggae Fest the next day.
A precedent-setting event this summer was the Country Music Jamboree, emceed by Eagle 97.5, a country-music radio station from Vermont. The association will attempt to build on that event to entice other radio stations in the region to participate in events next year.
Building on prior successes and improving on them is just the thing that will bring people downtown, whatever the season. And we're talking about locals and visitors alike.
Local residents, exposed to events like the specialty food cook-offs and the Summer Arts Series, will support the association's endeavors as long as they're exciting, innovative and fun. And if they're family oriented, all the better.
The association's efforts, though, take time and energy - sometimes lots of both. And it's imperative that downtown's business people jump in with both feet in order to sustain the inner city's ability to transform itself into a destination point.
Downtown appears to have the momentum on its side. It's important that it maintain that and build on it.
It takes people and ideas. And the North Country region has plenty of both.
To find out more about the association, its goals and to offer input, we suggest you go to the group's Web site: www. plattsburghdowntown.com.
Get involved.
Karen Browne of Lloyd's Fish Fry scatters some filé powder across a bowl of the restaurant's seafood gumbo. The recipe netted first place in the Plattsburgh Downtown Association's Gumbo and Jambalaya Challenge.
Downtown Group Names Winners in Hot Food Challenge
By DAN HEATH
Press Republican Staff Writer
PLATTSBURGH - The Plattsburgh Downtown Association announced the winners of its Gumbo and Jambalaya Challenge.
Lloyd’s Fish Fry netted first place for its seafood gumbo. Karen Browne, who is temporarily helping her father, Lloyd Browne, run the restaurant, said the recipe was more of a northern seafood gumbo.
“Traditional Louisiana gumbo is not red. Up north, people tend to put tomato in it,” she said.
Ingredients included oysters, shrimp, clams, whiting, stew tomatoes, celery, onions and garlic. Tasters were provided file powder, the ground, dried leaves of the sassafras tree, which is used to flavor and thicken the gumbo after cooking.
Browne said the gumbo has been a popular item at the restaurant, located at the corner of Margaret Street and Protection Avenue. It is served with rice and cornbread, she said.
Browne said she enjoyed taking part in the contest, which was to help raise money for the Downtown Association’s Summer Art Series.
Second place went to S&K’s Campus Corner, while third place went to Livingood’s. The top three recipes will be posted on the Downtown Association Web site, www.plattsburghdowntown.com.
Downtown Association President Chris Dominianni said about 60 people showed up despite a largely overcast day. They paid $ 5 for the chance to taste the different recipes and vote for their favorites.
He said the community has been receptive to the downtown cookoffs.
“They are a popular means of getting people downtown,” Dominianni said. “We are hoping to have a similar event - a chowderfest - in the fall.”
It would tentatively be scheduled to coincide with the Wal-Mart BFL Super Tournament on Sept. 22-23.
Dominianni said the Summer Arts Series has been a success. It winds up with the Adirondack Regional Theater’s matinee and evening performance of Suessical Jr. that took place Saturday.
Performances by Lucid and The Blind Pig Blues Band the night of the Gumbo and Jambalaya Challenge attracted about 175 people to the Westelcom Stage. A portion of the proceeds from the show went to the Strand Theater restoration project, Dominianni.said.
The next night about 125 attended Reggae Fest, with performances by Slow Natives and Rochester-based Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad. The following Saturday, Gospel Night featured the Malawi Youth Choir and Lake Champlain Mass Choir in fronf of a packed house at the First Presbyterian Church, Dominianni said.
After their performances, the two groups joined together for a unique version of “Amazing Grace,” he said.
The next Saturday, Eagle 97.5 came over to emcee the Country Music Jamboree, with performances by Keeghan Nolan and Branded. In front of a crowd of about 150, Nolan performed first with Branded as her backing band, then Branded played its set.
“That set a precedent for next year. We’re going to try to bring a radio station to each event,” Dominianni said.
He said the Downtown Association is looking for an events manager, someone who could put in a couple hours a week to organize fundraising, membership drives and these type of events. They would be compensated on a commission basis for their work, Dominianni said. If interested, call him at 561-6408.
The next Downtown Association meeting will be at. 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 9 at the Key Bank branch on Brinkerhoff Street.
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2007 Cabin Fever Chili Coookoff Winners & Recipes:
1st Place - Iris's Café & Wine Bar
2nd Place - Café Cumberland
3rd Place - S&K's Campus Corner Restaurant
Contestants:
For those "Who had a particular favorite chili and wonder who cooked it, here is the identity of the numbered contest entries, as provided by Downtown Association President Chris Dominianni. The first four entrants were in the vegetarian division.
1 - Great Adirondack Soup Company.
2 - North Country Co-op.
3 - Olive Ridley's*
4 - Giovanni's
5 - Irises Cafe and Wine Bar
6 - Livingood's
7 - Duke's Diner*
8 - Minnie's*
9 - Campus Corner*
10 - Olive Ridley's*
11 - Taco Loco
12 - Cafe Cumberland
13 - Benji's Bakery and Cafe
* denotes a new entrant
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Laura Dominianni scoops chili into cups for a chili cook-off Saturday during Cabin Fever Fest 2007 at the Great Adirondack Soup Company in Plattsburgh. The downtown event took place at the North Country Cultural Center for the Arts with music by Completely STRANDed, The Strand Vocal Band, Plattsburgh State Gospel Choir and Crossing North. The well-attended cook-off featured 13 recipes for chili from area businesses.
The Plattsburgh Downtown Association meets at 8:30 a.m. on the second Thursday of each month at various locations. Membership is $30 a year. An additional $20 donation allows a member to post an 11-by-17inch advertisement on the association kiosk at the northeastern end of the Durkee Street parking lot. For more information, contact Chris Dominianni at 561-6408.
Click Here for more info.
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