About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (June 15, 2011)
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 share with Flagpole readers? Email misc@flagpole. com at least a few weeks in advance to be included 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
