This coming Monday, Americans all around the world will stop what they are doing, skip going to work, avoid school, and take advantage of every sale they can! That’s why we have this holiday called Memorial Day, right? To get a car at factory direct prices? Or a drastically marked-down mattress? Where are my car keys? I need to get out and shop.

Wait a minute.

For a moment there I think I was channeling what I have been hearing on the radio and seeing on TV all week long. What is it really about? For that, I must refer to General John A. Logan’s famous document, General Order 11, and I quote:

“The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.”

In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson saw fit to change the observance to the last Monday in May as part of the Uniformed Holidays Act. What he didn’t grasp, unfortunately, was the significance of May 30, and this I want to share with you.

Decoration Day, now called “Memorial Day,” was picked by General Logan for one reason. During the American Civil War, or the War of the Rebellion, or whatever you choose to call it, 651,000 Americans lost their lives in 10,000 different battles. Americans killed each other around the clock for four years, except on one day: May 30. Every other day of the calendar year featured at least one American death, but not May 30.

Logan was invited to a memorial service in Carbondale on April 30, 1866, and that started his desire to make an observance formal. Two years later, as Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, America’s first formal veteran’s organization, he made it so.

How does that connect to me? Well, nine of my relatives fought in the American Civil War. Four for the north, five for the south. In this situation I was compelled to join the fraternal organizations derived from the Civil War veteran organizations, and while all alone as a member in Quincy, I am still obligated to do something on Memorial Day. Now here is where you come in: I want you to join me.

This is what Civil War veterans from both sides did on Memorial Days from 1865-1959: They came together in every town across the country, in Canada, England and even in Germany, and they celebrated together. They cried over their lost family and friends, told old army stories, laughed and usually ate well. Cemeteries are built like public parks for a reason, and that is recreation. That is where they went. They also had speeches, parades, color guards and all the stuff we do today.

So this Memorial Day, try and skip the sales. Go to a public program to honor our nation’s veterans who gave their lives for our country, past and present. Bring a lunch, bring family, and bring your friends. If you don’t want to go to a public program, go privately. You can do the same things on your own. Do you have a relative who served in the military and is no longer with us? Stop by the headstone and say thanks, and then have a picnic lunch with your family.

If you would care to join me, I will be at the noon program at Woodland Cemetery. Look for the guy wearing the modern suit and Civil War hat.

When I was a child, we painted pumpkins instead of carving them.

My mother says that the first Halloween they carved pumpkins. Then she put them outside overnight with the candles in them.  In the morning, an early frost had hit that disfigured the jack-o-lantrens into more scary faces than the bright ones we had left.  My little girl self wept.  My mother couldn’t stand it, so we painted the pumpkins from then on.

When I got married, my husband was horrified to find out that I didn’t remember or know how to carve a pumpkin.

O'Neal

Nauvoo has the most spectacular display of carved pumpkins I have seen to date.  The weekend before Halloween, the streets are filled with pumpkins of every size, shape, color and carving to celebrate the holiday.  There is a auction for the most beautiful carvings, so you can take a piece home.

Lots of the visitors share their own spooky costumes as they walk the streets enjoying the show.  There are also photo ops to catch a wonderful memory or two.

My first experience with this tradition was last year’s Pumpkin Walk.  It surpassed everything I had heard.  There were the ironic sayings, pop-culture references, nerdy favorites, as well as the traditional jack-o-lanterns and Halloween themes.  No two are just alike.

Some of the pumpkins look to be carved by children, while others definitely have the touch of a master.  Street after street and window after window were jammed full.  There was live music from an uniquely instrumented band to accompany the happy chatter of visitors.

An event for young and young at heart alike, this walk is a great way to start off your Halloween celebrations.  Put it on your 2013 schedule.

Holowicki

Earlier this year, Brendan Shanahan, veteran forward from Hartford Whalers, Detroit Red Wings and later the New York Rangers, was appointed the position Director of Player Safety. Shanahan has become the disciplinarian of the National Hockey League and has suspended many players this year for illegal blows to the head, including Raffi Torres and Jody Shelley.

Hockey has become very physical over the last decade. The players are bigger, faster and tougher. Injuries are more intense than they were. Listening to four HBO documentaries this past week gives the listener a different perspective.

On TV, you don’t hear Ranger’s coach John Tortarella drop one F bomb after the other in the locker room nor do you hear the Fliers bench taunt New York’s goalie Henrik Lundquist or the team captain Ryan Callahan about being insignificant or jeers of “Go back to the entry draft.”

Jeers can be lighthearted or not. These teams play physical. It’s not personal though. This is business. Darren McCarty said that years ago when he was playing for the Red Wings.

I think back to my little league baseball coach who used to make me run laps after games when I didn’t make big plays or hits. That’s at least the way it felt at the time. I was smaller than most kids my size and couldn’t hit nor field the ball as good as other kids my age. This was frustrating. Do I look back and respect my coach for making me run laps? No, absolutely not. I resented it then and I resent it now. He should have been working with me one on one to improve my game. He would not. Why is that important to the NHL Winter Classic?

Discipline, albeit not a good way to discipline a player unless you’re going to initiate some sort of positive reinforcement. These are elite players and many NHL players play in the Olympics nowadays. The best of the best. Six or seven years ago, these two teams were nowhere near contenders for a Stanley cup victory. Today is different. Philadelphia has forward James Van Riemsdyk and Chris Pronger. The Rangers have Marion Gaborik and Ryan Callahan.

Remember two years ago when the Chicago Blackhawks won in a surprise victory in an overtime win with Patrick Kane shooting the game winning goal in OT? The Fliers stood there in shock. The Fliers were, at the time, struggling to make the post season. After three post season rounds, clinched the Eastern conference. By the way, Chicago’s Marián Hossa is the first player in NHL history to appear in three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals with three different teams, having previously made the Final with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2008 and again with the Detroit Red Wings in 2009.

Recap of the game:
Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, who signed a nine-year, $51 million contract this past year, didn’t have much of a game and the was sent to the bench. Sergei Bobrovsky filled in when coach Peter Laviolette called him up but couldn’t hold an early lead front of tens of thousands of Fliers fans.

The game without Jaromir Jagr, the Fliers forward who played only a minute in the second period before leaving the game with an injury. The 39-year-old Jagr, a former Ranger, said after the game he injured his left leg and expected to return soon.

Brad Richards who was one of the summer’s top free agents (behind Rookie Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent Hopkins) is in his first season with New York. Richards scored the game winner knocking in a rebound making it 3-2 Rangers for his 14th of the season.
Its great to see the former underdog teams like these on top again!

Steve Holowicki

Kindle

I feel like I owe an apology. I said in an earlier blog about how much I like old things. I said that there was an inherent coolness in stuff that came from the annals of history. Bowties, cassettes and old books are all things that I find interesting and worth talking about. Unfortunately, I feel like I’ve sold out. I now have a Kindle. I love it.

I won it as a raffle prize at a fundraiser for the Quincy Humane Society a few weeks ago. It is a new fourth generation basic Kindle, and it doesn’t really have any bells or whistles like I was expecting. Normally if I get a new phone or some kind of gadget there is a breaking period. A few days or weeks where I’m not really comfortable using it. I might fumble around with the menus, and where I haven’t figured out the shortcuts yet. As an example, I bought a touchscreen smart phone (an HTC Incredible II) over the Fourth of July weekend and I’m still not “one” with it. With the Kindle I had it down in less than a day.

Hahn

It is one of the most straightforward pieces of technology I have ever owned. It is meant for one thing: reading stuff. There aren’t any bells, whistles or downloadable apps to get in the way of reading. Even the things that I consider excessive, the Spanish, Portuguese, German and Italian dictionaries that come preloaded on it will be helpful if I ever stumble upon a random word like aleatório (which happens to be Portuguese for random).

This generation of Kindle also comes with a Wi-Fi receiver so it can buy books without a computer — an added bonus. So far all the books I have purchased have all cost the same $0. Since some literary works are old enough that the intellectual property rights have expired, they are free. I am currently reading “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.” The average cost for it on amazon appears to be around $9. I paid nothing. That’s pretty cool.

So like I said before, I feel a little disingenuous by saying that I like really cool things and then turn around and write about how I love this brand new e-reader. However, my bereavement will hopefully be assuaged a little bit every time I can get a book for free.

Kevin Hahn

The Grinch

Halloween is over and the only evidence that remains of the holiday is leftover candy that the kids did not want. All the fake cobwebs, plastic hanging skeletons and costumes have all been packed into boxes for next year. All of the jack-o-lanterns you carved a few weeks ago have long since rotted and are in a strong need of being put out of their misery. Now that Halloween is over it is time for the most frightening time of the year.

To me, the part of the year that gives me the chills the most is the extremely early decorating and shopping for Christmas. Barely a week after Halloween met its end, the holiday season has seemed to kick into gear at a chilling pace.

O'Donnell

Yesterday, while grocery shopping, the holidays were already impossible to avoid. The aisles once filled a week ago with trick or treat candy and costumes have been replaced with Christmas-themed decor. Walking down an aisle you can feel the looming eye of old Saint Nick burning a hole through your back.  Boxes of lights and candy eyes are stacked high as well as garland and wreaths are in full stock. Leaving the aisle, I could feel my left leg tremble from Christmas cheer shock.

Another marketplace of consumerism that has embraced the early celebration of Christmas is the malls. I only have my own local mall to reference, but I am certain from past experience that others also use this method.  All the different stores have started to decorate their stores, but I almost expect that.  What frightens me the most are the advertisements sponsored by the mall. As we near Thanksgiving the malls have begun to promote upcoming visits from Santa himself. The ads provide an array of dates from the man in red’s visit as well as offering photo opportunities. While one would think Santa would still be enjoying his time off for a few more weeks, apparently he has a more extensive mall tour schedule than Debbie Gibson and Tiffany had in the eighties.

Early Christmas promotions cannot even be escaped at home. On Nov. 1, many commercials began running to promote the upcoming holiday season. Many food advertisements are already shoving their products down the throats of consumers.  The commercials are trying to secure a reservation for their items on your holiday table this season.  Many of the ads depict happy families sitting around a table smiling and passing around baskets of dinner rolls.  These ads seem to omit modern technology from the equation.  Many holiday tables this year will be surrounded my families in silence busy texting away on smart phones or listening to their iPods.  If this aspect of reality was included in the commercial spots, it would add some honesty to the promotion, but would probably kill the joyous holiday mood.

Another shocker this year to me is how so many people have already begun to decorate the outside of their homes with Christmas items. So far this week I have seen wreaths hanging from doors and men climbing ladders attempting to hang lights while not snapping their necks. What is more horrifying is logging onto Facebook to see how many people have Christmas trees up already.

My next beef with the early arrival of the holidays is one I will admit is something I hate up until the holiday itself.  I have never enjoyed or been able to tolerate Christmas music. Especially when its blaring throughout so many stores. Also holiday radio stations are starting to make a reappearance. Some radio stations that play regular top 40 music are starting to sneak a jingle in here or there. There has always been something about Christmas music that makes me tense. During the holidays, its almost impossible to avoid the cheery tunes. Now with the season starting so early, people like me will be going insane by Christmas Eve.

It seems like everyone else is making their Christmas list now, so I will too and I am asking for silence.

One aspect of the holidays some people protest, but most embrace, is the shopping. The mass consumerism of the holidays has erupted into full swing.  I have heard a lot of people have conversations about planning shopping trips to get all the good deals or find the perfect hard to find gifts. This is one I will acknowledge, but not necessarily be irritated by. This is because I am the exact polar opposite of those who are Christmas shopping as we speak. Dec. 23 and 24 are my days of high speed holiday shopping. My blood pressure is high and I feel nuts at this time. So to those of you who have the initiative to get out their and buy your gifts early, I suppose all I can say is more power to you.

Another thing I have noticed is how many of my friends have begun making their plans to travel home this holiday season. This one I can almost understand, if they lived across the country from their families. Yet a lot of the people I have spoken to are in driving distance of their homes, but are making plans like they are about to cross the Sahara. I can see someone wanting to know what day they will be driving, but creating strategies for packing and figuring out where one will be making pit stops along the journey seems a bit excessive. Have a plan sure, but don’t become Clark Griswald from the “Vacation” movies. Holiday travel can be hard, but it shouldn’t be turned into such a massive task this early.

I am not trying to sound like a Grinch, but I feel it is way too early to be embracing the holiday season. At this pace, if we keep moving up the preparation for the holidays, then in a couple years, people will start putting up trees the day after the Fourth of July. When the holiday season becomes a marathon it loses a lot of the magic. Give Santa a little more time off, because Christmas is still a bit of a ways off.

Just occupy your time being stressed about Thanksgiving first. Gobble Gobble.

–Jordan O’Donnell

Kevin Hahn, left, James Bond, top right, Crusty and Winston Churchill.

The Bow Tie, in my previously mentioned fascination with almost everything old fashioned, I have started wearing a bow tie.

A few weeks ago I bought a bow tie at Schuecking’s Menswear on the corner of Fifth and Maine Streets in downtown Quincy. So far I’ve worn it twice and both times I have gotten compliments. “Spiffy” has been the word most commonly used and I think that fits pretty well. A bow tie — especially one that is hand tied, not a clip-on or a hook and adjustable strap — seems to possess a very unique aura.

Whether it is Pee-wee Herman, Winston Churchill, Groucho Marx, or Karl Marx, there is something old fashioned, goofy, or distinguished about this neck decoration. The examples of unique characters wearing the honorable bow tie extend also to fictitious individuals. Donald Duck, Krusty the Klown, Moe Syzslak, The Peguin, The Doctor (From Doctor Who), and The Cat in the Hat all sport the bow tie. I’m not saying that this bit of neck wear is responsible for all of these individuals combined success, but it couldn’t have hurt their chances.

Now-a-days the traditional necktie is the norm for business and formal attire. With this average option you are limited to what style of knot you want, the width of the tie, the color, and pattern. A bow tie gives an added option, a way to stand out.

Sure there are those who criticize the illustrious bow tie as being to stuffy, nerdy, or elitist. To that I would say: If a bow tie were that nerdy, why is it the mainstay of the tuxedo? I would also say, is James Bond a nerd?

This past Saturday I went to a wedding for one of my friends from Quincy University. The wedding and reception was down in St. Louis. Most of the guests were family and friends from the area, obviously. I was a stranger to most of the people there except for a contingent of fellow friends from Quincy. I bet, though, if someone had to describe me to a family member. It would be easier to describe me as, “Kevin, you know the super tall one with the bow tie?” instead of saying, “Kevin, you know the goofy super tall one dressed like every other guy here?”

Kevin Hahn

Blues guitarist Laurie Morvan wales on her guitar during a solo as the Laurie Morvan Band performs in Washington Park Friday.

I had never heard of the Laurie Morvan Band, and I had never been to Blues in The District before, so I wasn’t exactly sure what I was getting myself into. I was positive I would run in to more reluctant people who did not want to be interviewed, and I still have not acquired a threatening persona yet, and nor do I like pushing people to do things they don’t want to do, but if I really am getting annoyed, I just use the line — “Hey, I’m on deadline people, can you help me out…” — when most of the time, I don’t even edit the event until two days later. Tricks of the trade, of which I just gave up … oh well, I do what I can to get what I want.

Dreasler

But with this crowd … I had NO problem finding people to be interviewed. (You will see for yourself when you watch the video below) I thoroughly enjoyed how easy it was to get people to oblige to my interviews. Or maybe it was the constant flow of alcohol that was running through their veins that provoked them to make such a rash decision in letting me videotape and post them on the internet for all to see, forever? (Ok, a bit much…) Either way, I had plenty of people offering to be interviewed. It made my life a lot easier, and a lot more fun! Not to mention, I ran into a lot of people that I knew, or at least people who knew me. I have to say, I honestly love my job, and truly feel honored that people are happy at the progress I’m making with my career. It means a lot to hear your compliments, and I love interacting with the people of Quincy. So, on that side note … Thank you!

Back to the band … Laurie Morvan is by far one of the most charismatic performers I have ever met. Even in just talking to her, she has this cool, sleek feel about her, in that she seems like she really cares about her fans and what they think, yet she doesn’t have this fake, “Oh my gosh it’s soooo great to meet you” (when some artists, I’m sure, could care less about fans). She truly wasn’t like that. I stood there for a while, and just watched her mingle with her fans as she signed autographs in-between breaks. The fact that she did that was amazing. Most artists hide out backstage … which would have been hard to do in Washington Park, but I’m sure a port-a-potty would have sufficed. Yeah, no.

I was impressed with the band, the people, the food and the atmosphere. I felt welcomed by the crowd, and the people who came up to me just to say hello. I really appreciate it. I also appreciated the openness by Laurie, I know she was very busy, so with that, I thank her sincerely, for letting me steal a moment of her time.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Jenny Dreasler

The Undecided

Once again, I made the trek down to Hannibal this weekend. I’m not going to lie, I spent most of my weekend in Hannibal. From Thursday night’s Media match volleyball tournament, to the fireworks on the 4^th, and the bands playing live in Tanyard Gardens.

Dreasler

I covered the event Saturday night at National Tom Sawyer Days in Tanyard Gardens, where The Undecided was playing. My experience with the show was interesting, to say the least. As I was walking in to the venue, I told security who I was, and they had no idea who I was, and told me that “The Local Q” was down further that way (as she points to the mud volleyball tournament), I kindly explained to her that I was with the media and would be covering the band that night. I didn’t have my press pass with me to show her, as I forgot it in my car, and that I needed to get in ASAP. Looking at me with definite doubt in her eyes, she let me in.

I mingled my way through the crowd that had not yet congregated yet and made my way behind stage to ask the stage manager where I could find the lead singer of The Undecided. He pointed across the way, and that’s when I courageously broke into the middle of men talk and begged for an interview. Luckily, I didn’t actually have to beg, the lead singer, Don Sandidge, was extremely nice. He is one of the very few artists who actually take the time to ask me where I am with my life, how I got this gig, and things of that nature. I was quite impressed with him. He was very down to earth, and by no means did he seem to be stuck on his own ego.

My interview with Don was over, and we just mingled for a little bit, me asking questions about previous tours they have done, and learning that this band has actually opened for Poison! I was impressed. They actually had a new CD they were releasing that night, and Don was kind enough to give me a copy. To be honest, I normally wouldn’t have opened the CD right away and listened to it. Knowing me, it would get shoved in the trunk of my car, and misplaced somewhere throughout my room, or lost on my many trips I make between Quincy and Atlanta. However, I did put this CD in, and listened to it. I was actually quite surprised at what I heard. Not only were there the very hard rock songs, but also some slow ballads. This is where I truly got to hear the vocal talent that this group possesses. I would definitely recommend this band, and not only is the music good, and entertaining, but the people who put on the show are very accommodating as well. It’s always nice to get to meet the artists and see that they are people too.

Check out a brief video below of Don and some other attendee’s:

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Jenny Dreasler

There are tons of things to do around town … most of which you probably already know about: Tom Sawyer Days in Hannibal, and the annual Quincy firework celebration being held at the Illinois Veterans Home. (Not at the river this year.) Which for those of you don’t know, it used to be held at the Vet’s home long ago… well long before I was born, and this year is the home’s 125th anniversary, so it will be held there this year, and rightfully so.

If you aren’t in the immediate Hannibal/Quincy area, and you don’t know of anything to do, besides setting off your own fireworks … which may I remind you Quincyans, you can’t shoot them off within city limits. Good thing, I don’t live in city limits. Note to sister: Don’t buy the crappy little $20 firework packs, they just got us a bunch of sparklers and poppers. Never. Again.

But I digress … this weekend there are other things to do if you aren’t planning on staying in Quincy or Hannibal.

Up at the Warsaw Fairgrounds, the Warsaw Community Coalition will host its Independence Day Concert on Sunday, July 3. If you aren’t sure exactly where this is, it’s at 1121 Francis Sartory Road, Warsaw IL. Plug it in your Garmin if you’re as directionally challenged as I am. It should get you there … but if it’s like mine, it will tell you to do things like “Take a ferry to get from St. Louis to Quincy”… Yeah.

Dreasler

It starts at 4:30 p.m. and goes until 11:30 p.m. The concert will feature Emily Riesen, Jerad Harness and Blackgrass, Staggard and Bocephus Casey. To be honest, I have no idea who they are, but I’m getting the idea, they could be some type of rock band-ish type groups. But, I could be wrong. Feel free to correct me. Google, didn’t exactly turn up the best results on them. But I’m sure they will provide great entertainment.

All ages are welcome, bring lawnchairs/blankets, etc. Gates will open at 4 p.m. Admission is only going to be $10. Kids 12 years old and younger are $5. The advertisement said to bring “appropriate” ID. Whatever that means. I guess it means to all you parents of 13 years olds who are upset you can’t a discounted price anymore, you need to cough up an extra $5 bucks. Well, or you could make your kid chip in since it’s their fault they turned 13 and all. Either way, make sure you bring ID’s they will be checking.. and no FAKES either.

Food and beverages will be very inexpensive, as no outside food or beverages will be allowed. T-shirts, souvenirs, and CD’s will also be available. Proceeds will help to fund future projects by the WCC, including the 2012 Warsaw Bicentennial.

Sounds like a great community activity to take part in, not to mention, Warsaw is a very pretty little antique town. I would highly recommend going to this event.. who doesn’t love fireworks, food and drinks. Well, and for my sake they better be serving more than just beer…margarita’s please!

For additional information email: warsawchili@gmail.com

Jenny Dreasler

A scene from "The Schwag" concert at the State Room

Yet another concert, yet another interview, and yet another…oh, who am I kidding? This assignment was by far the most fun I have had working for The Local Q thus far. I’ll just get straight into it.

First I showed up with my camera crew, which consisted of my shy friend. I had a long day working for the TV station, and had stopped by the newspaper to catch up on some work. So, this was my third job in one day. I was tired. Little did I know, this would be the highlight of my day!

Dreasler

We went upstairs to meet the band that was playing that night at The State Room, The Schwag. They are a Grateful Dead Tribute Band. I had only heard of The Grateful Dead because that is my professor from college’s favorite band, and I mean favorite. Like we get extra credit questions based on this band. Anyway, I trekked upstairs to the “Cast” portion of the state room. I walked into a quaint little room with purple walls and comfy little couches where the performers would sit before their show. I finally got to meet Jimmy Tebeau, one of the members of the band, whom I had talked to the week before to set up the interview. He said I would recognize him by his hair. When I saw him, I knew it was him … long dread locks — even longer than my hair — and he just looked like a band member. Those of you who follow The Schwag or any other band like them, you know what I mean. He had this swagger to him that was captivating, and his bandmates were just as equally enthralling. I know this wasn’t actually The Grateful Dead I was interviewing, but I still felt like I was in the presence of royalty.

Talking with Jimmy was quite entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time getting to know Jimmy and is band. He told me about all the different tours they had been on and the experiences they have had. Some of which aren’t suitable for print, and were definitely off camera. Sorry guys, that’s one of the perks of the job! That really made me feel like I wasn’t a burden on his time, and deep down these bands are people too. Not fame hungry musicians who have no time for the media. So to the band, I sincerely thank you!

The interview went off without a hitch, minus my many outtakes, filled with a few ­­­­ — ok, a lot — of mono-syllable words when I would forget or stumble over my lines. Thank you editing. After the interview with the band, we went downstairs to set up for the show.

We sat and watched the show, and ran into Tommy Van Ness, who basically started the Local Q along with Jessica M. Martin-Cate. We went with him upstairs to get some shots of the band from up above, and bingo. It hit me. I was going to do my tag out (my goodbye from the event on-camera) from the roof top of the state room! I mean, there is a life-sized window, that’s open, and leading to the rooftop, I’m going to go out it. So, thank you Tommy for helping me to stumble upon this idea. It turns out the volume was a little messed up from the rooftop scene. I still used it in my video, but beware of a little static feedback. I really think the shot was cool, so I would have used it even if there was no audio at all. I mean, come on, I was on a roof.

After I was done messing around on top of a roof, that may or may not have been completely stable, I came back inside, only to meet another popular local band, Harlot. I was introduced to the group and snapped a few pictures of them. They are playing at Kutter’s this weekend.

My time at The State Room was an amazing time. I was surrounded by a sea of tie-dyed shirts and Grateful Dead enthusiasts. I even had a little time to sit and enjoy some of the music. I must say, after really listening to The Schwag play, I would love to see them again, and have since looked up some Grateful Dead songs. I think Dr. Clark will be proud. Maybe I’ll be getting some extra credit points for this?

You can check out the video of the event below:

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

For more information on The Schwag, go to www.theschwag.com

Jenny Dreasler