Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit with some very nice and very important people in Woodbine concerning a topic I have written about a great deal on these pages. Since “Crooked Rivers’ Sisters Three” closed in early May, those involved and responsible for its survival and development have been talking a lot to each other and to new friends that have volunteered to help it grow into a community institution. Part of my reason for visiting Woodbine was to see the future home of Crooked Rivers in its current raw and overgrown state, and listen to the vision of folks that care enough to nurture its existence in a permanent and made-to-order location.
Right now, as Mayor Burford Clark puts it, is the time to dream; to imagine how what a new theatre home for Crooked Rivers might look like and be like in the village on the Satilla River. Sure, it is just a brick façade filled with junk trees, rotting wood and detritus of all kinds right now. But if you walk around to the back of the building, there is a sort of shady clearing that calls out for an outdoor event to introduce us to the space. The huge live oaks beckon for us to offer refreshing quaffs of lemonade and oil slick paper bags full of tasty popcorn under their spreading limbs. Sure, there will be some parking issues, but in Woodbine, everything is within walking distance from available spaces on Main Street. And I would allow that a page could be borrowed from St. Marys “Tour of Lights” event, when church vans and open air electric carts briskly carry folks to their destination from parking areas further away.
As we walked back to the front of the building, we mused about many things that might come to pass for our county. As we paused by an old grist mill building that sits adjacent to the old brick theatre for a final imagining, Mayor Clark said something that I bet not many an elected official has ever dared say: “Now is the time to dream.” That dreaming has gotten Woodbine pretty far along a remarkable path, including the path that leads walkers and wanderers down to and along the river. City Manager Sandy Rayson confided that the ideas for that path and many other important improvements in downtown Woodbine began as ideas in the Mayor’s head, translated into a rough sketches on napkins and scratch paper, and then refined and polished in the public cauldron to become desirable places and amenities for Woodbine’s families.
There is a lot to be done and said on this matter before it is done, but right now, this is a great time to dream about what might be and how it might look, feel and sound. Makes me wonder if Woodenia has her head back, quietly laughing at her good fortune. Next week, how Mary and Kingsley might arrange for Woody’s comeuppance or at least steal a slice of her dreams.
“Schoolhouse Rock, Live!, Jr.” is Friday and Saturday (June 16 & 17) at 7 p.m. in the Camden County High School Auditorium. Tickets are $7 for adults and $4 for students; they will be available at the door or can be purchased in advance at the Auditorium. Schoolhouse Rock, Live is now a full-fledged stage musical, that teaches history, grammar, math, science and politics through songs like “Unpack Your Adjectives,” “Conjunction Junction,” and “I’m Just a Bill.” This version of Schoolhouse Rock Live!, Jr. is entertaining and an educational treat for youngsters. It also shows that learning can be as fun as we choose to make it.
Opportunities for this week and the future: the family friendly Disney musical “Beauty and the Beast” continues at the Alhambra Dinner Theatre through July 16; First Wednesday Art Walk in downtown Jax, 5 – 9 p.m., 6.7; take your best shot with Pat Benatar at the Florida Theatre, 6.8 at 8 p.m.; enjoy a 45 year old classic movie, “West Side Story” at Jax Beach free Moonlight Movies, 6.9 at 9 p.m.; enjoy Kander and Ebb’s “The World Goes Round” produced by Players by the Sea, 6.9 at 8 p.m.; or get set for non-stop laughs in Orange Park Community Theatre’s “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” 6.9 at 8 p.m.; all kids should see “Seussical the Musical,” it’s at Theatre Jacksonville (www.theatrejax.com) Fridays and Saturdays through 6.24 at 8 p.m.
If you have ideas or events you want me to share with readers, send me a note at pkraack1@tds.net.
6.7.06
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