Friday, September 11, 2009

Plenty From Which To
Choose This Weekend

Northeast Ohioans know there's always a lot to do around these parts on weekends, perhaps doubly so in the autumn. But there are some particularly interesting events from which to choose this weekend. Though it's been happening annually for 20 years, I never knew the Cleveland Museum of Art hosted a chalk festival to highlight the sidewalk chalk arts. It's happening this Saturday and Sunday, and looks awfully interesting. I'm hoping to poke my head in for at least a brief look on Sunday. A bit to the south, NPR's Michael Feldman brings his Whad' Ya Know? show to Wooster on Saturday, which I would have loved to attend after listening to and enjoying the show for many years. But tickets no doubt were snapped up instantly as soon as they became available (though the website says some tickets will still be available at the door, however improbable that seems, given the deep reverence of so many for this show). And in any event, I was already obligated to serve as a volunteer for yet another interesting and important event this weekend, a bike ride to celebrate the life of professor Miles Coburn, tragically killed in a crash last year, but a man whose life really made an impact (more about which later). Here's hoping you enjoy your glorious early fall weekend. We'd love to hear how you plan to spend it. And if you happen to make it to any of these events, we'll especially hope for a report on how it went.
UPDATE: A new writer friend, Audrey McCrone, whom I met only the other day at an SPJ event, noticed this subject, and sent me the photo you see above, which she snapped of a past Chalk Festival. Audrey's an impressive lady with boundless energy, passion and enthusiasm for journalism, as one of her college administrators noted here. You can sample from some of her essays here. We feel blessed to know her.

4 Comments:

At 8:16 AM, Blogger Mandy Maria said...

Wow Ohio sounds very interesting. I am so ignorant. I had no idea there was an Art Museum there!

 
At 9:41 AM, Blogger John Ettorre said...

Mandy, we're all ignorant in varying degrees, because there's just so damn much to know these days, so give yourself a break. But as an art teacher, you really owe it to yourself to visit the CMA. It's not just a national-class but a world-class institution, much like its counterpart in your town, Philly. We just didn't have Rocky immortalize it in pop culture the way your museum was. Anyway, I hope you do visit sometime. I'd gladly join you on the tour. And good luck with that novel. Please drop us a line when it's published.

 
At 8:40 PM, Anonymous Kristine said...

Haven't been to the Art Museum in a while--have they opened up all the wings yet? Last time I went, I took my daughter to see the Monet exhibit, which was a few years ago. And wouldn't you know there was even a Princess Diana exhibit going on over at Western Reserve. We loved looking at her bridal gown together! There is really a lot to do here!

 
At 8:38 AM, Blogger John Ettorre said...

Much of it is now opened, Kristine, as of the June relaunch. But work continues on the newest portion, which I don't believe will be open for another year at least. But there's plenty to see there now, and as you suggest, plenty more to also see in that University Circle neighborhood. But the Western Reserve Historical Society, sadly, has fallen on even harder financial times than most museums, and it doesn't look as if they'll be mounting anything quite so ambitious for awhile.

 

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