September 14, 2006

EDITORIAL

Thanks for the wonderful party

Downtown on Monday Yellow Springers couldn’t stop talking about the night before. Right here in town, on the Antioch golf course, they (along with several thousand others) had been treated to an amazing show.

The concert that Dave Chappelle threw for his hometown more than earned our praise. It featured the dynamic performance of showstopper Erykah Badu, the knock-your-socks-off sounds of harmonica player Frédéric Yonnet, the warm and mesmerizing voice of Goapele, the surprising artistry of young local trumpeter Mario Abney and the hometown talents of Nerak Roth Patterson, Karen Patterson and Peter Hayes, among others. And through it all flowed the gracious and goofy humor of host Chappelle, who was clearly having a wonderful time.

That magical evening was, of course, the icing on the cake after yet another successful AACW Blues Fest, the annual two-day party that the African American Cross-Cultural Works throws each year. Thousands of people streamed to the Antioch amphitheater over the weekend to hear great bands, to dance and to hang out with friends. As with every year, Blues Fest celebrated not only music but diversity. Perhaps more than any other local event, Blues Fest brings together young and old, blacks and whites, those in the mainstream and way out-of-the-boxers. There’s something about dancing next to each other that breaks down barriers, that makes everyone look like a friend.

So many people deserve our thanks for the memorable weekend. The folks at AACW put in months organizing the show, and several hundred volunteers gave many hours to man booths, take tickets, park cars and pick up trash. Special thanks go to Faith Patterson and to Rob Lytle, who oversaw the countless details to make the event a success.

Of course, Dave Chappelle deserves our grateful applause for his generosity in bringing world-class performers to this tiny town. On Sunday evening he set the tone, a tone of quirky humor, sweet appreciation of small town life, and, most of all, amazement at the capacity of human beings to create the astonishing sounds we call music.

Perhaps all of Yellow Springs can take a bow as well. In one of the sweetest of many sweet moments Sunday night, Chappelle thanked the village for being a place where he and his family can live normal lives. If that is so, he was thanking Yellow Springs at its best, a place where over the years men, women and children have respected each other not for how much money they have or how much celebrity they command, but for their kindness, their creativity and their ideas. Some of the thanks for that heritage belongs to those who have graced Yellow Springs with their optimism and faith in community, people like AACW activists Faith Patterson, Joan Chappelle, Elaine Comegys and Dave Chappelle’s late father, Bill Chappelle, who is missed for his generous spirit along his stunning voice.

Now that the weekend is over, the trash picked up, the big stage removed, the instruments and dancing shoes put away, we’ll remember many things. Perhaps as much as the big-name entertainers, we’ll remember simply sitting side by side on blankets and seats on late summer evenings, taking pleasure in being alive and together in this little town.

—Diane Chiddister