We had such a great time at Bounty On The Bricks in Athens, Ohio. Needless to say, tickets sold out quickly… we were so lucky to get in. Anyway, Vanessa wrote such a nice article I thought I’d abdicate my space and just let her do the talking:
The old Athena on Court Street spreads the news
‘Hey now, Vanessa here… every once in a blue moon or in this case a super moon, I get to hijack Jorma’s blog. Since I was a part of this amazing night we just had…..I thought I would weigh in. We live just outside of Athens, Ohio. If you’ve never been here…in the rolling foothills of southeast Ohio…..you owe it to yourself to take a drive and see what it’s all about. We don’t have an ocean, we don’t have the Eiffel tower, and we don’t an Arch but we have the beauty of the land and so much more and if you are paying attention it calls out to you with it’s lush hills and it’s music that’s played in all four corners of the county from the Fur Peace Ranch to pubs in Athens. This place is gentle and wild, rustic and new, peaceful though mighty, sustainable and fresh… not to mention we have a community full a great folks who really care about where they live. Jorma stumbled on our little part of the world in 1985 with his band, There Goes the Neighborhood and we ended up here in 1990.
The Athens Celtic Sessions Band
Foto by Vanessa Kaukonen
Tonight…..we were in the heart of it all at the 2nd Annual Bounty on the Bricks. The bricks is Court Street that runs from one end of town to the other. The bounty was indeed a bounty…a feast…a garden of delights served to about 330 community members who sat at a table that stretched almost the length of Court Street. Hosted by the Athens Foundation who’s goal is to provide funding for education, health, social services, animal welfare, public affairs, recreation, the environment and arts, culture and humanities. Seems like a lot in that one sentence….but they do so much more. They are committed to engaging and maintaining a healthy and inclusive community where there are opportunities for everyone. Tonight….the money raised on tickets sales for this dining extravaganza will be shared with a 7 county wide stretch of food pantries to enhance their capacity to serve more healthy foods to those in need. Last year, 18 pantries and 196,000 people were effected by their generous donation.
Jorma at the Courthouse, pickin' not picketing
Foto by Vanessa Kaukonen
The event sold out quick….I was on vacation when the tickets went on sale. When I found out about it I called them from the beach in Maine. I had to miss last years event because we had a show at the Fur Peace Ranch…..I just couldn’t miss another year. I pled my case and offered up my husband, Jorma to maybe kick off the event with a few tunes. Thank you Jorma! He got us in. I invited my sis, Ginger, one of the original designers of the Fur Peace idea and John Hurlbut….our great Ranch Manager and old friend. It seemed like everyone we knew was there in what had to be the social event of the summer. The weather was perfect, and the buzz of everyone meeting up and listening to some great music that included, Athens Celtic Session Band, Jorma (thank you, thank you again), Rye Burhans & Words of Mouth Jazz Band were electrifying. When the dinner bell rang, Jorma had just finished up his last tune. I have to say that the dinner bell got more applause than the ol’ man…..but that’s OK. We’d been waiting all week for this.
The menu... a veritable cornucopia of goodness
Foto by Vanessa Kaukonen
The food was over the top delicious and all of it came from our community of growers and farmers. Integration Acres Goat Cheese, Shagbark Mills Corn Meal Crisp, Green Edge Leaf Greens, Shade Winery Cabernet, King Farm Chicken and Pork, , Vest Farm Kale & Chard, Snowville Creamery Sweetened Whipped Cream, Avalanche Bakery Artisan Breads, Herbal Sage Teas , Jackie O’s Artisan Beer and more wine provided by Raven’s Glen and Kinkead Wineries.
Let the eating begin!
And it did...
I could list the menu items….but it would take up another entire blog. Let’s just say that the food was mouthwatering. The Chef…Master Chef Alfonso A. Contrisciani outdid himself! It took the hard work of the Athens Foundation Committee Members to pull this off and a whole lot of volunteers. Such a treat to have a night out away from our own busy schedule at Fur Peace and to be able to sit amongst friends and no matter where you looked there were people that cared enough to make this night happen.’
Bon appetit
Foto by Vanessa Kaukonen
On an unrelated note 🙂 the December Beacon show is almost sold out.
Way to go!
Perhaps the boys can add another NYC area electric show?
Tarrytown Music Hall and Wellmont Theater (north Jersey) would be excellent candidates.
So glad things turned out so well. It looked like a beautiful evening and a great time was had by all.
Thanks
Nice write-up, Vanessa. Glad to hear the event was a success. Athens and SE Ohio in general is an awesome corner of this Earth. I was fortunate to attend OU for 5 years from 1980-1985 and loved everything about it…from uptown to the glorious surrounding hills and countryside. Coincidentally, Athens is where my old college buddy Gary, from NY, turned me on to Hot Tuna (Double Dose on vinyl) during my freshman year in 1980. I had a couple of Airplane albums at that time, however, really had no idea of the magic of Jorma and Jack. I’ve been a huge fan ever since. While living in Columbus in the late 80’s, I used to shop for records/cd’s at John Hurlbut’s record shop on the east end of town. I remember buying “Pair a Dice Found” there and JH advising me that Jorma had just bought a plot of land down in Athens. The rest, as they say, is history! Anyway, really looking forward to my trip back to Athens next weekend for the show at FPR with Jorma, Barry, and Moonalice and connecting with my older brother (also an OUer) and several old-time friends.
A most worthy event to be sure. Your all’s participation really means a lot to this community.
I first recall Jorma coming to A-town with “Jorma Kaukonen and Band”, playing at the old Hanger 5. My ticket stub says Monday May 6 9 pm but doesn’t give the year. The ticket promised “acoustic and electric” – and it was a fine show indeed in that little bar. I think the band was traveling in a van, and they rocked thru Tuna tunes as well as standards like Kansas City.
One of the patrons spent the evening painting a fantastic Star Trek mural on the outdoor patio wall. Shame they tore that place down, but the good-times memories remain.