The Neighborhood Show

Growing up now-a-days is so different from growing up in the 1960s.  During my elementary school years, our entertainment consisted of playing in the neighborhood.  Depending on the time of year, this looked like riding bikes up and down our dead end street, joining in on a game of kickball in the court across the street from our house, swinging on the vines or riding sleds in the woods behind our house, collecting tadpoles from the stream along the side of our house, making snow forts, or playing with dolls or other toys inside someone’s house.  However, one of the greatest memories of all was the neighborhood show. 

During the summertime, I would organize a group of friends from our neighborhood to perform.  We had many acts to delight the younger kids.  I know my friend Robin and I sang.  We even wore matching short sets and white knee high socks.  LuAnne dressed as like a gypsy and did a ventriloquist routine with her ‘friend’.  Several of the girls danced while Dorothy played the accordion.  The accordion was a popular instrument to learn back then.  Not sure why its popularity went away.  Finally, some of my friends exhibited their artwork.

LuAnne, one of my best friends growing up, performing her act.  I notice here my cousin Kevin from Long Island, so I guess our guests came from far and wide to see the show!

No show would be a show without a great venue.  If you are wondering where this wonderful show took place, it was in our family’s ‘little garage’.  This is what we called the second garage that my father added to the back of our house, next to the main garage.  We created our own backdrop for the stage, which was my Twister board hung from rope to cover my father’s tools and lawn mower.  We added posters and artwork to the sides of the Twister board to add a special artistic touch.  More artwork and posters lined the side of the garage doors.  Visitors could look at all these fabulous masterpieces before and after the show.

Our fabulous stage...Also, performers were more interested in their peer's approval.  How cute are the girls clapping for their friend?? 

Part of creating the venue was also to create the seating area.  We lined the audience area with picnic benches, my parents’ folding chairs, and borrowed chairs from some neighbors.  If you rode your bike down the street as Jeff did in the photo below, you sat on your bike to watch.   If seating got tight, which you can see from the photo, little ones sat on laps or kids squished together.  

I love that we did this for the younger kids in the neighborhood. 

Publicity was easy.  We lived on a long dead-end road and we had a neighborhood pool.  When we were putting on a show, everyone knew it and not because of a Facebook event invite.  Back then word of mouth was all you needed, but we made and hung some signs anyway because it was fun making them. Plus besides, what else was there for the kids to do during the day besides going to the pool?  This was a nice event to look forward to.

One thing I remember is that the kids watched the whole show intently and behaved so well. Perhaps it was a combination of instinct and upbringing. This was a special event for the kids in our neighborhood and it was new to many of them.  There was no talking during the show, standing up or shouting out, or leaving after their friend performed.  These are problems that exist today with behavior at performances.

Although my mother was home, no parent chaperones were needed or seen in any of the photos.  Adults were not part of this at all.  They were not adding their professional advice or making sure their kids were the best.  It was not about being the best.  It was about having fun and doing something creative with our time.

In sixth grade, Robin, Mindy, and I performed in the Crompond Elementary School Talent Show.  Our group, the Forget-Me-Nots, played guitar and sang Mr. Tambourine Man by Bob Dylan.  I also loved art classes and took them throughout high school.  But as I got older, I drifted more to sports.  Unfortunately, instead of embracing both I allowed my artistic side to fade to the background. 

It is interesting reflecting back on this memory because in 2007 I founded a non-profit organization called RMAC, Ridgefield Music and Arts Center.  Its mission is to provide performance and exhibition opportunities for students. My sons were interested in music and I guess I sensed that I had the ability to create something like this.  I was not thinking of my ‘experience as a 10 year-old’ at the time, but I think it is kind of interesting now that I dusted off these memories and look back on them.  The shows RMAC puts on are organized by high school students under adult advisors’ supervision.  We have to think about renting venues and providing insurance, which means providing adult chaperones.  The age group is different too; my neighborhood shows were organized and put on by 10-12 year olds, so the concerns were different. 

My neighborhood friends and fellow artists.

Going back to my opening statement, times were different then than they are today.  I sure do miss those simpler times of pure creativity of the kids, by the kids, and for the kids.