This is the first video I’ve gotten done. I have some other really fun stuff to post but I don’t have those videos edited yet. For now, this is some of what happened at stART In The Park.

Wormtown Taxi has a great post about the festival. It was indeed a very cool event. The park was a great place to have it. It was nice to get out there and see people and enjoy the beautiful weather.

I expect to be posting more video from the event including parts of the soon-to-be-famous “Worcester Love” song (see Wormtown Taxi’s post for explanation).

Here’s links to the web sites of people in the video:

• Mississippi Jon Short, Have Blues Will Travel
• Tina Zlody, stART In The Park
• ActionGeek
• Scott Holloway, Painting Loft
• Scott Boilard

Other posts about the event

• “Made In Lowell”, stART from an artist’s point of view
• worcesterite.com has posted the “official stART In The Park aftermath thread. It’s a place for all the Worcesterites to post links to their stART stuff
• 4-rilla is for real! has some cool pix of artist, Erik Nasinnyk’s

work

blue fire, originally uploaded by Claudia Snell.

Date / Time: 5/30/2008 7:00 PM
“The Eclectic Word” Hosted By Victor Infante

poets Mark Doty and Dave Keali’i

stART on the Street, originally uploaded by Claudia Snell.

Last weekend I was trying to figure out what to do for fun. I have to say, it was a bit of a task. Despite all the great online tools for getting the word out, it still seems hard to find something to do with the kids on the weekends.

This week there’s been a change in that. I’ve been getting information about great stuff going on from all directions. I guess if you complain enough, people start sending you email to shut you up or something.

I decided to share some of what I’ve got so far. I’m just posting things I’ve got through the July 4 fireworks. I’ve actually been sent information about things out into September. Wow. I guess I won’t be able to complain about having “nothing fun to do” for a while now.

So, here it is, the big list so far:

stART in the Park
June 1st, 11 am to 4 pm
Beaver Brook Park, Mann Street, Worcester, MA
100+ artists and crafters, performers, food vendors, kids activities, local farms and organizations and more!

A day-long celebration of arts, crafts, culture, cuisine and fun in the sun! And it’s FREE! stART events are always fun. stART web site has more information.

Worcester Firefighters Memorial 6k Run/Walk
June 8, 2008 -1:00 p.m.
Institute Park, Worcester, MA
This annual event raises money for local charities in the names of Paul Brotherton, Timothy Jackson, Jeremiah Lucey, James “Jay” Lyons, Joseph McGuirk and Thomas Spencer.

This year they are raising money for:
The Molly Bish Foundation
Alzheimer’s Association - Massachusetts Chapter
Connecticut Burns Care Foundation
The Firefighters Memorial Fund

They have planned “a day of fun for the entire family with free food, live entertainment, raffles, a Kiddie Corner and more.” It sounds like a great time!
Check their web site for more

Grecian Festival
June 6, 7 & 8, See site for times
St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 102 Russell Street, Worcester, MA
Great food, live music, dancing, kids fest, church tours, art exhibits.
For information about the event:
Grecian Festival web site

Irish Music Festival
June 14th & 15th, Saturday 12 noon to 11 pm & Sunday 11 am to 6 pm
Worcester Hibernian Cultural Centre, 19 Temple Street, Worcester, MA

Live Irish music, Irish step dancers, a traditional Irish Seisiun and the first ever Boiled Cabbage O’Lympics. You’ll need to go to the web site for information about the O’Lympics. It sounds like it will be hilarious.

Tickets are on sale on their web site, $10 for a one day ticket, $15 for two days. At the door they are $12/1 day and $18/ 2 days. Kids under 12 are FREE.
Tickts and information on their site

5th Annual Asian Festival
June 29th, 12 noon to 6 pm
Italian-American Cultural Center, 28 Mulberry Street, Worcester, MA

The Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Massachusetts hosts a celebration featuring music, food and traditional dances from Vietnam, China, Cambodia, Laos, Korea, Japan, Philippines and India.
FREE ADMISSION

Independence Day Celebration
July 3rd, 6 to 10 pm
Cristoforo Columbo Park, Shrewsbury Street, Worcester, MA

Enjoy a concert by the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra, children’s activities and a spectacular fireworks display.

______________________

Ok, if you’re having an event or know of something fun to do with the kids, please drop me an email. I’ll be happy to post it.

If you are a grown up looking for cool stuff to do, check out Worcesterite.com and Worcester Magazine. They’ve got it all covered over there.

EcoTarium, Worcester, MA, originally uploaded by Claudia Snell.

The EcoTarium is a really cool building if you look at it from the right angle.

We went out to the EcoTarium over the weekend. It was a pretty quiet when we went. I’m guessing people were out at barbecues and stuff like that.

They’ve got some Dinosaur footprint stuff going on right now. It’s not a very huge display but the few kids that were there seemed to be having fun with it. They’ve got a couple of fossil footprints, a few informational kiosks and some hands on activities. It looked like a “make a footprint” station and some sort of game. I’d say if your kid really loves Dinosaurs it might be worth a look. Otherwise, it’s cool to see but not a big enough deal to plan a trip over there just to see it.

That being said - we always enjoy a trip over there. It’s just one of those places that seems like it would be “been there, done that” but ends up being a good time whenever we’ve gone.

My daughter had even started the trip complaining that she’s “Seen everything” and that “We’ll be done in an hour and then I’ll be bored”. Well, she was wrong. In fact, I ended up being the one that wanted to leave. After a few hours of walking all over my stupid knee decided that it hates me (again) and it just wasn’t much fun for me to be there anymore. “Miss Boring” had to be practically dragged out of the place (I had to bribe her with a trip to the bookstore).

Between otter trainings, crazy turtle activity, playing with the tide pool thing and examining the dinosaurs and all the other stuff, she found plenty to amuse herself. She even enjoyed the walk around the ponds. I guess she’ll have to learn to be a little more open minded next time.

I just got this from Artigo/Ajemian Films:

We Got the Beat
Feature Film Casting Call

Artigo/Ajemian Films (www.aafilms.com) of Worcester, MA is seeking actors for their teen comedy, set in 1983, about the first ever boyband called “We Got the Beat,” shooting this summer in Worcester County. It stars Michael Copon (“One Tree Hill”) with 7-10 additional cast members from Hollywood. That leaves about 40 principal roles to be cast locally, including two members of the boyband/lead roles. (African American male 18-23 yrs. old, who can rap/breakdance, and Latino male, 18-23 yrs. old who can rap/sing/breakdance). We need all ethnic types, breakdancers, singers, actors . All speaking roles will be paid jobs. It will be a SAG film, so professional, union actors are encouraged to submit, however we also encourage people who aren’t professional actors. Send your photo, contact information, age, if under 18, and any experience (choir, stage, sports, public speaking) electronically to Barbara Guertin at WeGotTheBeatMovie@gmail.com. Electronic submissions are preferred but headshots and resumes may also be mailed to Attn. “We Got the Beat”, c/o Barbara Guertin,
AA Films, 44 Portland Street, 4th Floor, Worcester, MA 01608. Auditions will be held in Worcester, and those chosen from submissions will be called directly. The production dates are Mondays – Fridays (five day work week), July 14 – August 16, 2008.