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Summer Solstice Picnic and Dance Party

Summer Solstice Picnic and Dance Party

This Sunday, Somerville will join with cities around the world in welcoming the first day of summer by making music in the streets. Along with France’s Fête de la Musique, and across the river from Make Music Boston, we’ll celebrate the Somerville way, with our First HONK of the Summer.

Sunday, June 21
2-6 pm
7 Hills Park
Davis Square, Somerville

Bring an instrument, a picnic, maybe a hula hoop or your dancing shoes — and all your friends — and help us celebrate the longest day of the year. We’ll lay some blankets down on the lawn, enjoy some summer faire, and play a few easy and fun dance tunes from the growing School of HONK song book.

 

Beach Party!

Beach Party!

We’ve survived the most brutal Boston winter in all of recorded history, and now it is time to really honk it up. So we are having an extended hours Open House this week:

School of HONK Beach Party

Sunday Open House, March 29, 2-6 pm

sprout (339R Summer St. Somerville)

If you think our winter parades have been fun, just wait till we get a nice stretch of warm Springtime Sundays! It’s supposed to be a sunny and mid-40s this weekend, so plan on a big parade in and around the Square.

Don’t forget your beach towels (worn as a cape? tied around your waist over your clothes?), and make sure to pack your swim goggles and floaties. (To add a bit of comedy… please also remember to bring gloves… remember how chilly it can get to carry a horn for 45 minutes outdoors!)

Please bring food! We might grill some hot dogs, but we are hoping to draw a crowd of newcomers too, so it would be great to potluck snacks or any other springtime faire as well. Also feel free to forward this email to friends and family or print and post the attached flyer to help spread the word in your neighborhood.

  • 2:00 pm Welcome – videos from this weekend’s HONK! Texas (in Austin), general mingling
  • 3:00 pm Music time – review our newest Groove Is In The Heart as well as other tunes in our book
  • 4:00 pm Snack time and suit up for parade
  • 4:30 pm Parade!
  • 5:30 pm Return to sprout for more food, some updates and discussion about upcoming events

We can’t wait to honk on the beach with you all this Sunday!

 

Happy Mardi Gras

Happy Mardi Gras

As you may know, today is the final day of Carnival, the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. It’s a day when brass bands down in New Orleans, as well as around the world, are joining with everyone else to party in the streets like there’s no tomorrow.
Here’s a toast to our street band sisters and brothers everywhere, from our quick but determined outing at our Fat Sunday Open House this past weekend:

Thanks to everyone who braved the snow and cold to make it to our celebration. For those who couldn’t come, we missed you, but hope we’ll see you again when the weather calms down.
And yes, we’ll be open as usual this coming Sunday, Feb 22, 3-5 pm. Hope to see you all there.
Fat Sunday Celebration!

Fat Sunday Celebration!

More snow is coming tonight, and the mbta (trains, buses, subway) is out of service tomorrow.
But School of HONK will be open, and we are going ahead with our FAT SUNDAY celebration as planned.
The snow is supposed to stop shortly after noon tomorrow, so unless there is an emergency blizzard warning for tomorrow afternoon, we won’t let the cold and white interfere with our warm and colorful Mardi Gras Open House.
Parking will be difficult as streets and municipal parking lots will be iffy, but if you are planning to drive, let me know and maybe we can figure something out. Otherwise, everyone should choose “safety first,” but if you have safe way to get here by foot or some other creative mode of transportation, please come and join us whenever you can make it. If you don’t feel like schlepping an instrument, you can grab something from our stock at sprout. George and his Gumbo are coming, so are plenty of mardi gras beads and other trinkets. Here’s the tentative plan:
  • 2:00 pm – doors open, food and drink potluck, videos and slideshows, optional sectional practices upstairs
  • 3:00 pm introductions, warm up and then learn some New Orleans songs, and review some other songs from our book
  • 4:00 pm (short?) parade in the snow for video postcard
  • 4:30 pm more music-making inside
  • 5:00 Encores, announcements and discussion of SoH’s future plans
There’s still time to send me any pictures or videos people think our group would like to see to get us in the Mardi Gras mood — just send them to me.  And if anyone is planning to bring food or other treats to our potluck table, let me know.
Oh, and don’t forget to dress up however you want, and invite your stir-crazy, snowbound friends and neighbors to come join us too…