On Saturday, September 12, Chris Boyd, Mike Yanoski and Linda Mabry were in the Kids Village of the Music Is Art Festival. The Kids Village was located behind the Albright Knox Art Gallery surrounded by music on the several stages.

Chris Boyd led music and movement activities for a very active group of young children (and parents) from 11:00-11:45 am.

Mike Yanoski held a drum circle from 4:30-5:00 pm with lots of kids vying for the instruments. He invited a few adults to join the circle for awhile.  

In between and during, children dipped small musical instruments (beaters, bells, triangles and more) into washable paints and then painted pictures. They were able to take their art work home in plastic bags to keep any still-wet paint from ending up on clothing.

"Children" of all ages participated with some very willing assistance and guidance from adults. Everything was free and the weather was perfect. Lots of families took advantage of this wonderful outing.

They were joined by our own terrific staff: Custodian Dave Dougherty, Office Manager Jennifer Guillow, Secretary Annette Nuding, Bookkeeper Sue Benner and Executive Director Linda Mabry while Receptionist Shawn McCabe manned the phone.

Much of the work continued our efforts to spruce up the exterior of our space. If you haven't driven by to see our expanded front garden, you are really missing a lovely site.

On Day of Caring we scraped and painted the basement windows (on the parking lot side), the railing and most of the lift.

We weeded out the plants behind the parking barrier and cleaned the parking lot.

We scraped, sanded and painted the front railings. We painted some window beds on the first floor, cleaned out the supply room and carried boxes up to the storage areas.

We primed and painted parts of two rooms on the third floor - which had been damaged by water leaks that were fixed a week ago. We also painted the interior front door hunter's green - wait until you come in the next time - it really "pops".

Everyone was tired when the day ended but very happy. Above all, we are sincerely grateful to our excellent volunteers and to the United Way staff and volunteers who organized Day of Caring.

We were part of the first one 17 years ago and we're looking forward to the 18th.

This year Divas on Broadway was the theme of the annual Divas recital.

Sopranos Leah Schneider, Audrey Shafer, Maria Goodrich and Cheryl Hudson performed together with mezzo sopranos Joanne Goldman and Jennifer Fitzery, all accompanied by Linda Mabry. Please scroll down for photo.

The ladies were joined by one male Diva, saxophonist and clarinetist Vic Chiodo, who joined Cheryl Hudson for Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man from Show Boat. He and Linda Mabry played an arrangement of Summertime from Porgy and Bess.

The program included music from The Mikado, The Enchantress, The New Moon, The Wizard of Oz, Very Warm for May, One Touch of Venus, On the Town, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Evening Primrose, The Phantom of the Opera, Parade and Wicked.

What will next year's Divas' theme be? Who knows.