THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 24, 1995 TAG: 9503240142
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
Some people who concern themselves with the arts seem to think that our community is a wasteland. Mention Chesapeake and right away someone will say, ``Oh, yes, the Jubilee.''
Chesapeake does, however, have a vital life in the arts. Nowhere is this more obvious than within our library system. Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in three very different functions presented by the system.
On Feb. 13, I watched Dylan Pritchett, an African-American griot, tell stories to children at Russell Memorial. The audience had quite a few of us ``big kids'' in it, too. Throughout that week, Pritchett visited Greenbrier and the Central Library. About 160 patrons watched him perform, according to library counts.
Approximately 600 people attended the third annual Chesapeake Poetry Festival, Feb. 24-25, again at the Russell branch, where 22 poets read. A surprise at the event was the establishment of the Dave Smith Poetry Collection, more than 30 impressive anthologies donated to the library. Smith, a growing, important voice in poetry, has worked on the festival with the library for three years. I hope he is planning already for the fourth annual event.
Another 3,300 patrons attended the second annual Train Time March 3-4 at the Central Library. Model train displays, videos and photos made the main floor as busy as an old-time train station. Folk musician Bob Zentz and storyteller Kathy Carter added their talents with train lore in music and story.
Of course, none of this would have been possible without the creative library staff and talented artists/organizations assisted generously by the Virginia Endowment for the Arts, the Chesapeake Fine Arts Commission, the Friends of the Library and citizens such as C. Edward Russell.
In short, we have a wonderful library system loaded with dedicated staff serving the community in many ways. I hope the City Council will continue strong support for the arts, especially our libraries. As a library patron, I say thank you and keep up the good work.
William Blake
Brandywine Drive by CNB