The event will feature a snack lunch catered by Schlotzsky’s restaurant of downtown
Huntington, which is owned and operated by David Stuart, who grew up in Garden Farms.
Admission is $8 for adults and $5 for children age ten years and under. More information and
directions can be found and on-line reservations can be made until July 17 at
www.gardenfarmsreunion.com.

This first-ever Garden Farms Reunion will be a time of reminiscing and re-connecting
with former and current residents, says the event organizer, Beth Hager Spotts, who also grew up
in the 52 year-old neighborhood.

“The idea for this gathering came from a number of people who were interacting on my
‘Garden Farmers’ Facebook page early this year,” says Spotts.

“We started sharing old pictures and stories on line and realized that we should come
together in person to celebrate our suburban upbringing.”

According to the Setzer family who developed the suburb, Garden Farms was the first
sub-division in Cabell County. Opened in 1958 on approximately 100 acres of land adjacent to
Norwood Road, Garden Farms is southeast of Huntington. A 1960 Huntington Herald-
Advertiser article about the development reported that sixty-eight families had moved into the
nearly eighty homes that had been built at that point. According to the Advertiser, “Streets
including Mohawk Trail and others are named after Indian tribes because in early construction
arrowheads were found on the land.”

Howard Setzer, a developer from New York State, went on to create two additional major
sub-divisions in Cabell County near Barboursville, Guyan Estates and Indian Meadows. Garden
Farms continued to be developed until about 1972. More recent development has resulted in a
number of new homes added to the neighborhood since the mid 1990s.

“Garden Farms and the other Setzer developments are examples of an American
phenomenon that swept the country after World War II when housing was in high demand, and
people were looking to get away from urban environments,” according to Spotts, a former
curator at the Huntington Museum of Art who is now based in Pennsylvania.

“We hope that many former and current Garden Farms neighbors will make plans to join
us and bring pictures to share their memories of growing up in a ‘Wonder Years’ type of place,”
says Spotts, referring to a popular 1980s television show that centered on a 1960s-era
neighborhood with ranch-style homes similar to Garden Farms.

Reservations can be made online at www.gardenfarmsreunion.com. The deadline for
reservations is Saturday, July 17, 2010.

WVWS President Jeannine Romano was pleased for the organization to be exhibited at Gallery 842.

“During the past two years as president of the West Virginia Watercolor Society, I have been continually amazed and inspired by the caliber of talented artists we have in our state,” Romano said. “The motto ‘to promote and ensure a high standard of watercolor painting’ is demonstrated by many of our members, who mentor and teach watercolor painting throughout the region. It is exciting for us to bring our creative flair to the Huntington area.”

The exhibit was juried by John Farley, gallery director and adjunct art faculty member at Marshall University. A graduate of Marshall University’s Department of Art and Design, Farley’s work has been chosen for display in the Huntington Museum of Art and the West Virginia Culture Center, among others.

Farley encouraged the public to view this exhibit, noting the diversity and talent represented in the show.

“There are a wide variety of examples of various watercolor techniques – despite the fact that they are all under the umbrella of watercolor paintings,” Farley said. “Viewers will find everything from highly representational portraiture to gestural abstract paintings.”

Gallery 842 is both a community- and Marshall University-held space to promote local talent and initiative. The gallery is a free cultural experience for any artist or art enthusiast. Summer hours are as follows: Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from noon to 5 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m.

For more information or questions about Gallery 842, or any College of Fine Arts events, contact Jaye Ike by phone at 304-696-3296 or by e-mail at jaye.ike@marshall.edu.

The Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Downtown Live Committee will host its 3rd Annual Children’s Art Festival Extravaganza (CAFÉ)

When: Saturday, June 12 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: Ninth Street Plaza between Third & Fourth Avenues
The 3rd annual CAFÉ event will have activities for children 12 years old and younger. Some of the arts featured are the following: book making, stamp art, tie-dye art, sculptures, a children’s community mural and others.

The event is free for everyone.
Other activities will include performances by the Cabell County Public Library Puppets, Jeslyn Performing Arts Center and visits from a clown. The Cabell County Sheriff’s Department will be on hand to do children’s finger printing.

A Sidewalk Art Sale will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Various artists will display and sell their works on the plaza during the event. Arts for the sale will include: Photography, Oils, Pastels, Quilting, Jewelry, Hair Accessories, Miniature Framed Artwork and Outsider Art.

For more information, contact the Chamber at (304) 525-5131.

Please check it out and spread the word to help make Huntington a healthier and happier place!

• CAFÉ Huntington (formerly the Starving Artist Foundation) to provide micro-grants to artists and creative projects. The group plans to announce the date for the first dinner: www.herald-dispatch.com/news/briefs/x540213341/Starving-artist-foundation-could-be-useful-to-city
• Culture Center to create a space where people from different backgrounds can share their culture’s food, music, dance, language, history, and art with others. The group will continue working on a location for the events and announce their first fundraiser: www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=104793586232582&v=info
• Recycling. The group is looking at 2 opportunities to improve access to recycling facilities in the area:  www.herald-dispatch.com/news/x540212889/Cabell-County-pursues-recycling-program
• Downtown retail initiative. We’ve had lots of great news regarding downtown retail development: Wright’s is re-opening, Third and Ninth Deli and the Pottery Place are making progress, work is underway to announce a new center for artists and artisans, etc. Bring your ideas and energy to keep the momentum going.
• Creation of an outdoor market downtown. Check out Birmingham, AL as an example: http://www.pepperplacemarket.com/.
• Huntington Art Festival, combining programs of various arts organizations into a single summer spectacle.
• Partnership with MUCH (Marshall University Create Huntington) to create a downtown festival welcoming new MU students to town.

 Upcoming Events You May Find of Interest

Marshall Artist Series Food and Wine Festival: Uncorked      Tickets are now on sale for the Marshall Artists Series annual fundraiser Uncorked!: A food fair and wine festival, from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 22, on 4th Avenue, between 9th and 10th streets, and inside the Arcade Galleria, in downtown Huntington. Patrons are invited to shop the street food fair for organic, locally sourced, fresh market and enhance their palates with appetizers, main dishes and desserts, prepared by regional chefs, local restaurants and specialty shops. There is no charge to visit the street fair. However, vendors are cash only. Festival goers will have the opportunity to taste more than 40 wines complimented by the jazz sounds of Laura Evans & Company. Tickets to the wine festival are $35 and may be purchased the day of the event in the lobby of the Keith Albee Theater or in advance at the Marshall Artists Series box office, by phone 304-696-6656 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

Strong Neighborhoods Action Summit            The Strong Neighborhoods Action Summit will be held on May 25th from 7- 8:45 pm at the St. Mary’s Education Center on 5th Ave and 29th St. This is the culmination of a month long series of neighborhood forums where residents identified ways to make their neighborhood safer and stronger. Join us at this city-wide meeting to share ideas and get involved.

Sustainability Training The West Virginia Sustainable Communities program (WVSC) is offering a Sustainability 101 training in Huntington on Monday, May 17, 2010 from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm. The training is being promoted and coordinated by the City of Huntington, Create Huntington, HADCO and Unlimited Future, Inc. WVSC offers this program to garner support from diverse stakeholders to create a Sustainability Team for a community. After the training, our community will be challenged to put together an active group of volunteers who will then work with WVSC to engage in more outreach activities, greenhouse gas inventory, and multiple workshops and meetings to create a Sustainability Action Plan which is suitable for Huntington. Registration is limited to 30 people and the class is full. To be placed on a wait list or for information about future training sessions send an email to createhuntington@gmail.com with your contact information.

After each game we would head across the street to Gino’s Pub as a group to eat, drink and be merry. Plus, we had to true parties during the season; one at the midway point and the second at the end; both were hosted at Mac’s on 8th st and 7th ave.

You don’t need to be athletic to participate, you don’t need to be young (you do have to be at least 21) – you just have to want to have some fun. It costs $66 per person for the year and that includes field rental, shirts for everyone, the 2 parties, plus a 15% discount after games at Gino’s on all food and drink.

It’s a great way to meet new people and to have fun while doing it. Come on out and play some Kickball! You can sign up at the official website. Don’t worry if you don’t have a group of friends to form a team you will be put on an existing team or grouped with others in the same boat to form a new team.

The Historic Guyandotte Tour will take you on a journey back in time over the past two hundred years. You will learn the early history of Guyandotte and about many of its early settlers as well as events that have shaped this area into what it is today.

If you dare, you can experience this historic town after the sun goes down and hear creepy tales of long dead residents who still call Guyandotte home. The Haunted Guyandotte Tour brings history and legend together as stories of ghostly encounters will send chills up your spine.

Our walking tours will cover approximately one mile in length and last about one hour. All tours are free and open to the public. Tours meet at the Guyandotte Library located at 203 Richmond Street in Guyandotte.

Please visit our website for more information and dates for our upcoming tours:

www.GuyandotteGhosts.com

For those not from the Huntington area; Guyandotte is a small community just on the eastern edge of Huntington.

The Marshall Artists Series and the West Virginia Division of Culture and History present the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts at events throughout the day onSaturday, April 10^th. There will be a variety of events featuring members of the NSO, culminating in a performance at the Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center.  Events include a free family fun day at Huntington’s Barnett Center, music clinics and master classes featuring Marshall University music students and faculty, as well as an Arts Education Advocacy Meeting featuring Rita Shapiro, NSO Executive Director.

This visit is part of the American Residency project. In December 2009, West Virginia was chosen as the twentieth state to host the National Symphony Orchestra for the American Residency Program.  Since 1992, the symphony has accepted an invitation every year from one state or region to offer opportunities such as sharing elements of classical music, exploring diverse musical influences and giving the area a musical voice through training, career development and commissions.

Because of the generous support of many organizations – principally the Kennedy Center and the United States Department of Education – all proceeds from any ticket sales resulting from these events remain within the state to support local arts organizations.

“Hosting the National Symphony for its American Residency program is an honor for West Virginia,” said WV Governor Joe Manchin.  “We are so proud of our state’s musical heritage and an opportunity like this one to enhance concert experiences and give our students additional musical education will reinforce the importance of music and the arts in our state.”

To help foster our musical heritage, The Marshall Artists Series is initiating a used instrument donation drive, called The Music Box project.   We are asking community members to donate their used musical instruments to be recycled and used for children in the area who are interested in learning to play a musical instrument, but may be unable to afford one. Instrument donations are tax-deductible, and will promote music’s future in Huntington and will bring music to our neighborhoods.

The benefits of the 2010 American Residency do not end when the National Symphony Orchestra leaves West Virginia on April 13^th.  Two students from West Virginia have been chosen to receive scholarships to the 2010 Kennedy Center/NSO National Trustees Summer Music Institute.  Also, a West Virginia music teacher has been selected for an individually designed program to further the teacher’s professional development in Washington D.C.  Additionally a West Virginia composer will be selected to create a chamber music work to be premiered at the Kennedy Center.  The deadline to apply is March 31^st.

Officially founded in 1931, the National Symphony Orchestra has been committed to both artistic excellence and music education throughout its history.  In 1986, the National Symphony became the artistic affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the nation’s center for the performing arts, where it has presented a 52-week season of approximately 175 concerts each year.  These include classical subscription series, pops concerts, and one of the country’s most extensive educational programs.

Saturday, April 10^th Schedule of Events

• Huntington’s Barnett Center will open its doors and back patio from 12 p.m. – 3 p.m.  to host a Neighborhood Super-Duper Outing at their office located on 10^th Avenue and Hal Greer Boulevard (formerly the Barnett Child Care Center).  This event is free and open to the public and will feature music, food, games and prizes. Gino’s Pizza will supply free pizza, Pepsi will supply free soft drinks and The Salvation Army Canteen will be on hand to offer hot dogs and other refreshments.  String players from The NSO will be on hand to meet and greet with the community. In addition, the quartet will perform for the crowd. MU music students will host various music stations where guests can play instruments in a “musical petting zoo.”  In case of rain, this event will be held at the Douglas Center (Old Douglas High School) on 10^th Avenue.
• The KidsArt program at the Huntington Museum of Art will host a violinist from the NSO from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. immersing the children in visual art, music and dance.  This event is free and open to the public.
• The Marshall University Department of Music will host NSO members for a clinic and music master classes featuring Marshall University music students. A NSO clinician will speak to the group about intonation and sound production.  A master class will follow with 2-3 students performing for the group and the clinician will offer comments about their playing.   The clinics and music master classes will be held in Smith Music Hall from 3:30 p.m. – 5 p.m.  Room assignments will be posted.
• At the request of The Woman’s Club of Huntington, Rita Shapiro, NSO Executive Director and Emil De Cou, the Orchestra’s associate conductor will be the featured speakers at an Arts Education Advocacy Discussion to be held at the Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center on Saturday, April 10^th at 5 p.m.  There is no charge to attend this event. The goal of the discussion is to gather in strength, receive tools and ideas to provide a unified front requesting more participation   and funding for the arts.
• The day culminates with a full orchestral performance at the Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center, at 8 p.m.  Principal Conductor Iván Fischer will lead this ensemble of talented musicians. The evening’s program will include Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8, Mozart’s Symphony No. 38 (Prague) and Bernstein’s Three Dance Episodes from “On the Town.”

Program Notes for the Evening Performance

Leonard Bernstein’s Three Dance Episodes from On the Town - Leonard Bernstein composed the piece in 1944.   The Broadway show On the Town marked Bernstein’s initial formal collaboration with his dear friends Betty Comden and Adolph Green. On the Town premiered at New York’s Adelphi Theater on December 28, 1944, and ran for 463 performances.  For Bernstein, On the Town was “a happy and moving show about wartime, in the lightest possible vein, but with a most serious esthetic means.” Comden and Green felt the show reflected the “poignancy of young people trying to cram a lifetime of experience into a day.” The score calls for flute, piccolo, oboe, English horn, clarinet, bass clarinet, 2 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, alto saxophone, timpani, percussion, piano, and strings.

Mozart’s Symphony No. 38 (Prague) – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed the score of this three movement symphony in Vienna on December 6, 1786, and he conducted the first performance on January 19, 1787, in Prague. Stanley Chapple conducted the National Symphony Orchestra’s first performance of this work, on June 21, 1944; Leonard Slatkin conducted the most recent ones, on September 26-28, 2002.   The score calls for flutes, oboes, bassoons, horns and trumpets in pairs, with timpani and strings.

Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 – The Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88, B. 163, was composed and orchestrated by Antonín Dvořák within the two-and-a-half-month period from August 26 to November 8 1889 in Vysoká u Příbrami,Bohemia. The score was dedicated: “To the Bohemian Academy of Emperor Franz Joseph for the Encouragement of Arts and Literature, in thanks for my election.” Dvořák conducted the premiere in Prague on February 2, 1890. The score calls for piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani and strings.

Tickets for the evening concert are on sale now at the Marshall Artists Series box office located in the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center box office and all Ticketmaster locations, order online at ticketmaster.com or call 304-696-6656. Tickets prices are $35, $25 and $10. There are no tickets needed for the day events prior to the evening performance.  For more information please contact the Marshall Artists Series at 304-696-3326.

The West Virginia Residency is sponsored by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Chamber music concerts and outreach are supported in part by generous contributions to the Kennedy Center Abe Fortas Memorial Fund for Chamber Music and by a major gift to the fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas.

The National Symphony Orchestra is sponsored by West Virginia Culture and History, the West Virginia Commission on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, WSAZ, WKEE, WTCR, Don & Sandy Hatfield and the Marshall Artists Series.

The Feminist Art Project is an established group of local artists who share the common goal of highlighting the talent and significance of female artists. The collection of artists is a continuation of the group previously launched by Katherine Cox in 2008.

Featured artists in Mavens Nine include Earline Allen, Natalie Burdette, Katherine Cox, Mary Grassell, Linda Helgason, Natalie Larsen, Staci Leech, Carter Seaton and Kristen Zammiello, many of whom are part-time or full-time faculty at Marshall University’s College of Fine Arts. The work included in the exhibition is an eclectic collection, varying in both medium and subject matter. Media range from graphite drawings and oil paintings to pottery and other three-dimensional pieces.

“As a member of the local chapter of The Feminist Art Project, I’m excited to be participating in the upcoming exhibition, Mavens Nine, at Gallery 842,” said Natalie Larsen, assistant professor of art at Marshall. “I’m honored to be associated with a group of inspired women who are curious and capable artists engaged in bringing good art and challenging new ideas to the local community.”

Larsen said her work is inspired by many things: children’s books and illustrations, literature, American history, religious studies, genealogy and art history. “I strive to make art work that is accessible to a wide audience, but also challenges viewers to ask questions and move beyond what is comfortable,” she said.

Gallery 842 is both a community- and university-held space to promote local talent and initiative. The gallery is a free cultural experience for any artist or art enthusiast, located at 842 4^th Ave. in downtown Huntington. It is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m.

The event is open to the public, which means participants do not have to be members of the Marshall Recreation Center. It is being organized by the Marshall University School of Medicine AMA (American Medical Association) and the Marshall Recreation Center.

The Paul Ambrose Trail for Health is a proposed 26-mile bicycle and pedestrian trail system in Huntington named in honor of Paul Ambrose, a Marshall University graduate and young doctor who died in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Once completed, the trail will run from Westmoreland to Guyandotte.

Juliet Wolford, a second-year medical student and president of the Marshall University School of Medicine AMA, said all proceeds from the Spin-a-thon will benefit PATH. Anyone interested in participating may ride in the Spin-a-thon, sponsor a rider or simply donate money to PATH.

Time slots are for 50 minutes, and ride times begin at 4 p.m. with the last slot available at 11 p.m. Each slot begins on the hour, every hour. For more information or to register, visit http://www.active.com/cycling/huntington-wv/pedal-for-path-2010.

To sponsor a rider or donate money to PATH, e-mail pedalforpath@gmail.com. You also may download a Pedal for PATH pledge form to keep track of your pledges.

“We hope riders will download the Pledge for PATH form from the active Web site and earn as many pledges as they can,” Wolford said.

She explained that spinning is an organized activity. The stationary bikes are specially designed to simulate road bikes. “Whether you are a novice or pro, you spin at your own ability,” Wolford said. “This may mean riding the full 50 minutes or less.”

Prizes will be awarded for the top three pledge earners. Anyone who signs up before Feb. 28 will receive a t-shirt. Cost to register is $20 before Feb. 28 and $25 thereafter. In-person registration will be open on the day of the event.

For more information, contact Wolford at wolford31@marshall.edu or Elise Henning at emhenning@gmail.com.