It’s March! Enough of this winter weather! Let’s come out of hibernation and enjoy the UNITED STATES AIR FORCE Jazz Band. They’ll be here Saturday, March 6th.
The 18 piece ensemble plays the music of the Big Band era, Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Count Basie. They also perform contemporary jazz favorites some written by the members of the group. What better way to wipe out the winter blahs than with the warmth and rhythm of this great American music?
Tickets to the concert are free. You can pick them up at City Hall Annex, 901 Asbury Ave. from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 609-525-9300. If you can’t get to the Annex, there will probably be extra tickets available at the door after all ticket holders are let in. The concert is set for this Saturday, March 6 at the Music Pier, Boardwalk and Moorlyn Terrace, at 7 p.m.
The Moorlyn Terrace entrance to the Boardwalk will be closed until April. Improvements are being made to the corridor. You should park at City lots on 9th and 8th Streets to enter the boardwalk. The lots are free this time of year.
Service bands visit here frequently because of the warm reception given them by the community. Let’s have a great Ocean City turnout for this outstanding group of professional musicians. See you on Saturday.
Here’s another great show coming your way the second Saturday in March. The City’s 7th Annual TALENT COMPETITION will be held at the Music Pier, on March 13 starting 6 p.m. Admission is $5. Tickets are available at City Hall Annex, the Ocean City Fine Arts League, 608 Asbury Ave. or at the door. The program will feature outstanding area talent in the following categories: Instrumental, Vocal, Dance, Performance Art and Best of Show.
Professional performers will be featured between the competitive categories. These include Soprano, Nancy Fox and former Best of Show winner, Theresa Bonilla, who will sing the popular, classical Llakme duet.
Elvis performer, Ted Prior and Emily Carr will replicate a famous Presley-Celine Dion duet, If I Can Dream. Carr has been coached Sal Dupree and has been selected for the next American Idol auditions.
Latest entries in the show include singer-composer Anji who has been recognized by the producers of Oprah Winfrey; Sitar Bob of Millville, who plays the exotic Indian Sitar and the next generation of young Mack and Green performers, two local families packed with talent. David Gross, New York pianist and producer, who has worked with stars ranging from Tiny Tim to Pavarotti, will accompany many of the vocal contestants.
Winners of the show have moved on to establish successful professional careers. Young magician Chad Juros, a winner in the first competition, has since performed in Las Vegas, on national television and venues throughout the United States. Others have been selected to appear in movies by talent scouts who attend the show. One has made it to the Tweeter Center in Philadelphia. The program will be taped and segments will be shown on You Tube.
THINKING AHEAD TO APRIL, prepare to enjoy the woffin’ Paws Pet Fashion Show on Easter Saturday followed by the Great Easter Egg Hunt on the Beach in the afternoon. The Annual Fashion Competition will be held at 1 p.m. on Easter Sunday on the Boardwalk starting in front of the Music Pier.
Now it’s my pleasure to invite you to participate in Ocean City’s 25th Annual DOO DAH PARADE, plus the ever exciting PieAsco and equally entertaining Doo Dah Comedy Show that follows the Parade.
If you’d like to enter the Parade with a comical brigade or just by yourself, contact the Public Relations Office, 609-525-9300, email me at msoifer@hotmail.com or stop at City Hall Annex, 901 Asbury Ave. Mon.-Fri. from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Join a genial assortment of humor crazed maniacs. It’s lots of fun. Entry in the Parade is free. Afterwards you will receive a 25th Anniversary I was a hotdog for a Day T Shirt and a hot dog lunch from Dietz and Watson, Doo Dah’s major sponsor. (We couldn’t do it without them so when you’re looking for quality food products, think Dietz and Watson.)
The world famous PieAsco follows the Parade. That’s when folks sit in grandstands in front of the Music Pier and paste each other with shaving cream pies in tribute to Ocean City’s late, great friend Soupy Sales. This year’s parade and weekend is dedicated to Soupy who passed away last December.
Soupy’s wife, Trudy, will be grand marshal of the Parade and legendary comedian Shelley Berman will be our special guest of honor and appear in the comedy show following the Parade at 3 p.m. in the Pier. There will be over 500 basset hounds in the Parade.
On Friday, April 16, the colorful Basset Hound Olympics will be held at the Tabernacle Grounds at 1 p.m. Also on the 16th, Dr. Joel Goodman and Margie Ingram will present a program on humor starting 7 p.m. at the Library, 17th and Simpson Ave., admission is free.
On Sunday, April 18 our annual EARTH DAY Celebration is set for the Bayside Center, 525 Bay Avenue starting 10 a.m. It will feature environmental displays with plenty of give-aways, the Turtle Singers, games for the children, refreshments for sale, environmental awards and more. Admission is free.
Ocean City is known as one of the leading “green” communities in the State and has received numerous grants and awards for its leadership. The Doo Dah – Earth Day Celebrations have been combined into a weekend of MIRTH and EARTH.
With all of this snow, I’ve become extra concerned for the birds and squirrels that have a difficult time finding food when the ground is covered. So I’ve set up a feeder on our picnic table. The birds arrive in squadrons, settle in the trees and then swoop down for a snack. Most of them only stay for a few seconds. I’ve put what I’ve seen into this poem.
Snow Birds
Gathered in the trees
They swoop
With angular precision-
Down! Down! Down!
To peck the riddled earth
Where food is hidden…
They feast
For frantic seconds-
Then in a flash they’re gone!
Gone where?
Up! Up! Up!
Into the bird crazed air!
