Campaign sign coda

As promised, below you'll find a couple pictures of the campaign sign garden. As mentioned in an earlier post, I had to get a little creative with Gary Underwood.


Using everything I learned from all those MacGyver episodes as a kid, I jerry-rigged a bendy straw, packing tape, and the Gary Underwood flyer into a small campaign sign.


We originally planned to move the signs around just to mix it up from time to time, but that plan fell through for the most part. There was one or two reorganizations, but we all agreed we liked them in a line as shown. While it may not be Waxhaw Arts Council good, it's not too shabby. Is there a better piece of living political art in Waxhaw?

A couple art hipsters walked by one day. After declaring it "eerily bold yet arrestingly subversive," they went on to describe it as an impressive piece of folk art that "fused scandal with nature, signifying death yet still paying tribute to the thin line of rebirth; a startling exclamation tattooed onto the struggling soul of small-town Waxhaw. Love the bendy straw!"

I shrugged my shoulders and went back to raking up my leaves. We'll probably take it down tonight.

Another campaign sign

I may have maxed out the sign garden with a week to go in the election.

I got Mike Stewart's this weekend so I now have every candidate except Martin Lane and Gary Underwood. If I get any more, excellent. If not, it was a valiant effort. Although I've got my eye on some of those fancy banners; they'd make a fine addition to the garden.

Although my kids weren't quite as understanding. We were driving home today and my youngest asked "Why won't Martin Lane let us have a sign?" I don't know; I just don't know.

All kidding aside, I was really asked that question so the kids are getting a kick out of the signs. And for the record Martin did say we could have a sign, but I imagine he forgot in the hubbub of daily life which I imagine is only more amplified during election season.

On a side note, Mike Stewart actually stopped by the house to talk with me on Saturday. We couldn't speak real long since I was battling a cold, but he seemed like a pretty straightforward candidate worthy of your vote.

EDIT: fixed typo

Campaign sign garden status

When I left for work this morning, I was still holding at two campaign signs - one from Daune Gardner and one from Lisa Thornton.

I dashed off a quick email to Sean Poccia earlier today and there are apparently two unique Sean Poccia signs in my yard now as well. What can we garner from this? That Sean Poccia is a man who likes to get things done at least as far as it concerns placating local bloggers and the strange artistic demands that come with them.

Martin Lane planned to contribute as well and I've got emails out to Phillip Gregory and Mike Stewart too. I also emailed Gary Underwood, but he doesn't have any currently available.

On the neighborhood front, a representative of the homeowner's association knocked on my door to tell me that the signs couldn't be as close to the road as they were so I had to move them back. I put up quite the fight, screaming something about free speech and flailing my arms and whatnot. Actually, I was packing for a Cub Scout camping trip at the time, so some might say I was as meek as a kitten in agreeing to move them closer to the house.

He did mention that the signs weren't really allowed at all; the lack of political free speech by the HOA seems a little strange, but maybe this is par for the course as far as HOAs are concerned. I suppose I'll have to dig up the HOA contract one of these days and dig into it a bit. Time-permitting, of course.

Campaign sign garden really coming along

I came home from work yesterday afternoon to find my first campaign sign, compliments of incumbent Mayor Daune Gardner. The initial piece to my earlier discussed campaign sign garden.

Mayoral challenger Lisa Thornton is set to drop one off as well and I'll graciously accept a sign from any Waxhaw candidate, so that means you Gary Underwood, Martin Lane, Phillip Gregory Sean Poccia, and Mike Stewart. Don't be a square and stand in the way of my artistic vision!

If you'd like to increase your presence in the campaign sign garden and have multiple unique signs, you can bring one of each if you'd like.

Campaign sign garden

So far no signs are in my yard, but one candidate has offered to drop one off. If a candidate wants to donate the campaign sign garden (mentioned here), drop me an email and I can send you my address. (Or you can just look it up in the Waxhaw GIS database, I guess, but that might be considered just a tad creepy.)

If the campaign sign garden does come to fruition, it may, nay will, be my greatest visual artistic accomplishment. That's not saying a lot but it is what it is.

So if you want local politicians to contribute a sign, I suggest contacting them to have one delivered post haste. They can't ignore the people forever.

#OccupyWaxhaw, anyone?

Les Brown and his Band of Renown

If you're going to listen to a band, would you not choose a band of renown?

John Anderson writing for the Charlotte Observer has the story of Waxhaw resident Ken Dutton, who toured with Les Brown and His Band of Renown from 1936-1941. The Band of Renown even has some CDs available at Amazon.

The "Live at the Palladium" show, unfortunately, was taped in 1953 so it was performed long after Ken Dutton left the band. It'd be neat to dig up recordings from the time he was in the renowned band. I'm not sure if there's any circulating

I wanted to highlight this week's ago, but what can I say? I've been busy.

Read the whole thing.

"Jesu of Fondue" opens this weekend

I mentioned it earlier, but the first show of the Storefront Theatre's season opens this weekend, "Jesu of Fondue."

John Anderson, writing for the Charlotte Observer, has the story. He seems to keep a close eye on the happenings over at the Storefront Theatre. A snippet:

At 7:30 p.m. Sept. 24 and 2:30 p.m. Sept. 25 at the Museum of the Waxhaws - 704-243-7283 - The Storefront Theatre will open the season with a concert reading of "Jesu of Fondue," by Rocky Mount author and playwright Dawn DeAnna Wilson.

"It's the story of a housewife who sees the face of Jesus in a billboard advertisement for a fondue restaurant," Simpson Cook said. "That's when small-town North Carolina becomes a media circus that involves a wayward seminary student, a zealous reporter and a teenage runaway."

Sounds interesting, although I don't picture small-town North Carolina having a fondue restaurant for what it's worth. If you don't have plans, consider checking it out.

Storefront Theatre's new season

While the website hasn't yet been updated, there's an ad in September's Village News (PDF) newsletter that appears to give us a sneak peak into this season's lineup.

I imagine the Storefront Theatre's website will eventually be updated with slightly more details about the upcoming performances.

Maw Maw's last day

I realize this is terribly late, but the last performance of Maw Maw's House of Talent by The Storefront Theatre occurs this afternoon at 2.30pm.

This is their last show of the season.

John Anderson, the freelance writer who often highlights Waxhaw in his nearly weekly column, covered the play last week in the Charlotte Observer. I'm not sure why the piece runs with a giant picture of his head.

Storefront's latest

The Storefront Theatre's latest showing -- "Stories My Grandmother Told Me" -- kicks off on Saturday. For more details on the showings, see John Anderson's article in the Charlotte Observer here or get it directly from the Storefront Theatre website. Hint: Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.

A particularly interesting companion is the sponsored workshop that goes along with the performance. Entitled "The Gift of Memoir: Writing Personal and Family Stories," it costs $60 (includes a ticket to the play) and runs from 10.00am - 3.30pm on Saturday. Per the Storefront Theatre's website:

Award-winning writer and teacher, Maureen Ryan Griffin will conduct a writing workshop: The Gift of Memoir: Writing Personal and Family Stories for The Storefront Theatre. If you are interested in preserving your own tales of adventure, transition, love, loss, and triumph, as well as lovely everyday moments from times past or the present, come learn specific tools and techniques to retrieve and record them.

This sounds pretty interesting to me, but alas I will be participating in the Scouting for Food fundraiser occurring that day, so will be unable to attend. But it definitely looks worth checking out.

Another Waxhaw short film

Another Waxhaw short film, perhaps more adequately described as a music video, was brought to my attention via Facebook. Thanks for sharing, Karen! Without further ado:

Singin' In The Snow

If forced to describe it, I'd say it's not quite as sexy as Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" video and not quite as funny as Weird Al Yankovic's "Fat" video.

Performed by one of the principles of the Waxhaw Fiesta Band with cameos from his apparently rather freewheeling family.

Check it out.

UPDATE 1:06 AM: I'd be remiss if I didn't at least mention the fact that fame has apparently already corrupted him, if this illustration of him selling out to the man tells you anything. This might be slightly bigger than Bob Dylan shilling for ladies undergarments -- at least locally.

Vote Waxhaw in Reader's Digest poll

Reader's Digest is running a "We Hear You America" cheering contest where you can vote/cheer for your town to try to win a share of $5 million they're giving away. I sure hope they consider overall town population when determining rankings or most of the money will end up in large population centers. For example, at the time of this post, we had a slim lead over San Francisco. Something tells me that's not going to hold up.

For some reason, it appears the mayor (or whoever posted the blurb) wants the money for public art. Here's the blurb from the contest page.

Downtown Public Art
Daune Gardner, December 20, 2010 Downtown Waxhaw

Waxhaw is a wonderful small historic town in the rural south with a circa 1880s historic downtown commercial center. The railroad bisects the downtown area flanked on both sides by grass - referred to in Waxhaw as "the green". This area is an ideal place for the display of public art - an effort undertaken by the town's beautification committee. However, as with many public art projects, this effort is not robustly funded. Any contribution from Reader's Digest towards public art in Waxhaw would be a welcome gift and would be warmly received by the people of this lovely town!

I, on the other hand, feel that any money earned through this endeavor could be put to equally good use as a stipend for a part-time local blogger.

Curtains open at Storefront Theatre this weekend

Don't forget the curtains are pulled back this weekend for the Storefront Theatre's first performance of the season, Cerulean Blues, written by the Storefront's founder Judy Simpson Cook. My question: is the Cerulean Blues anything like the Broome Street Blues? I suspect they're two totally different things.

John Anderson of the Charlotte Observer's Neighborhood section fame has the story on how the play came to be, so check it out.

Only two performances are scheduled: one on Saturday September 18th at 7.30pm and another on Sunday September 19th at 2.30pm. I imagine seating at the Museum of the Waxhaws is pretty limited, so I'd recommend getting tickets now if you want to support the local arts.

Season tickets can now be purchased for $40. See here for details and also how to be a supporter of The Storefront Theatre via donation.

Storefront Theatre is starting up

The last we heard from The Storefront Theatre, I was surprised to discover "The Controversial Rescue of Fatty the Pig" was not kid-friendly. With a name like that, who would've thunk it?

John Anderson, who writes an occasional Waxhaw column for the Charlotte Observer, has an article on The Storefront Theatre's new season, which begins September 18th.

The scheduled performances for this season include "Cerulean Blues," "Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol," "Stories My Grandmother Told Me," and "Maw Maw's House of Talent."

For more details on these performances, read John's full article and visit The Storefront Theatre's website.

I've got an email out to Judy Simpson Cook as to the kid-friendliness of these performances. Once I hear back, I'll update you.

Derailment art

The Enquirer-Journal (and The Waxhaw Exchange before it) had an article detailing the preliminary steps in creating some derailment art by none other than the metal sculpture guy, Tom Risser. I imagine he'd be the obvious selection to create something beautiful from the wreckage.

Sherri Phengchard has the story:

It definitely looked like a train wreck, but resident John Cannamela, who lives in Magnolia Ridge, during a conversation with Mayor Daune Gardner, had an idea to creatively mold the train derailment’s destruction into something beautiful.

“I said to the mayor, ‘Why don’t you have the metal sculpture guy, who has metal sculptures all over town, make one from the train wreck?’ She said ‘I’m going to make that happen and ask,’” Cannamela said.

Gardner contacted Tom Risser, a local artist, who said he would be interested in doing the piece. She also contacted CSX who helped them contact the company that collects the scrap.

Tom's now collected enough scraps and is looking for a good idea. If you've got a good one, let him know.

Things I found on Facebook

Connor Elisabeth is setting up a new amateur theatre troupe in town, called the Waxhaw Theatre Group.