Sounds & Sights of Summer a season of great celebrations By collette caprara Market Square to the delight of all.
By the delight and exuberance of folks who hailed in the first events of this year's Sounds and Sights of Summer, this is going to be a season of great celebration. The buzz and laughter of hundreds of delighted families, couples, and friends who strolled the streets drifted through the night air on June's First Friday, as the Free Trolley ridership soared. The pulsebeat of joy continued as Seth Casana's rambunctious walking disco pulsated through the streets and joined a host of buskers stationed along Caroline Street, including the longstanding wildly popular warblers, Peter Mealy and Laurie Rose Griffith whose voices floated out to the crowd from their spot in front of the Visitor's Center. Meanwhile, singer/songwriter Karen Jonas and guitarist Tim Bray kicked off the first of the Sounds of Summer Concerts hosted by the Fredericksburg Area Museum in
On Saturday, crowds again filled the streets of the Burg to explore the vintage cars displayed along three blocks of Caroline Street for the 65th Annual Antique Auto show. Buddies peered under the yawning hoods of the classic cars to
On Monday, an excited crowd gathered in front of the Fredericksburg library for the launch of this year's Music on the Steps concert series, featuring none other than the cheereliciting loveable antics and delightful sounds of the Elby Brass Band. Brought to their feet by the irresistible beat, 60ssomething folks were clearly transformed in time to their smooth dance moves of yesteryear, while the indefatigable young'uns flailed their limbs and jumped up and down ceaselessly, and music crossed all boundaries of age or background. O
inspect the shiny mint-conditioned engines and parts that makes things go, while some of the lady-folk thought about what life must have been at the time of those Model T's and reminisced about family outings taken in those friendly smiley sedans or the big-finned convertibles that once paraded their stuff on the streets. I thought about my high-school friends who once owned a 1950s Packard and 1960s MG. Meanwhile, a grandfather was trying to explain the snack tray affixed to the outside of a Chevy car window, saying, "No, it wasn't exactly a drive-through window." And I remembered my days as a carhop at an A&W rootbeer stand. And, as a staunch fan of road maps, as opposed to the one-turn-at-a-time GPS systems, I was pleased to meet a genuine old-time service attendant at the auto show who had a pocketful!
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Tuesday, friends, families, seniors, kids, and preschoolers gathered at Memorial Park on their blankets and lawn chairs to enjoy a picnic, a performance by Karen Jonas, and each other. A g a i n , attendance for this Picnic in the Park lunch concert seemed record-breaking, as families picked up freebies and enjoyed activities provided by FXBG Parks and Rec and a host of local organizations. One crew of industrious elementary-schoolaged children organized themselves into a virtual construction crew, gathering pine needles and twigs to build a lean-to shelter
attached to a tree trunk. I had a feeling this joy-filled crowd would linger even after the last note of the concert. Yes, it was a fun-filled, uplifting weekend of the launch of the sounds and sights of summer. The delight was palpable and best expressed by the audacious, celebratory, cheer-along song of Elby Brass Band: "DTF! DTF! Downtown Fredericksburg!!!!" Collette Caprara is a local writer and artist with Brush Strokes Gallery. Check Calendar for July Events, Activities, & Concerts
BEGINS IN JUNE front porch fredericksburg
July 2022
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