Coastal Companion

Your ultimate guide to the coast

Celebrate St Patricks Day Savannah Style!

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The 2009 St Patrick’s Day Parade will take place on Tuesday, March 17th. It will be the 185th time the parade takes place in the city of Savannah.

St Patrick’s Day is celebrated in honor of St. Patrick’s dedication to Christianity. In Savannah, the the day begins with the celebration of Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist and is followed by the parade which begins at 10:15 am.

This year, more than 400,000 people are expected to come to Savannah to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. The Savannah St Patrick’s Day celebration is the oldest, and one of the largest, in the nation.
Every fountain within in the city is dyed green and the party happens all over the city. The parade itself is the second largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the United States.

click here to view the event calendar post about St Patrick’s Day Parade

SCAD Hosts Annual Sidewalk Arts and Sand Arts Festivals, Savannah, GA

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SAVANNAH Ga. ­­– The Savannah College of Art and Design presents two popular annual arts festivals—the Sidewalk Arts Festival in Forsyth Park and the Sand Arts Festival on Tybee Island, Ga.

On Saturday, April 25, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., the Sidewalk Arts Festival will draw thousands of visitors to view temporary chalk masterpieces created on the sidewalks of the historic Forsyth Park, Savannah, Ga. First, second and third place monetary prizes are awarded in three categories: students, alumni and prospective students. Sidewalk Arts Festival participants represent SCAD’s many areas of study; different artistic styles are inspired by different cultures, interests and disciplines.

This year marks the university’s 30th anniversary, and to celebrate that milestone the Sidewalk Arts Festival will include the outdoor exhibition “30 Objects,” for which students and alumni submitted proposals for temporary interactive performance and/or sculptural exhibitions. All entries must incorporate 30 objects of the artist’s choosing and fit on a 48” round platform. Selected proposals receive a $2,000 prize and will be exhibited during the Sidewalk Art Festival.

On Friday, May 8, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., the Sand Arts Festival will feature competitions in sand castle design, sand sculpture, sand relief and wind sculpture on Tybee Island, Ga. Contestants may work individually or in teams. Entries in the sand castle, sand sculpture and sand relief competitions are judged for creativity of concept and design, as well as excellence of craft and detail. Entries in the wind sculpture competition are evaluated according to structural development, surface decoration and ability to fly. SCAD faculty members judge all competitions.

Both events are free and open to the public. Press inquiries should be directed to Emily Belford at 912.525.5210 or ebelford@scad.edu.

Alyssa Couturier (B.F.A., fashion, 2008) and senior painting student Jesse Herndon won first place in the Gray’s Reef Sea Creature Contest with their “Octopus” creation.
Image courtesy of SCAD

Collard Green Festival in Port Wentworth 2009

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On Saturday March 7th you can visit a festival devoted to the collard green. This typical southern food obviously deserves its own festival. The Collard Green Festival takes place in Port Wentworth outside Savannah.

If you haven’t tried collard greens before, this is your chance to get to know this leafy green vegetable up close and personal. The festival offers a “Collards and Cornbread Cook Off” but there’s also BBQ and other foods available.

Collard greens are an excellent sources of vitamin C and soluble fiber. It is a staple vegetable of southern U.S. cuisine and soul food, often prepared with other green leaf vegetables, such as kale, turnip greens, spinach, and mustard greens in “mixed greens”. Traditional seasonings is smoked and salted meats, diced onions, vinegar, salt, and pepper (black, white, or crushed red) and often collards are served with cornbread.

Collard greens were grown by the Greeks and Romans and also in Africa before the leafy green vegetable made its way to North America.

Today, collards — along with mustard and turnip greens – are a staple at African-American meals and celebrations. And they’re being discovered at trendy restaurants and by American families of many cultures.

On March 7th the Collard Green is celebrated at Promised Land Farm in the historic African-American community of Monteith, GA near Port Wentworth.

For more information about the event call Willie Johnson at 912-964-0418 or visit Port Wentworth Visitor Center website

Bonnie Raitt Reschedules Savannah Concert

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Bonnie Raitt Reschedules March 18 Concert in Savannah Due to Dire Family Emergency

Savannah, Georgia – Due to a dire family health emergency, Bonnie Raitt has rescheduled her March 18 concert at the Johnny Mercer Theatre in Savannah for October 16, 2009. In an official statement from her management, Raitt relayed that she is “very sorry and regrets any inconvenience to her fans.” The highly anticipated return of Bonnie Raitt to Savannah is now scheduled for Friday, October 16 at 7:30 pm. The Randall Bramblett Band will open the show.

Tickets will be reissued and mailed in April for those who plan to attend the rescheduled concert on October 16. On the night of the rescheduled concert, only tickets with the October 16 date will be accepted. For those who cannot attend the October 16 concert, refunds and exchanges will begin on Tuesday, February 24 through the SCAD Box Office by emailing tickets@scad.edu, calling 912-525-5050, or in-person at 216 East Broughton Street. Ticket buyers who are uncertain about their contact information on file should also contact the box office. Refund transactions must take place through the box office on or before March 18. After March 19, all remaining non-refunded tickets will be reissued with the October 16 date. Exchanges are only good on other SMF 2009 shows. For those who wish to exchange Bonnie Raitt tickets for other SMF 2009 performances, a 10% discount will be applied to accommodate for any inconvenience caused by this rescheduling.

Savannah Music Festival takes place March 18 – April 5, 2009. For more information or questions, visit www.savannahmusicfestival.org, email maria@savannahmusicfestival.org or call 912-234-3378 x105.

Upcoming Book Festival in Jacksonville – Much Ado About Books

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Much Ado About Books is The Jacksonville Public Library’s annual literary and fundraising event coming up on Friday, Feb. 27, and Saturday, Feb. 28. The book festival takes place downtown Jacksonville at the Main Library, 303 N. Laura Street. Workshops, luncheons and panel discussions are part of the event. Many of the events are free, but some require tickets. Call (904) 630-2665 or visit www.muchadoaboutbooks.com for more info.

Here is a list of participating authors.

– David Baldacci has published 15 suspense thrillers and two young adult novels. His latest title is Divine Justice.

– Janet Cheatham Bell’s latest book is The Time and Place That Gave Me Life. She has published 10 books, including Victory of the Spirit, Stretch Your Wings and Till Victory Is Won.

– Steve Berry has 7 million copies of his books currently in print worldwide. Berry has earned spots on the best-seller lists of The New York Times, USA Today and Publishers Weekly and BookSense. Berry’s seventh novel, The Charlemagne Pursuit, came out in December.

– C.J. Box is the author of nine novels, including the award-winning Joe Pickett series. St. Martin’s Press will publish his latest stand-alone thriller, Three Weeks to Say Goodbye, by the end of the month.

– Tracy Brown has written five novels, a few short stories and numerous poems. Her novels include White Lines, Criminal Minded, Black and Dime Piece. Her latest book, Twisted, is a tale of love, betrayal and redemption.

– Diane deGroat has done illustrations for more than 120 children’s books. Her picture books about Gilbert the opossum include New York Times best-seller Roses are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink and Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet.

– Marisa Carbone Finotti is a journalist and former teacher who lives in Atlantic Beach. The author’s first middle-grade novel, The Treasure of Amelia Island, is published by Pineapple Press. It is about the Kingsley family and plantation and is set in 1813, when Florida was still a Spanish colony.

– Alex Flinn’s novels, Breathing Underwater, Breaking Point, Nothing to Lose, Fade to Black and Diva (a companion novel to Breathing Underwater) have received numerous honors. Her latest book, Beastly, has been optioned for a feature film.

– Anne D. LeClaire is a former actress, radio news reporter and op-ed columnist. Her work has appeared in Redbook, the Boston Sunday Globe, Yankee and the Sunday New York Times. LeClaire’s memoir, Listening Below the Noise: A Meditation on the Practice of Silence, will be published by HarperCollins in early 2009.

– Paul Malmont is a copy director at an interactive advertising agency in New York. He has written for the Cartoon Network, VH1.com, Pfizer and Microsoft. His second novel, Jack London in Paradise, will be published in early 2009.

– Carla Neggers is the author of more than 50 novels, including The Angel, The Widow and Cold Pursuit.

– Lois Simon is a professional artist. Simon formerly owned an interior design company and served as curator of the Cultural Center of Ponte Vedra Beach. The artist and designer-turned-author has written three children’s books. The most recent, Mac (The Story of A Happy Apple), was co-illustrated with her grandson.

– John Stauffer is chair of the History of American Civilization and Professor of English at Harvard University. His first book, The Black Hearts of Men: Radical Abolitionists and the Transformation of Race won numerous awards. Stauffer is also the co-author of Meteor of War: The John Brown Story and the editor of the Modern Library edition of the Frederick Douglass book My Bondage and My Freedom.

-    Adriana Trigiani is a novelist, screenwriter, playwright, producer, director, actor, documentary filmmaker and comedian. She adapted her own novel, Big Stone Gap, for the screen. Trigiani will direct the film version, which went into production in the fall of 2008.

About Much Ado About Books
Much Ado About Books is Jacksonville’s largest literary event, bringing national, regional and local authors together with book lovers. The program supports reading for all community members regardless of age and highlights local resources supporting the City’s literacy initiative.