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GET YOUR ATH TOGETHER
NEWS FROM THE JUICE BOX SET
Turtle Time: Slow summer and an emptier
Athens bring about the perfect time for some
exploring around town that you might not
usually do. The Terrapin Brewery over on
Newton Bridge Road is one of those ideal
places to check out. Tales of having to sip
your beers while waiting in long lines for
your refills needn't worry you during these
lazy days, which makes the Terrapin experi
ence very pleasant if you prefer a smaller
crowd. And while the summer is slower, the
atmosphere still remains festive. Bring your
dog, some comfy chairs and outdoor games,
and chill out on the giant lawn while listen
ing to live music. One little tip: you may
want to preview the bands online before you
decide which day to go. The S10 entry fee
gets you two full pints of beer (divided into
eight "tastes") in a glass you can take home.
And if you feel inclined to take a break from
the lawn and be educated, there are brewery
a "Really, Really Free Market" on Saturday,
June 18 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in the 40 Watt
Club parking lot at the corner of Washington
and Pulaski. This market touts an unusual
style of trade and exchanging goods: bring
anything you don't want and give it away, and
take anything you do want for free. There will
be items ranging from food, clothes, music
and furniture to art, books, skills, ideas and
more. If you want to recirculate your own
items, set your stuff up at 10:30 a.m. The
active volunteer collective Food Not Bombs
also serves free food donated by Daily
Groceries every Wednesday at 7 p.m. in front
of Ben and Jerry's on College Avenue.
Concerts,, Picnics, Flowers: Tuesday, June 21
kicks off the first of four concerts in this
year's 11th Sunflower Concert Series at the
State Botanical Garden. Modern Skirts will
headline the show, with Nate Nelson open
Beer tasters mingle and make merry outside the Terrapin Brewery.
mini-tours that run every half hour. Terrapin
usually has its year-round beers on tap: Rye
Pale Ale, Golden Ale, Hop Karma Brown IPA
and Hopsecutioner IPA. Seasonal beers might
include Gamma Ray, Sunray Wheat Beer or
Tomfoolery. Terrapin is open every Wednesday
through Saturday, 5:30-7:30 p.m. You can
learn more at www.terrapinbeer.com.
More Bang for Our Books: The Athens-Clarke
County Library is celebrating the ground
breaking for its 20-month-long expansion
and renovation project, which will add
20,000 square feet to the library. The library
is in need of the renovation to keep up with
changing times, our growing community and
improved technology. Thanks to S8.1 million
in SPLOST 2005 funding and a $2 million state
grant, the library will have a new 300-seat
auditorium that can be divided into smaller
areas; an expanded Heritage Room, which
holds genealogy and local history collec
tions; updates to the children's area, which is
already widely used and will be able to house
even more books; and room for more public
computers. The energy-efficient construc
tion will allow the library to be LEED certified.
The groundbreaking will take place at the ACC
Library, 2025 Baxter St., on Thursday, June 16
at 11:15 a.m. Check out the library's construc
tion blog at www.clarke.public.lib.ga.us.
There Is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch... or
Is There?: The Athens chapter of Food Not
Bombs is serving a free lunch and holding
ing. The Flower Garden will provide a colorful
setting for the family-friendly performances,
which run 7-9 p.m.; concert-goers are encour
aged to bring blankets and picnic dinners.
Individual tickets are S15, $10 for Friends of
the Garden members, and $5 for children 6 to
12 years old; season tickets are $50, $35 for
Friends of the Garden, and $15 for children.
The other Sunflower Concerts are July 26 with
Packway Handle Band and Caroline Aiken, Aug.
23 with Grogus, and Sept. 27 with the Arvin
Scott Quartet. Find out more at www.uga.edu/
botgarden.
Dog Day of Summer: There are an awful lot of
adorable puppies around town lately, which
might be inspiring some of you to adopt a dog
in the near future. Athens Canine Rescue is
having a dog adoption day Saturday, June
25 from 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. at Pawtropolis in
Bogart. Visit their website, www.athenscani-
nerescue.com, where you can see the dogs
who are looking for homes, and be sure to
RSVP if there's one in particular you'd like to
meet on adoption day to ensure he or she will
be there. There are some really cute dogs on
that site, so if you're thinking about adopting
a new family member, take a look.
Nicole Cashin
Do you have an upcoming event you would like to
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in Miscellany.
One of my favorite AthFest sights is some
little kid, perched atop mom or dad's shoul
ders, with a big ol' set of headphones over his
or her little ears and rocking out to whatever
band is on stage.
You see, for me, June is unofficially music
appreciation month here, mainly because of
AthFest (which kicks off next week with live
music, art, food and lots of other goodies).
It's a party for townies, if you will. And now
that I have a child, I've learned to embrace
it even more. As she grows up in Athens, I
want her to have more than an appreciation of
music—I want her to understand rhythm and
a backbeat and do a killer air guitar. Heck, she
already knows the hand signals for "hang 10"
and "rock on," so AthFest seems like it's part
of the educational process.
One caveat here: AthFest, and the corre
sponding KidsFest, is great for kids who have
an idea about what's going on around them.
If they are old enough for simple crafts or just
running around without bumping into a bunch
of things, they'll be fine. (For those of you
with babies, I'll get to you in a second.)
After the crowds of AthFest have dissi
pated, there are lots of programs to introduce
babies and toddlers to basic rhythms and
songs. Take Kindermusik, for example, which
is offered at the Athens YMCA and is part of an
international program that teaches music and
movement. A similar program, Musikgarten,
is led by staff at UGA's Community Music
School. Both last six to 12 weeks, depending
on the time of year, and include lessons and
an instrument for you and your child to con
tinue playing with at home. (Registration for
both starts in August; call 706-543-8560 for
Kindermusik information and 706-542-2894
for Musikgarten.)
If you're not sure you can commit to
a full slate of classes, the Athens-Clarke
County Library offers some regular programs
for toddlers that incorporate music. While
they are not near the level of a Kindermusik/
Musikgarten program, the toddler story-
times at 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. Tuesdays and
Wednesdays have some acoustic guitar (or
ukelele!) and singing woven between stories,
all with a common theme. They are particu
What’s better than letting your kids experience live, local music? Meeting exotic bugs at the same time!
KidsFest. which runs Saturday and Sunday as part of AthFest, features hands-on activities and music from the
next generation of Athens talent: Four earplugs out of four.
KidsFest runs noon-6 p.m. Saturday
and 12:30-6 p.m. Sunday, June 25-26 this
year, on Washington Street across from the
under-construction parking deck. Some of
the tried-and-true favorites will be back this
year for kiddie entertainment—UGA's H.O.
Lund Entomology Club and "Frankenpets,"
where stuffed animal parts are reassembled
into something, urn, new, for example. But
new attractions this year include a rock star-
themed photo booth, a parade (4:30 p.m.
Saturday—show up 20 minutes early to get
a spot) and lots more carnival games than in
previous years. See www.athfest.com.
Along with the activities, KidsFest has
its own stage where young musicians (along
with grown-up, kid-friendly ones) can have
their turn in the spotlight. It's a great way
to expose your kids to live, local music in a
setting that's accessible and easy for them to •
identify with.
As I said, the activities at AthFest aren't
for every age group. If you're pending with
a baby in a sling, you'll only be there as long
as your little one's napping. But hey, we live
in Athens, where there's music for everyone—
even the littlest kids!
larly good for the 18- to 24-month-old crowd,
with wiggly dances and catchy little tunes.
Kristin Jutras, director of the Community
Music School at UGA, says the earlier you can
get your child involved in music, the better.
And I couldn't agree more—there's something
about watching a preschool-aged child pick
up a pair of drumsticks and go to town that
makes me feel as if everything will be OK.
"I think music is very important for kids
especially, just to get exposed to it and
develop the skills in the classes," Jutras
says—and when kids learn how to play along,
even better. "We've noticed a difference in the
kids who come through the early childhood
classes and then start on an instrument. They
do come in much stronger, musically, and you
don't have to teach them a steady beat—
which is the foundation of playing a piece."
So, embrace the heat next week and rock
out with your little ones. Make a Frankenpet.
And in between songs, explain to your kids
who is playing what onstage.
Because having a childhood in Athens that
doesn't involve music should be a crime.
Kristen Morales
JUNE 15,2011-FLAGPOLE.COM 7
CASEY SCOTT
