Earth Fest Casselberry Florida

Posted on by Thor

The performers stood on a truck bed stage under two large red umbrellas. There was no shade on the lawn in front of them and a few people watched from the shade of trees on the outskirts of the lawn. IT was boiling hot.

9th Annual EarthFest, Central Florida’s second largest environmentally friendly festival will be held on Saturday, April 28, from 10 AM to 3 PM at Lake Concord Park in Casselberry

Sponsored by the City of Casselberry, Casselberry Friends of the Park and Keep Seminole Beautiful, EarthFest 2018 brings awareness about protecting our environment, creating clean energy and reducing our carbon footprint. The goal is to educate, encourage and empower citizens to create a sustainable environment by participating at the many fun activities located at the Green Vendor Area, Green Transportation and Energy Area, Entertainment Area, Kids Zone, and other fun zones throughout the entire park.

 EarthFest 2018 highlights include a special performance by Beth McKee and The Swamp Sistas, the Arbor Day Free Tree Giveaway, free plant giveaways, butterfly releases, eco-fun activities and live entertainment. Throughout the day, numerous workshops and educational presentations will be held both indoors and at the individual environmental vendor booths.   The Art House features the Recycled Art Show with art that is totally created from re-purposed material.  The Commission Chambers will host the Drop Savers Award Program.

“Rumor del Viento”

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The last performance at Love By Design was singer, songwriter Ka Malinalli along with Leo Aether who’s latest album “Vuelo al Sur“is being released this month. It was getting close to dusk. The audience had thinned out, and volunteers began packing away tables and chairs.  

As part of the Swamp Sistas Songwriters Circle, a gathering of women under the
lead of  Beth McKee, Ka had written a song about the Pulse Tragedy. The song was written in Spanish, so before it was performed, she strummed the chords, as Leo read the translation. With Ka’s permission, I will share it here. 


“Rumor del Viento” (Whispering Wind)


The voices of the ones who fell travel in the whispering wind. 

The loves were silenced under fierce attacks of fire.

Joyful advocates of unconditional equality, transcendental essence of love.

They are victims of hatred deeply embedded in our history, invoking the light of humanity.


The grief of the ones who remain is kept by the whispering wind. 

They keep in their breath the names that inspired a grand movement, of strong defenders of unconditional equality, transcendental essence of love. 

And those who hate without thought,

will be blind as we march together,

beaming with this immense light of humanity.


We’ll be a great mountain. 

We’ll be a great wall. 

We’ll be a great canyon.

The whispering wind will find a refuge in the hearts

of those of us that can still appreciate the time given and look for reason.

And we will transform the songs of love,

into echoes of fight and revolution. 


Sung in Spanish the song was even more beautiful. Looking around, I realized there were only a handful of people experiencing this amazing moment. The lyrics quietly faded away in the early evening breeze. I was so glad that I stayed as long as I did. This song encapsulated the day. My eyes burned as I stood and clapped. There was a quiet beauty in the moment. Creativity flourished even if largely unnoticed.


 

The Mardi Gras Soiree at Dexter’s of Winter Park.

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I got to Dexter’s of Winter Park (558 W New England Ave, Winter Park, Florida) fairly early to get a table with a decent view of the band. I explained that I needed to sketch and the Maitra d’ set me up front and center.  Fat Tuesday was being celebrated in grand style with a fantastic celebration of life and music. The Brown Bag Brass Band was already playing New Orleans standards loud and proud. I had received a text from Frankie Messina earlier in the day about the Mardi Gras Soiree. A friend from my past who I worked with over 30 years ago at Zip Mailing, is snow birding in Winter Park for several months. I told her about the Soiree and she had to weight her options between a Condo Association meeting or Mardi Gras. She arrived as I was finishing up my first sketch.

One of the patrons at the table next to me had a decibel reading app on his smart phone. He pointed it out to me and the needle kept spiking to over 103 decibels. The woman with him liked my sketch and I typed my site URL onto her smart phone. She said she could set me up with new clients. I really should always carry business cards A woman seated next to my friend shouted in her ear. The two of them were the first to get up to dance as I kept sketching.

The second act was Louisianna’s own Beth McKee and the Local Brass Band Heroes.  Fat Tire Beer was offering specials all night, so that is what I drank to loosen up the line work. Beth’s band got everyone in Dexter’s on their feet. With my second sketch done, I had to get up and dance as well to “When the Saints Go Marching In“. Beth asked the Brown Bag Brass Band to join in and we were all dancing only inches from the musicians. Frankie got on the dance floor and gave me a high five.

When all the festivities died down, my friend and I got a chance to talk at length. Catching up on 30 plus years of history takes time. I had no idea that she had become an artist since the last time I saw her, and I scrolled through her art on my cell phone. She creates intricate worlds with flowing volumetric forms. Some feel like intimate looks inside of living organisms. Colors were vibrant and though abstract, the work seemed familiar and alive. Round canvases give some of the paintings a calming appeal. At Zip Mail in Tenafly NJ, we were trained to become machines who collated, tied and moved a constant stream of junk mail. From that industrial crucible it is amazing that art managed to take root and thrive.

Swamp Sista LaLa Friends

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Swamp Sista La La Friends began its inaugural year as an annual event on Saturday June 23, 2012. It was an epic celebration of mostly southern music, women, independent businesses (which happen to be mostly owned or ran by women), and the hippest community in Orlando (also managed by a woman). It took  place outside and inside Park Ave CDs, from 7PM – 11PM. The evening was a gathering of Swamp Sistas, soulfully connected women, (mainly) Southern women who love to keep their roots at the surface while also branching to a more contemporary sound.

Audubon Park Garden District, Park Ave CDs, and Beth McKee joined to bring Swamp Sistas together for music, fun, vendors, beer, and food in Audubon Park.

Beth McKee’s Swamp Sista group includes diverse and talented women from all over the South and also from all over Central Florida.

The goal behind this Swamp Sista La La is to raise awareness about local independent retail stores, especially record stores like Park Ave CDs, and local entrepreneurs, which Audubon Garden District often champions. By having a Swamp Sista La La at Park Ave CDs, Beth utilized the Swamp Sista network to bring people from all over the area to Audubon Park, showing them what a special place it is.

The parking lot outside Park Avenue CDs was crowded with merchant tents while Viveca Averstedt‘s swedeDISH Food Truck hummed on the road. I sat next to the outdoor stage to sketch Laney Jones and her band as they performed mellow folk tuned. I’m pretty sure I sketched her performing solo outside infusion tea once on a rainy dusk. It was a hot humid evening and by the time I was done sketching I decided to go. The swedeDISH Food Truck had a Thor hot dog which was supposed to be immense. I was tempted to order one but decided to hold off. A band was also performing inside Park Avenue CDs where there was air conditioning. Terry and I negotiated and then left.