Just ANNOUNCED: The Gaines Group Celebration on June 2nd will now feature music duo Clymer & Kurtz as a third artist at our event! (See blogs for other artists Asha L Beck and Veronica Horst). Their music will fill our outdoor area for the ribbon cutting and celebration, and you can see Asha Beck’s and Veronica Horst’s art galleries upstairs. You do not want to miss these gifted musicians who are lauded by how they weave beauty through their lyrics and unique blend of folk-rock style. Join us for food, drinks, artists, music, and community!
Folk-rock singer-songwriter duo Clymer & Kurtz seamlessly blends intense and gentle melodies textured with harmonies, agile and inventive guitar playing, piano, and sometimes percussion. Based in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Maria Clymer and Christopher Kurtz have collaborated for decades, crafting music that is at once simple and rich, emotive and unique.
Inspired by Over the Rhine, Indigo Girls, The Proclaimers, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Diamond Rio, Alison Krauss, Donna the Buffalo, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, and many others, their music has been called “freshly original” … “outside the usual run” … “subtle and always imaginative. ”They have performed at the Sipe Center, Sing Me High Music Festival, the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival’s Spring into Bach 2021, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg First Night and Best Weekend Ever events, coffee shops, private dinners and parties, farmers markets, house/lawn concerts and various community events. Clymer & Kurtz recordings include Keep Me Around (2022), Coffee & Cake (2021), Here Comes the Moon (2020), and a debut release Clymer & Kurtz (2019). Their former band’s recordings include Snow on Snow on Snow (2018), Rain (2014), and Arms Uncrossed (2012).
Gaines Group Architects Celebration
This event is free and open to everyone. Snacks and refreshments will be served and we look forward to seeing you there! See the event page and RSVP here.
Each month we host a new artist in our building’s 2nd floor gallery at the Chesapeake Western Depot at 141 W. Bruce St. (second floor entrance is on Chesapeake). Artwork will remain on exhibit through the month. Come view the show anytime and get a tour the Depot! We have food and drink available year-round!
It is that time of year again and we could not be more thrilled for the 2021 Rocktown Turkey Trot! The signup deadline for this race is November 15th for a guaranteed shirt, but online sign-up closes on November 23rd at 12:00 pm. You don’t need to be a seasoned marathon runner to participate in this event! Racers are welcome to run, walk or jog, in the Rocktown Turkey Trot and pumpkin pie cups will even be provided along the way! This event is not only an excellent opportunity for the community to come together, but also a great way to support the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank! The race will begin promptly at 8:30 am after the mayor pardons the Turkey Trot Turkey (yes you read that correctly).
You can also sign up your kids for the children’s dash that starts at 8:00 am, a great way to wear them out before Thanksgiving dinner! Our very own Charles Hendricks will be participating in this year’s dash and we hope to see some familiar faces out and about this year to support their community and enjoy getting back to being together!
Signing up for this event is not just fun, VA Momentum that organizing countless events is a local company that needs your support as we continue to figure out how to navigate the pandemic. Alan and Kevin have worked hard to keep their events safe and evolve and change to survive.
As we approach our 10 year anniversary being in downtown Harrisonburg I am thinking about my love affair with downtown Harrisonburg. Can you believe we have been here for 10 years already! We started out with me and a wood desk above OASIS Fine Art & Craft, Harrisonburg VA.
We slowly grew our local reputation and added an employee causing us to need more space. We moved to 57 South Main St. on Court Square. That space allowed us to grow, develop our local voice, and build our capacity.
Then three years ago on July 4th we moved into my favorite building in Harrisonburg, the Depot. I am thinking about how much things have changed in downtown over that same time period. The downtown district has expanded in footprint and in the number of businesses. Downtown has grown in events and energy level. Downtown has become a place for family, friends, locals, and students to all hang out and enjoy each other. Downtown has become the heart of Harrisonburg.
This could not have been made possible without trailblazers that opened shops in an almost desolate area of town many years before I arrived. It took vision and passion to start something that seemed impossible, revitalizing downtown. It also could not have been possible without the businesses that never left and continue to thrive like Gitchell’s Photography and R.S. Monger & Sons. It would not be done today without innovative developers and entrepreneurs willing to take a chance on “build it and they will come.”
Downtown revitalization is not just the work done by one organization or a small group of people. It is the work done by all those that use downtown. The shop owners, local professionals, tourists visiting, residents, entrepreneurs, economic developers, city council, event organizers and more. The reason I love downtown is because of the diversity, people, food, events, and energy. Downtown success relies on people shopping and eating in downtown. It needs developers with vision to renovate historic buildings like Keith May did on South Main Street.
As the Friendly City Fourth celebration comes around this week I am reminded about all the good Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance does for our Downtown. Their efforts to build business, offer training to retailers, help improve local marketing, and even enhance streetscapes is all evident in what is here now compared to 10 years ago. If you want a fun way to support their work and the downtown you should make sure to purchase one of the last few tickets to the Friendly City Fortune.Or if that is not your speed you can volunteer for an event, donate cold hard cash to the organization, or just attend events and support the local businesses in Downtown. I am so thankful for the ground work that Brian Shull, Harrisonburg City Economic Developer and Eddie Bumbaugh laid for this Downtown’s success. I am also very thankful for the work that Andrea, Lauren, Erin, and Jeslyn are doing each day to continue to grow and improve Downtown Harrisonburg.
Harrisonburg Valley 4th is a celebration of independence, history, and music. This annual event is the place to be in Harrisonburg on July 4th. The Explore More Discovery Museum is open from 4:30 – 7:30 pm to all children, the parade starts at 5:00 pm, and there is a pie eating contest at 6:00 pm. I am personally looking forward to the “dunk a local celebrity dunking booth.” Stay for the day downtown to celebrate and enjoy the fireworks at 10:00 pm from One Court Square.
July 4th, 2011
12 Noon
Reading of the Declaration of Independence by David Hatmaker at the East door of the Court House. Presented by the Sons of the American Revolution, Fort Harrison Chapter, for the 16th consecutive year.
12:30 p.m. “Hidden Secrets of Harrisonburg” Walking Tour by Dale McAllister
2:00 – 4:00 p.m. Cruise In sponsored by the Harrisonburg Rotary Club
3:15 and 4:00 p.m. Court Square Theater hosts No Strings Attached, which include two 30-minute live improvisational comedy shows. Free admission.
4:00 – 4:30 p.m. Asbury United Methodist Church presents “Musical Fireworks” including Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever arranged for organ duet. The concert will benefit the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. Admission is free. (Attendees are encouraged to bring non-perishable canned goods)
4:00 and 7:30 p.m. Free concerts in the First Presbyterian Church parking lot. Southern Gospel Quartet “Calvary’s Mercy”
4:30 – 7:30 p.m. Children receive free admission to the Explore More Discovery Museum. To learn more about the museum, click here.
5:00 p.m. The Nelson Rocks Outdoor Center Parade will begin at 5:00 p.m. The parade travels from the City Municipal Lot to the Rockingham County Administrative Office Building.
Grand Marshal: Martha Bogle, Superintendent of the Shenandoah National Park
Parade announcer and concert emcee: WSVA’s Mike Schikman
Parade music: Performed by City of Winchester Pipes and Drums
6:00 p.m. Pie Eating Contest
6:30 – 9:30 p.m.
Enjoy live music at the Concert Stage
6:30 p.m. – National Anthem by Dave Napier
7:00 p.m. – Downbeat Project
8:30 p.m. – DJ Wiliams Projekt
3:00 – 8:30 p.m. Family Fun Activities, which include:
Dunk a local celebrity in the Dunking Booth
Massanutten Adventures Climbing Wall
Free face painting by Rosie the Clown sponsored by StellarOne (3-5 p.m.)
Cow Train Rides by Hess’s GreenHouse
Large Inflatables at the First Presbyterian Church, including a jumping tent, obstacle wall, and a double slide more than 20 ft. tall
and more!
3:00 – 8:30 p.m. Food and craft vendors open with an assortment of goodies.
3:00 – 10:00 p.m. Beer Garden presented by VA Eagle Distributing Beer Garden, located in the Bank of America parking lot. 2 ID’s required. Children are permitted if accompanied by adults. Beer tickets are $3 each or or 2 for $5.00
10:00 p.m. Grand Fireworks Finale from One Court Square in downtown Harrisonburg
