By Nancy Raskauskas
The Entertainer | Posted: Thursday, June 11, 2009 12:00 am
Family-friendly weekend at LBCC headlined by juggler, magician
ALBANY - Thirty-two acts including various local rock, folk and country musicians, community bands and choirs, dancers, jugglers, magicians, and even a poet will take the stage this weekend for the Festival of Hope.
The festival will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 13, and from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, June 14, with performances on multiple stages at the Forum, Commons and Courtyard of Linn-Benton Community College, 6500 Pacific Blvd. S.W., Albany.
The performing arts festival is a grass-roots fundraising effort, spearheaded by a core group of about 25 local volunteers that aims to raise money for six local nonprofit groups.
The groups are Albany Helping Hands, Volunteer Caregivers, Mid-Willamette Valley Pastoral Counseling Center, FISH of Albany, Court Appointed Special Advocates of Linn County and Linn-Benton Mediation Services.
"They're all running around with their tongues hanging out trying to keep up with the need," volunteer David Hawley said of the challenges of nonprofits facing high need with dwindling funds.
The event is a chance to support agencies that offer a "hand up" for people discovering themselves in unprecedented need, Hawley said.
All the performers, with the exception of the two headliners, are volunteering their time for the event, according to Hawley.
The event is supported by the Albany Mennonite Church and First Christian Church and sponsored by Pennington Seed, Sunbelt Rental, Tom's Garden Center, MetalTech 4x4 and Kiwanis of Albany. In addition, LBCC is allowing the festival to use the campus free of charge.
"We've had really wonderful support from LBCC," Hawley said.
Albany Mayor Sharon Konopa will welcome event attendees and performers to the festival at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 13, in the Commons.
In addition to the performances, there will also be a vendor fair with food, arts and crafts for sale and a children's activity center in the Commons. Also, an Albany Fire Department engine and ambulance is scheduled to be on site for the public to inspect.
The festival's two-day event is packed with a plethora of musical performances including dijeridu player Jake Duncan, all-female saxaphone quartet The Fairer Sax, Musical Chairs Piano Trio, and well-known local singer/songwriters Cassandra Robertson, Adam Scramstad and Tom and Lisa LeNunes.
There will also be performances of ballet, Latin folk dancing, belly dancing, poetry, unicycling, juggling and magic.
Saturday will be capped off with a 7 p.m. performance by Charlie Brown, an accomplished cigar box juggler from Portland.
A juggler since the mid-'80s, Brown said he got interested in the performing arts while living in the San Francisco area as a youngster.
Brown recalled spending his weekends roller skating in Golden Gate Park and hanging out at a field where all the jugglers that spent the week performing at Fisherman's Wharf would come to practice and socialize.
"I fell in with that crowd," Brown said. "Now, I'm kind of a vagabond."
Over the years, Brown has performed with Carol Lawrence and Rip Taylor at Harrah's in South Lake Tahoe, at Pier 39 in San Francisco, in Branson, Mo., and toured through Europe and North Africa.
Brown and his wife, Zephyr. also run a juggling school.
Brown humbly describes his show as a good exhibition of "lots of different objects flying around."
"It's just fun and games," he said.
Sunday's headliner will be magician Steve Peterson, of Corvallis, who will perform at 6:30 p.m.
Peterson also learned his trade in San Francisco, after seeing an old Vaudeville performer by the name of Edwin Brush give a performance at his church about 50 years ago.
Peterson performs all over the mid-valley, most recently at the Strawberry Festival, but also at past Fall Festivals, school shows and many private birthday parties.
His trademark act includes assistance from his puppets "Rocky the Raccoon" and "Bosco the Bodacious Bunny."
He also performs often with fellow magician Phil Crossen and has been president of Ring 238 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians for three times.
Tickets to Brown and Peterson's shows are $10 for adults and $5 for children. All other shows at the festival are $3 for adults and $1 for children.
"With 32 acts, no family can cover everything, so they'll have to pick and choose," Hawley said. "Luckily, there is something for everybody."
CHECK IT OUT
WHAT: Performing arts festival benefiting six Albany nonprofit groups.
WHO: Thirty-two acts including juggler Charlie Brown (Saturday headliner), magician Steve Peterson (Sunday headliner), dijeridu player Jake Duncan, Southern gospel singer Ben Atchley, guitar duo Strings of Time, Moon Charm, Colin Spring, Cassandra Robertson, Tom and Lisa LeNunes, Rob Stewart, Amanda Richards, United Presbyterian Church Choir, Adam Scramstad, Todd Samusson, Joyce Holcomb, Musical Chairs Piano Trio, Willamette Apprentice Ballet, Albany Timber Twirlers, Jonathan Clyde, Corvallis Community Choir, Gypsy Belly Dance Troupe, New Horizons Band, Down By the River Band, Corvallis Bellydance Performance Guild, No Strings Attached, The Fairer Sax, Scott Sanders, unicyclist Rod Williams, Chrystee Houser, poet Sharon Helland, bellydancers Nassim and Zahira and more.
WHEN: 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 13, and 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, June 14.
WHERE: Linn-Benton Community College, 6500 Pacific Blvd. S.W.
COST: Free to enter festival and check out vendors. Most performances are $3 for adults and $1 for children. Headliner concerts (Charlie Brown and Steve Peterson) $10 for adults and $5 for students. VIP passes for all shows available for $100.
INFO: festivalofhope.webs.com.
For more information on Brown, see www.amazama.com.
For more information on Peterson, see www.minor-miracles.net.