Sunday, June 28
Friday, June 19
July 4th 2009
Free 4th of July fireworks at US Airways Family Fun Fest
4th of July: from 6PM to 10PM at Memorial Stadium, enjoy the US Airways Family Fun Fest. There will be music and family activities from 6:30 until 9:15, and then fireworks at 9:30. Admission is free, but parking is $5.
39th Confederate Reunion, Charlotte June 4-7th, 1929
One of the most notable of Charlotte's many celebrations was the 39th Reunion of the United Confederate Veterans on June 4 through 7, 1929. This is the event for which the Armory-Auditorium was hastened to completion. "Eleven Confederate Generals joined in issuing a statement declaring the Charlotte Reunion to be the best in every way of any of the preceding 38 reunions." The reunion was climaxed on Friday the 7th with a huge parade witnessed by many notables, made up of nearly a score of bands, military units, and visiting veterans in automobiles.
Juneteenth Celebration Charlotte N.C.
Charlotte
June 18-20, 2009
7th Annual Juneteenth of the Carolinas Festival
Independence Park located at 300 Hawthorne Lane, Charlotte, NC.
Friday, June 18th
Kick off Celebration
International Drum Heard Around the World
Ceremony and Community Fellowship
Saturday, June 19th and Sunday, June 20th
Street Festival
Parade, music, drama, dance, storytelling,
food, entertainers, children's village,
community church service, health fair,
african dancers, fashion show, and much,
much more...
Youth Observance ~To the Tune of History~
Celebration of History Through an Arts focus
on Literacy and Freedom
Heritage Craft and Performance Workshops
Community Heritage Performance
International Drum Sharing
Open workshops with Master Drummer
Refreshment Break and Networking
International Drum Sharing Session
For more information contact:
Papa S Ndiaye at House of Africa c/o Juneteenth Festival of the Carolinas at
1215 Thomas Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28205 Phone (704) 376-6160, Fax (704) 376-1799
Wednesday, June 17
Harpsichord ListServ
http://list.uiowa.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A0=HPSCHD-L
Harpsichords and Related Topics
HPSCHD-L is devoted to early stringed keyboard instruments: harpsichords, clavichords, fortepianos, virginals, and all similar instruments except the modern piano. The list is an open forum for all topics related to these instruments, including their theory and principles of construction, decoration, and history and evolution from their earliest beginnings through modern times. Other topics for discussion include performers on these instruments, performance practice, literature, pedagogy, care and ownership. We may also stray to include ads of instruments/music/recordings for sale or wanted, discussion of performances or recordings, and musical editions.
Monday, June 15
Veteran's Memorial Stadium Collapsing
Mecklenburg County officials said Thursday they're not sure how long it will take to repair a section of seats that collapsed at Memorial Stadium near uptown, nor what it will cost.
The stadium will remain open for now, though about 3,000 seats and a concourse area along the Charlottetowne Avenue side of the facility will be off-limits indefinitely, said James Alsop, director of enterprise services for the county's Park and Recreation Department.
The department closed off the area after staff noticed last week that about six or seven rows of seats had collapsed.
A preliminary engineering report released this week said the damage was likely caused by “severe distress” in portions of a stone tunnel underneath the stadium that led to soil erosion.
The underground tunnel carries water from a tributary of Little Sugar Creek and runs for about two miles, including the entire length of the stadium's field. But Alsop said that officials believe the field is structurally sound and there is no reason to close any further portions of the stadium.
The report also stated that a sinkhole appears to be forming near an entrance to a nearby pedestrian tunnel that goes beneath Charlottetowne Avenue.
The 24,000-seat American Legion Memorial Stadium was built in the mid-1930s as part of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal program. The stadium frequently is the host site of high school football games and other athletic events and community programs, such as a Fourth of July fireworks celebration.
The Independence Day program and a volleyball event this weekend are among the events that will go on as scheduled for now. Alsop said officials would also welcome hosting football games again this fall, noting the stadium could still hold spectators in other seats at the facility.
The report said it is difficult to predict how much the repairs will cost until further investigations, including an analysis of how big of a tunnel is needed to handle runoff from future storms. The pedestrian tunnel, stadium and other areas have flooded in the past because of inadequate drainage.
Paying for the work could be tricky because the county's proposed 2009-10 budget includes deep cuts to services all around, including a reduction to the parks department.
Alsop said officials from a variety of agencies will begin meeting soon about what steps to take next.
Friday, June 12
American Legion Memorial Stadium
American Legion Memorial Stadium is located in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.
It is a 24,000 seat outdoor venue located near Charlotte's center city. The stadium hosts several sporting events such as local high school football games and is also a public venue.
The stadium was built in 1936 to honor soldiers who fell in World War I. It was built with federal aid money allocated to Charlotte.
Throughout the years the stadium has hosted events of every kind, ranging from Presidential addresses to classic Professional wrestling encounters featuring local hero Ric Flair. The stadium formerly hosted Charlotte (Central) High School. Now Independence High School occasionally uses the stadium for big football games against their rivals, such as the annual Butler vs. Independence game.
It is located on a complex with the Grady Cole Center. Both are located next to Central Piedmont Community College.
For the past few years the stadium has hosted several band competitions. It has hosted the battle of the Bands between the biggest HBCUs in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. It has also hosted DCI competitions hosted by Carolina Crown.
For several years (until the mid 1990's) the stadium annually hosted The Shrine Bowl which was a match-up of the top high school football players in North Carolina and South Carolina.
A potential future occupant may be the Charlotte 49ers, when and if they choose to field an NCAA football team at the DI-AA level. The stadium would require significant renovation to serve the 49ers needs. The distance from the campus of some 8 miles would also be a problem, although the location next to the center city could be a potential advantage. Located next to Central Piedmont Community College (UNC Charlotte's original location) and in a heavily built up urban area, it can not be easily expanded. It might also serve as a temporary home while another facility was built. CPCC does not use the stadium for sporting events, CPCC's club soccer team uses a nearby park field.
In June 2009 a report by WCNC Television 36, revealed that the stadium is collapsing:
' "It's a cavity ... a hole under a small section of the seating," said James Alsop with the Parks and Recreation Department.
The ground under the end zone has opened up and the bleachers above it have caved in.
"There could be some erosion problem of some of the dirt washed away," said Alsop.
A storm water drain underneath the stadium could be to blame. Engineers are trying to figure out the cause.
The stadium was built in the 1930s on what was an old creek.
Alsop says right now they're convinced only the one section of the stadium is affected, but they're not sure what else could be in trouble in the future.
"We had a consulting and engineering firm walk the stadium for visual signs of potentially other settling areas and they did not see anything," Alsop said.
Those same engineers are trying to come up with a fix and determine how much that fix will cost. Much of that depends on exactly how bad things are underground.
"I would be concerned in a tight budget year if this had not happened. I'm still concerned about dollars and cents overall for the county," Alsop said.
Late Wednesday, they got the report but didn't get many answers. A spokesman said engineers couldn't give a cost estimate because they still don't know how bad the problem is -- they plan to meet with storm water folks to figure that out.
Engineers did tell parks and recreation leaders they could use the stadium as long as the affected area remains closed off.'
Thursday, June 11
1924 A Lunch on the Porch
Ah, summer is soon to be a daily regimen and here we are having our luncheon on our spacious porch--in 1924.
Monday, June 8
Independence Park Charlotte
On a very quiet and bright day two ducks nibble at new growth in the old reservoir area of the park directly across the street from Blue Heaven. Nature still knows this area as a watershed.
We have had well over 7 inches of rain in just the month of May 2009.
It was a flood, but as a piece of GOOD news: the leak in my kitchen ceiling has BEEN FIXED at LAST!
Sunday, June 7
The Mugging
How desperate things have become in our cities and lives...
Friday, June 5
HATS HATS HATS
History of Straw Hats
Men's dress hats, such as the boater, homburg and fedora, all of which came into vogue towards the end of the 1800s, marked the emergence of a new social informality and a less rigid class structure.
By the early 1900s, straw boaters were widely worn in the summer months, by both the middle and the working class.
The boater, a stiff straw hat with a moderately deep, flat-topped crown encircled by a petersham ribbon and a flat narrow brim, was universally popular with men and women for the country, the seaside and boating. From 1880-1920, the boater was a requisite for the tennis court and picnic, and worn by men and women alike for casual summer wear. Another hat worn by the seaside was the helmet, made of cloth with a small brim and a helmet-shaped sectional crown.
The humble sublimity of the straw hat swept with all its glory through the 1890s—1920s. The boater, so called because it originally topped off the striped blazer and flannel trouser outfit worn by young men while rowing, developed into the universal style for both men and women. American men wore the boater with a modest brim, slightly tilted on the head in a cocky mode, embellished only with a wide, striped grosgrain or silk hatband.
The evolution of modern straw dress hats is marked by important changes which took place in the middle 1930s. Summer headwear, which had previously been merely cool-looking became, cool and comfortable on the head. Paralleling the shift from hard derbies to soft hats in felts, the emphasis shifted from hard straws to soft straws.
Some of the better known soft straws are Open-weave Panama, New braids, Hanoki, Hemp, Peanit, Leghorn, Baku, Bangkok, and Madagascar.
The popularity of the Panama straw dress hat soared at the start of the 20th century when a photograph of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt sporting a stylish fino appeared in the world press. The demand for the chic hat rose. Prominent companies around the globe began distributing them. In Turkey, modernization laws banned the traditional fez in 1925 and mandated the use of Panama hats. By 1944 the Panama hat had become Ecuador's primary export item.
By the second half of the 20th century, the popularity of hats waned. Yet, Ecuador's finely woven Panama hats maintained their mystique. Indeed, expert hatters throughout the world compete for premium grade specimens. Famous people from bygone eras to our day have been captivated by the elegance of the Panama hat. It has graced the heads of Winston Churchill, Nikita Khrushchev, Humphrey Bogart, and Michael Jordan, to name but a few.
Of course, there are inexpensive mass produced imitations of the genuine Panama. However, many of these crack; others do not breathe. In contrast, the genuine Panama is light and airy, and it lasts a lifetime. Each is hand woven and therefore is one of a kind. Prices range from a few dollars for the coarser hats to over $1,000 for the rarest, the superfinos of Montecristi. Quality is determined by the fineness and regularity of the weave as well as the consistency of color. But always remember this: A genuine Panama hat is made only in Ecuador.
After some time away from the fashion scene, Panama hats are now coming back with a vengeance, and there's no better way to tell the world that you're a powerful man who recognizes the importance of image, than by choosing a panama dress hat that suits you