The town of Vevay will once again host its “First Friday” downtown event on August 3rd, and in addition to shopping and carriage rides, there will also be plenty of entertainment and regional art on display. “First Friday” will be held from 6-9 p.m.
August’s theme is “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere”, and the band “Same Soul” will be playing everyone’s favorite Jimmy Buffet tunes on Ferry Street. Also, Julianna Works will be singing at Signatures on Main Street; and Mark Cormican will be performing on Main Street.
Kids: keep your eye out for “Pirate Sipp”, who might be making an appearance.
Everyone coming down to “First Friday” is invited to wear Hawaiian attire to stay in the spirit of the evening.Here’s a look at some of what’s scheduled for the “First Friday” event:
Bill Wiseman is a well known “character” around the small river town of Vevay Indiana. With the looks of an old Kentucky mountain man, he is especially known for his hand crafted dulcimers, a traditional Appalachian mountain instrument.
“Each one has a different sound,” Wiseman says, as he cocks his head and listens while slowly plucking and strumming the instrument.
Bill Wiseman performs once a month on First Friday from 6-9 p.m. at the Mercantile on Ferry Street. The “First Friday” on August 3rd will mark his 10th performance there, where he also sings and plays the “Oney Board”, an instrument made out of a coffee can.
“It’s an antiques’ place, and they like old things” says Bill Wiseman with a smile.
Bill Wiseman has a long history in the performing arts. After growing up in New Jersey, and a stint with the Coast Guard during World War II, he moved to Florida. Although a young man at the time, he got a job playing the “Old Shepherd” in a Christmas Pageant at Disney World. He did this every year for 13 years.
He and his wife Stasia, also a musician, created a show featuring Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln for a parade in 1976, the bicentennial year. It was popular and they performed it at Disney for 19 years thereafter.
Bill Wiseman is a man of many faces. As a professional actor, he has played roles on network television, bit parts in movies such as “Parenthood”, been in commercials, and in plays. In Vevay, he helped organize and emcee variety shows for several seasons at the Historic Hoosier Theater. He, along with Virgil McKay, started a Dulcimer Group which meets twice a month at the public library, and plays for various local events and parties.
Bill and Stasia Wiseman have two daughters and two granddaughters. They moved to Indiana in 1999 to be near the family. Bill’s love for acting and for making musical instruments has added a new dimension to the culture of this part of the Ohio River Valley.
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Kristin Clevenger will demonstrate the techniques of wood burning at the Mercantile on Ferry Street during First Friday in August in Vevay, Indiana .
Kristin Clevenger became interested in art and theater while in High School, and was accepted at Heron School of Art. However, things interfered and she was unable to attend. She did complete her college education at the University of Indianapolis studying theater arts.
About four years ago, she was wondering how to afford Christmas presents for everyone, when she spotted some boards from a home construction project. She bought a wood burning set and got to work. The beautiful pieces she creates reflect her own inborn talent for drawing and making images. Subjects include a clipper ship, an old barn, a mountain scene, and a covered bridge with trees.
Kristin Clevenger is married with three children, “With whom I try to instill as much art and music as possible.”
She has painted murals for her children’s rooms, and actually lets them draw on the walls with erasable crayons. Kristin has also started drawing again.
Kristin Clevenger works at the radio station in Vevay as the office manager. She will be glad to answer questions about her craft during the demonstration on Friday August 3rd, from 6-9 p.m. at The Mercantile.
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Paintings by Lynn Engler and gourd baskets by Lynn Horine will be featured at Signatures Gallery in Vevay during the month of August, with an opening on “First Friday”.
Lynn Englar started her art career as a professional photographer at Indiana University. The major focus of her work has always been people and the human form. After years in photographic art, another crossroad presented itself. Studying at Orange Coast College, Fresno Community College and College of the Desert (all in California), she found herself studying painting seriously.
The work to be shown at Signatures features a series of acrylic paintings entitled “Wine, Women and Song”. Several of her desert paintings will also be on exhibit.
Lynn Horine’s beautiful gourd baskets will add a third dimension to this show.
Beginning with raw gourds right out of the field, Lynn Horine carefully soaks and cleans them. This is the magic for her, watching the patterns emerge on the gourd surface. She then cuts shapes, and weaves long pine needles coils to attach to the basket. Each basket is a unique one of a kind piece, and some are enhanced with antler handles or beautiful rocks.
“It is such a pleasure to make a thing of beauty that is also useful,” says Lynn Horine.
A native of California , Lynn Horine is self taught, having gotten her inspiration to begin basket work from the Foxfire Books. She is now taking classes in oil painting in Kentucky.
Lynn Horine’s work is also part of the Signature Space show at Signatures of Switzerland County, opening August 3rd with a demonstration and artist’s reception from 6-9 p.m.
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The “First Friday” event is from 6-9 p.m. on Friday, August 3rd in Vevay. Other activities during the evening include carriage rides, dining out, shopping and live music.
For more information call the Visitors Center at 427-3237.