A special First Friday

By Bo Young

It was all Kathy Juckett’s idea. As if she doesn’t have enough to do, Kathy thought it would be a good idea to invite every artist who has shown at First Friday over the past two years to donate a piece or two of their work to be sold for the exclusive benefit of the Pember.

You can imagine we thought that was a pretty good idea.

Kathy, who throws a mean ceramic pot in her spare time, and her husband Dave, whose woodworking talents apparently know no bounds (come see the a-MAZING guitar he is putting in the show) sent out a personal letter to every artist, inviting them to the November show.

So far more than a half dozen have responded positively and we will have a much larger show than usual as a result. A typical First Friday at the Pember has three local artists. This November  will have more than five times that. You read that right. As of this writing … 15 local artists.

Did I mention the exquisite culinary artistry of Ali Sherman from H.N. Williams Country Store in Dorset, who will be dazzling one and all? I’m not too proud to tell you that we’ve been begging Ali for more than a year to come in and give us all a taste. Now she is.

But allow me to entreat you all just a little more with a mere partial list of the artists who have donated a piece of their work in support of The Pember Library and Museum and First Friday: Don Taylor, Dave Gilchrest, Carolyn Kibbe, Mason Hurley, Robert Sydorovich, Ginny Sword, Steve Sanford, Lynne Knobel, Raymond Kwiatkoski, Adriano Manocchia, Beth Kashner, Hannie Varosy and her handsome husband Gyula Varosy! Add in Kathy and (speaking of handsome) Dave Juckett’s work and there isn’t an arts program within a 100-mile radius of Granville that wouldn’t be envious of this array. These are names you all know. Why? These are your friends and neighbors.

And as if that weren’t enough, the Bear Strings will be providing the music for the evening. This ensemble of mandolin, fiddle, concertina and hammer dulcimer is sure to lift the roof right off the place!

First Friday … Nov. 2, 7 to 9 p.m. As always.