On Saturday, Terry and I went to the 5th Annual Baldwin Park Art & Jazz Festival. The festival looked very much like every other festival I have been to in Baldwin Park. Vendors arts and crafts tents were lined up down the length of New Broad Street. There are always a wide assortment of dogs being walked in this Celebration like “Leave it to Beaver” neighborhood. Our first order of business was to find some lunch. We decided to eat at La Bella Luna which was an Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria. Terry ordered a chicken Caesar salad and I ordered Lasagna. The chicken in Terry’s salad was dry, overcooked and she couldn’t eat it. My lasagna was tasteless except for the excessively salty sauce. I however can eat anything, although my stomach sometimes complains. The waiter asked how everything was and he got an earful from Terry. She said she was doing him a favor since the restaurant wouldn’t be around for long if this is what then were passing off as food. He would be better off finding a better restaurant to work in.
After lunch we ran into Hal Stringer who was displaying his colorful paintings. He relaxed in the shade of a tree and watched as people examined his bold landscape paintings. He applies the paint thickly with a pallet knife. My favorite painting was an abstract that resembled liquid fire. Hal pointed out the program to us and told us where the two stages were set up. Terry and I wandered to the end of the streets and were drawn to the music of the Buzzcatz. Terry and I spotted Carol Stein, a wonderful pianist, song writer and composer. She grabbed a table and I sat down to sketch. While I worked, Terry decided to shop and explore the arts and crafts tents. Carol and I ordered margaritas. Carol said, “These people don’t realize the world class caliber of musical talent they are listening to!” I had seen the guitarist on the left, Bobby Koeble, at a Rollins College Faculty showcase concert and he amazed me. The classic jazz, motown and rat pack era music kept the audience swaying. Several couples started to swing dance while children ran in circles on a patch of lawn. Behind the band people relaxed in the grass looking out over Lake Baldwin.