The City of Lawrenceville will have a free Harvest Fest on the Lawrenceville Lawn on November 12. Harvest Fest will bring together live entertainment by four eclectic artists ranging from jazz to R&B to indie to alternative. Festivities will run from 1 p.m. until 8 p.m.
In addition to live music on the stage, visitors can undertake festive fall activities for the whole family. Shop the farmer’s market filled with local artisans and treat yourself to a variety of food vendors. Fun and games for kids include trackless train rides, a petting zoo, and a pumpkin painting station sure to keep children entertained.
Among the musicians:
- Blair Crimmins began his current music career in Atlanta, Georgia, with a drive to bring Ragtime and 1920s-style Dixieland Jazz to new audiences. While playing small rock clubs around the Southeast, he developed a sound that is at once modern while being deeply rooted in the past.
- According to National Public Radio, the Louisiana native, Gavin Turek, is a versatile entertainer. Her music – which seamlessly blends 70s funk-inspired R&B with poignant, honest lyrics, will engage and inspire even the most casual and apathetic of listeners.
- Louisiana indie-soul artist, Rozzi, made her debut in the scene with 2015’s Space EP and has blossomed into one of the next big pop sensations. Her latest release, Berry, features her smoky, full-bodied vocals, with songs that move seamlessly from upbeat pop, funk, and R&B to low-key acoustic ballads, and a special contribution from iconic guitarist Nile Rodgers.
- Chicago-based Post Animal formed in 2014, began touring in 2017, released their debut album in 2018, and recently released their second album in 2020. Their affinity for slick riffs, pop hooks, and psychedelic tendencies join them in a bond much tighter than their years suggest.
Additional information can be found at www.downtownlawrencevillega.com. Detailed food truck information will be posted on the City’s social media platforms the week of the event.
Theater group plans The Importance of Being Earnest
The performance of the classic play, The Importance of Being Earnest, will be produced by Contemporry Classics (formerly Gwinnett Classic Theatre) on one weekend only, Nov. 3 and 5 at 8 p.m. and November 5 and 6 at 2 p.m. The performance will be at the Peach State Federal Credit Union Studio Stage, Lawrenceville Art Center (managed by the Aurora). Tickets available NOW at https://www.lvilleartscenter.com/eventer/the-importance-of-being-earnest/.
What starts as a simple meeting between friends becomes one of the most popular stories of all time. Proposals, engagements, arrangements, and laughs abound in Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy of manners. This production of The Importance of Being Earnest will focus solely on Black, Indigenous, People of Color artists working on the timeless script. Director Charles T. Thomas asks, “In a comedy of manners, what does it look like for minorities to relate to each other in a way that has become popularized (and almost necessary) by the white societal structures around them? Are there moments when personal reactions/feelings/responses break through? How aggressive can one be without losing status? WHY IS IT ALL A BIG DEAL?”
Gwinnett Classic Theatre, dba Contemporary Classics, has been awarded a grant from the Georgia Council for the Arts to support these performances.
Applications close soon for emergency rental help
The portal for Gwinnett County’s successful emergency rental assistance program, Project RESET 2.0, will soon close as the county reaches its full commitment. In April 2021, Gwinnett County was tasked with spending a little more than $55 million from the federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program with the goal of helping those directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Applications for this program are available now at GCGA.us/ProjectRESET2. However, commitment levels from applications already received are driving the county to close the applicant portal on Tuesday, November 8 for new applications and Tuesday, November 15 for recertifications.
Gwinnett residents in need of assistance after the applicant portal closes are encouraged to seek assistance from the Georgia Rental Assistance Program while that portal is available or from local agencies providing assistance within our community.
Recognized by the U.S. Treasury as a top performer, the county received an additional $38.9 million to support its Project RESET 2.0 emergency rental and utility assistance program. To date, Gwinnett has processed nearly $79.3 million in financial assistance for 6,909 households ensuring that 17,164 individuals in Gwinnett County did not have to face an eviction or utility disconnection.
World Polio Day shows Rotary effort to end disease
On October 24, World Polio Day, global health experts, partners and Rotary Club members around the world stood together to celebrate the End Polio Now vaccine movement and share the progress made towards polio eradication.
Here at home, Gwinnett Rotarians have partnered with public and private healthcare partners to release an educational video to share facts about polio, vaccine development, and the effectiveness of vaccines to prevent polio, as well as many other diseases in our community.
While there is no cure for polio, the disease is 100 percent preventable with proper vaccination. Since 1988, Rotary’s End Polio Now movement has immunized over 2.5 billion children worldwide, reducing polio cases by 99.9 percent. There are now only two countries still endemic, Afghanistan and Pakistan. While that might seem ‘good enough’, until polio is gone forever no child is safe. Unless we eradicate polio, within 10 years as many as 200,000 new cases could occur around the world each year.
Dr. Audrey Arona, Health Director for GNR Public Health and Gwinnett Rotarian explains: “It only takes one traveler with polio to bring the disease into the United States or one under-vaccinated community to become a breeding ground. The best way to keep our community safe from polio is to commit to maintain high immunity against polio through vaccination.”
People most at risk for polio infection are:
- Those who have never had a polio vaccine;
- Those who didn’t receive all recommended vaccine doses; and
- Those traveling to areas that could put them at risk for getting polio.
Paige Havens, Gwinnett Rotarian and program lead for the Gwinnett Coalition’s vaccine and health equity program says: “This is a vitally important conversation. Our team of health equity navigators focuses every day dispelling myths and empowering our residents with facts about life-saving vaccines. Unfortunately, there is so much misinformation circulating. The political polarization of and disinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines set us back significantly. We must all work together and be intentional about building immunity for our community.”
- Watch the video via YouTube here: https://youtu.be/3ssippekUbI
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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