100th Day

In one way, this photo has nothing to do with 100 days of Sharon, CT, but in another, it has everything to do with it, as it somehow epitomizes why I love living here. I spent about 12 hours today at work, as today was our fifth annual Family Arts Festival. A little organization like ours, and a small event like the Festival, can make a big difference in such a small town.

Each year, we bring artists - dancers, musicians, storytellers, theater groups - to perform at our center. This year we added street painting all day as well. Many more photos of the day here. We don't charge much - it's a $10 suggested donation for adults, free for kids. We want to give everyone in our community a chance to experience different cultures and art forms, and participate in them too. This photo shows a little boy, about four years old, who just couldn't help himself from trying what the dancer was doing. The dancer, by the way, is 17 years old, and has won many awards for her dancing. (She's also a national math champion, headed for MIT, one of the US' most elite universities, in the fall!)

At today's festival, we also had a Zydeco band (cajun music from Louisiana); Brazilian Samba, a native American storyteller, a women's folk trio who sang about the perils of motherhood, including the Bad Mother Blues (I can relate!), and a fantastic percussion and break dancing group, all children and teenagers, from one of the nearby big cities, Kingston, NY. The people who come seem to really appreciate and enjoy the day and I feel such satisfaction at having been a part of making it happen.

Three cheers for everyone, in all our communities, who brings people together, helps them find the things that unite us instead of divide us, and who gives people a chance to have fun, to dance, to laugh, together. (That means, in our DP family, three cheers for Eric, Denton, Ham, and all of the Daily and City photo bloggers who help us understand one another better - together we are creating the possibility of Peace on Earth!)