By Matthew Whorf/ Correspondent
Friday, September 8, 2006 - Updated: 09:34 AM EST
The return of the Greater Boston Family Day and Jewish Music Festival at Canton’s Prowse Farm on Labor Day drew around 3,000 people after a two-year hiatus, encouraging organizers to hold the event annually.
Monday’s afternoon-long gala was sponsored and organized by Shaloh House Chabad of the South Area in Stoughton. Originally held in 2001, the group spent the last two years regrouping and reorganizing due to rainy weather and disappointing attendance.
Monday’s attendance, which drew patrons of all levels of Jewish observance and non-Jews, was promising, said Festival committee member Leslie Cain Tamarkin.
Rabbi Mendel Gurkow, a founding rabbi and the executive director at Shaloh House, was on the Festival committee and shared Tamarkin’s sentiment.
"I am extremely excited and feel rewarded," he said. "I believe we’ve reached a new level in our firm commitment for community outreach within the Jewish community. I hope that the festival gave each person who attended a great appreciation for community," said
Along with afternoon of traditional and contemporary live music, covering a diverse of styles from Klezmer, Middle Eastern and Chasidic to rock, the festivities also featured children’s performances, including music and magic, as well as other children’s attractions such as arts and crafts, Judaic booths, carnival rides and the Irving and Mamie Albert children’s library.
For the adults, there was a vast variety of vendors for Jewish faith-based arts and crafts and non-profit agencies. Altogether, the features and attractions aimed to put the emphasis on promoting local talents of or connected to the South Shore Jewish community.
What was also unique about the 2006 Festival was the first-time official presenter, WBOS 92.9 FM, a popular Boston radio station.
The event was also emceed is PMPNetworks.com’s Mark Snyder, who hosts the Entertainment Minute nightly on WBOS as well as WJMX-FM and WROR-FM and is a weekly columnist for the Stoughton Journal.
"A lot of hard work went into putting together the event for this day," Snyder said. "And the music and magic performances were great, the audience was receptive and the weather cooperated."
The more traditional music performers included show openers Dan Gil and Band. Gil, who lives in Sharon, is the vocalist/instrumentalist. He described the band’s performance as a folk-based, original world-rhythm sound with songs in Hebrew and Aramaic lyrics.
Also, Shirav, a spiritual folk/acoustic duo consisting of musicians/clerics Rabbi Paskin, spiritual leader at Temple Beth Abraham in Canton, and Rabbi Creditor of Temple Israel in Sharon.
Fishel Bresler and his Klezmer Hasidic Trio, who are Providence, RI-based charmed the audience with its unique instrumental style, a lively, sometimes exotic, blend of western and ethnic folk music and jazz.
Finally, Cape Cod’s the Grab Brothers Band, closed out the Festival with their own brand of loosen-up-and-have-fun rock and roll, which included originals and classic rock covers rewritten with a Jewish twist, most notably Bob Dylan’s "Rainy Day Women" ("Everybody must say Shalom").
A special guest appearance was made by Harvey Robbins of Sharon, who is the president of the Friends of Prowse Farm. The farm is a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization dedicated to what Robbins described as the 31-year venture to preserve the historic grounds of Prowse Farm, in the events of several corporate and real estate attempts to rezone the property.
Altogether, organizers and performers appeared happy with the day’s event.
"Very few times does a Jewish community of all flavors get together. This is a very precious thing, and we should do more of this," Rabbi Creditor, of Shirav, said.
Friday, September 8, 2006 - Updated: 09:34 AM EST
The return of the Greater Boston Family Day and Jewish Music Festival at Canton’s Prowse Farm on Labor Day drew around 3,000 people after a two-year hiatus, encouraging organizers to hold the event annually.
Monday’s afternoon-long gala was sponsored and organized by Shaloh House Chabad of the South Area in Stoughton. Originally held in 2001, the group spent the last two years regrouping and reorganizing due to rainy weather and disappointing attendance.
Monday’s attendance, which drew patrons of all levels of Jewish observance and non-Jews, was promising, said Festival committee member Leslie Cain Tamarkin.
Rabbi Mendel Gurkow, a founding rabbi and the executive director at Shaloh House, was on the Festival committee and shared Tamarkin’s sentiment.
"I am extremely excited and feel rewarded," he said. "I believe we’ve reached a new level in our firm commitment for community outreach within the Jewish community. I hope that the festival gave each person who attended a great appreciation for community," said
Along with afternoon of traditional and contemporary live music, covering a diverse of styles from Klezmer, Middle Eastern and Chasidic to rock, the festivities also featured children’s performances, including music and magic, as well as other children’s attractions such as arts and crafts, Judaic booths, carnival rides and the Irving and Mamie Albert children’s library.
For the adults, there was a vast variety of vendors for Jewish faith-based arts and crafts and non-profit agencies. Altogether, the features and attractions aimed to put the emphasis on promoting local talents of or connected to the South Shore Jewish community.
What was also unique about the 2006 Festival was the first-time official presenter, WBOS 92.9 FM, a popular Boston radio station.
The event was also emceed is PMPNetworks.com’s Mark Snyder, who hosts the Entertainment Minute nightly on WBOS as well as WJMX-FM and WROR-FM and is a weekly columnist for the Stoughton Journal.
"A lot of hard work went into putting together the event for this day," Snyder said. "And the music and magic performances were great, the audience was receptive and the weather cooperated."
The more traditional music performers included show openers Dan Gil and Band. Gil, who lives in Sharon, is the vocalist/instrumentalist. He described the band’s performance as a folk-based, original world-rhythm sound with songs in Hebrew and Aramaic lyrics.
Also, Shirav, a spiritual folk/acoustic duo consisting of musicians/clerics Rabbi Paskin, spiritual leader at Temple Beth Abraham in Canton, and Rabbi Creditor of Temple Israel in Sharon.
Fishel Bresler and his Klezmer Hasidic Trio, who are Providence, RI-based charmed the audience with its unique instrumental style, a lively, sometimes exotic, blend of western and ethnic folk music and jazz.
Finally, Cape Cod’s the Grab Brothers Band, closed out the Festival with their own brand of loosen-up-and-have-fun rock and roll, which included originals and classic rock covers rewritten with a Jewish twist, most notably Bob Dylan’s "Rainy Day Women" ("Everybody must say Shalom").
A special guest appearance was made by Harvey Robbins of Sharon, who is the president of the Friends of Prowse Farm. The farm is a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization dedicated to what Robbins described as the 31-year venture to preserve the historic grounds of Prowse Farm, in the events of several corporate and real estate attempts to rezone the property.
Altogether, organizers and performers appeared happy with the day’s event.
"Very few times does a Jewish community of all flavors get together. This is a very precious thing, and we should do more of this," Rabbi Creditor, of Shirav, said.
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