In foul, fetid, fuming, foggy, filthy Philadelphia!

Many years ago, during one of my family's summer vacation road trips, we stopped for a couple days in Philadelphia. I don't remember much about Philly, except that it was very, very hot, and that we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe and I got a shirt. The main reason for our stop there was to visit Independence Hall, and it definitely didn't disappoint. When we looked in the room where the Continental Congress met, I thought, "It looks just the way it's supposed to." When we walked through the lobby, I pointed at the stairs and said to my dad, "Look, that's where Franklin, Jefferson and Adams sang about the egg! And that's where they did the kick line down the stairs!"

In case you were wondering, yes, I'm aware that the Founding Fathers did not sing or dance down stairs (or did they?). But when we were wandering around Independence Hall, as amazing as it was to be in the place where some of the most important events in our nation's history took place, a good chunk of my excitement came from my recognition of the surroundings. I'd never been to Independence Hall before, but I had seen the movie 1776 more times than I can count.



1776 is a musical that tells the story of how the Declaration of Independence came to be written and ratified. The movie adaptation of this Tony Award-winning show is one of my all-time favorites, because it caters to my inner musical theatre nerd as well as my history nerd side.

The Fun Fourth Festival is proud to present 1776 on stage at the Carolina Theatre on July 1st, 2nd and 4th, and I, for one, cannot wait to see it. Directed by JP Swisher, the show will feature some of the finest actors in the Triad, and will certain-LEE (see below...hehe!) be an entertaining and educational experience for everyone.

The Faces of the Fun Fourth Festival

Each year the Fun Fourth Festival is held in downtown Greensboro. This event is produced, planned and organized by Grassroots Productions Limited a non-profit that focuses on community events in Greensboro. Over 1000 volunteers work more than 12,000 each year to make the Festival a success. Volunteers serve on our Advisory Board, help coordinate the entertainment, plan Children's Activities, sell tickets, answer questions, sell coke & water, coordinate the parade and many other jobs.

We thought you might like to meet some of The Faces of the Fun Fourth Festival. We've asked our volunteers to answer some questions and every week we'll feature a different volunteer.

Greensboro -- meet Daintry O'Brien:

Q: How long have you bee a Fun Fourth Volunteer?

DOB: Longer than I haven't

Q: What is your current position with FFF?

DOB: Food Vendor Czar! (Daintry makes sure all of the food vendors are operating within permitted rules -- health, fire and festival guidelines and takes care of any problems or concerns that the vendors may have during the Festival)

Q: What other positions have you filled?

DOB: Festival Director, Stadium Event Coordinator, Red Tape, I'm sure there are others but that's off the top of my head.

Q: Tell us a funny or interesting story of something that happened to you or something you saw at the Fun Fourth Festival.

DOB: Well there was the year the traffic cones for the road races went AWOL. The road crew got the delivery address mixed up. They told us it was delivered to 620 Elm Street. So we started driving down Elm Street Friday night, found over 150 orange traffic cones piled onto the front porch of 620 N. Elm Street!! Or the year the headliner band for the Block Party found the beer supply.....

Q: How did you come to be involved with the Fun Fourth Festival?
DOB: Betty Cone

Q: What is your favorite Fun Fourth food?

DOB: Funnel Cakes or Roasted Corn

Q: What is your favorite Fun Fourth Activity?

DOB: Love the Reenactors!!

Q: What is your favorite piece of patriotic music?

DOB: Stars and Stripes Forever

Q: If you could invite one of our Founding Fathers or Mothers to lunch who would that be and why?

DOB: Dolley Madison

A great big Thank You!!! to Daintry O'Brien for all that she does for the Fun Fourth Festival. When you are at the Festival eating your favorite food raise your funnel cake or roasted corn in a toast to Daintry!!.

Call for Crafters & Skilled Artisans

Call for Crafters and Skilled Artisans for Fun Fourth Festival 2010!

Organizers for this year’s Fun Fourth Festival in downtown Greensboro are accepting applications for crafters, skilled artisans and dealers of vintage-era items for their Craftscene and Vintage Village on Saturday, July 3. More than 100,000 people are expected at this year’s festival.

All items for sale in Craftscene must be of original design and handcrafted. Design and artistic excellence are considered for paintings, graphics, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, photography and mixed media. Items must be acceptable for family viewing.

Vintage Village sellers will display items for sale such as vintage clothing, furniture, textiles, house wares, knick-knacks and the like from a variety of eras.

Interested parties are encouraged to submit an application for participation in Fun Fourth Street Festival 2010. The application form is available for download.

The deadline for submitting applications for Craftscene and Vintage Village is May 15, 2010.

***Please note: Marketplace (Commercial Vending) and Food vendors are by invitation only.***

PS. Because I can't say it enough --- In 2010 the Parade & Street Festival are on Saturday, July 3!!!
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think warm thoughts...

So...it's cold outside. Really cold. It's cold enough that all I really want to do is hibernate for the next few months. I have a Slanket (it's fuzzy and leopard print-y and oh so warm!), a bunch of good books, a laptop and an internet connection (guess who spent most of her weekend watching old episodes of Farscape on Netflix [yes, I am a geek]) - I could be entirely happy.

But, as they say, time and tide and Fun Fourth wait for no (wo)man. It's just over six months away, and while that may seem like a long time, the truth is that July will be here before we know it. We're already brainstorming - really, we started planning 2010's Fun Fourth Festival on July 4th, 2009. Our goal, as always, is to take what we've learned in previous years and see what works and what doesn't. Some things we scrap, some things we just tweak a bit.

The thing that is most helpful, though, is feedback from The Public. We can't help but see the Festival from a different perspective than everyone else. We may think that something is a great idea, but we don't know for sure until the big day. So we're putting the question to you, The Public. To steal a bit from Conan O'Brien: People of Earth, what would you like to see at the Fun Fourth Festival?

Let us know! Are there things that you definitely want us to keep? Are there certain things you could do without? Is there something that you've always wished we would have? Now is your chance to help us in our quest to create a more perfect Fun Fourth Festival! Feel free to leave any and all suggestions in the comments section. Or, if you follow us on Twitter, send us a tweet! Or you can write on our wall on Facebook!

While you're at it, be sure to mark your calendars so that you don't miss out on any of the Fun Fourth events:

Saturday, June 26th - Freedom Run
Friday, July 2nd - Kickoff Block Party
Saturday, July 3rd - Fun Fourth Parade & Street Festival
Sunday, July 4th - Pops Concert & Fireworks

Be sure to visit our website for more information!

Baby its cold outside!

So, here we are....Festival of Lights was a success ---

large crowds, great music, beautiful decorations! BTW check out our photos (taken by the talented Lynn Donovan) on Flickr. So, here we are in January working on all sorts of projects:

• booking bands for Tunes @ Noon (every Wednesday from May through October) in Center City Park.
• working with the Center City Park marketing committee to develop a park produced event to coincide with First Friday.
• assisting the local chapter of National Forum for Black Public Adminstrators with one portion Forum 2010 -- the convention being held in Greensboro this year.
• planning for the 2010 Fun Fourth Festival is under way -- bands, crafts, food vendors, fireworks -- all of your favorites plus some new activities. (As a side bar -- because July 4th is on a Sunday in 2010 the schedule will be a little different) Block Party on Friday, July 2, Parade & Street Festival on Saturday, July 3 and Fireworks on Sunday, July 4 -- its a total weekend of Fun!!

Really all I can think about is --



Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy and warm 2010!!

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