Author Steve Huff and Ramble organizers are hoping for many riders along the way.
Or is that writers ? They're hoping for both.
The third annual Ramble will run from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at two downtown stages: Jackson Square and a parking lot on School Street. Both sites have allowed for more bands, more time on stage and extra time to set up and remove each group's equipment, Bill McDonald, Michael Murray and Bill Pitcher (aka "the Posse") said Monday during a walk-through of the venue.
Huff, a Batavia native who now lives in Rochester, has penned the beginnings of a local tale. Organizers Patty Hawley and Kirby Moore, both of Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council, will man a table for people to add a line or two from 1 to 4 p.m. at Adam Miller Toys & Bikes on Center Street. The writing has Huff as a taxi driver who has seen his share of people and places.
Hawley encourages people to share their own memories and reflections of the area.
"I only hope that we can get people to add to it," she said. "I love what he's written."
And so it begins ...
I was a night taxi driver in Batavia. I drove people home from bars, drove farm workers from the bus station to the fields. The elderly to bingo. Others to the racetrack. It was thirty years ago, but it's a
long, clear memory. A city only pretends to sleep; actually it's always got the slit of one eye open
because it's shook up from love and heartbreak, always hoping to holler an immortal "Bingo." Taxi
drivers are ghosts in that they are not part of things but they see everything. That is why so many
of my stories and poems are set in Batavia. Sometimes I've given the city a different name in a story, but it's still Batavia.
Ramble visitors are likely to get another line to follow, but as each person adds to the story only one preceding line will be visible to the public, Moore said.
All of the writing should be geared toward the title: Ramble On ... A Story of Our Towns. The finished product, or excerpts from it, will be published in a future edition of The Daily News.
While that literary activity is going on, artists Karen Reisdorf, Susan Hoak and Shanelle Abramowski have a call out to chalk artists. A free form and theme mural will be works in progress along School Street. Young and old artists are invited to participate,.
Meanwhile, assorted bands will feature 10 hours of everything from Dizzy's jazz and Westside Blues Band to the contemporary Christian music of Red Letters, Rock-A-Bully's classic country and Craig Snyder Fusion Group's mix of jazz, rock and fusion.
In theory, visitors can watch one band at Jackson Square and make the short dash over to the School Street stage for the next performance. Or they can hang out and wait for the next group to appear at that particular stage. Organizers urge you to bring a lawn chair to the event, and leave it where it is, though. That element, billed as "share your chair," will allow you to have a seat no matter which stage you're at, McDonald said.
In between the toe-tapping will be a memorial celebration at 5 p.m. The names of late musicians will be read during this time. Anyone can add a name by sending an e-mail to Murray, the offical Web master. His address is: ramble_music@verizon.net.
For more information about Ramble, including photos, a message board to post memories or get in touch with old friends, a memorial page and local happenings, visit: http://home.rochester.rr.com/ramble.
PREAMBLES TO THE RAMBLE: Find a few tastes of what's to come with shows tonight and Friday. Among them: Downtrodden Swamp Dwellers at 6:30 p.m. tonight at Byron Hotel at 6874 Byron Holley Rd., Byron; OSHA at 9 p.m. to closing at T.F. Brown's, 214 East Main St., Batavia; and on Friday from 7 to 9 p.m. when The Ghost Riders and Sierra & Friends play Jackson Square, Batavia; and 9:30 p.m. when Kevin Moyles, Michael Murray, Bill McDonald, Bill Pitcher & Friends play at O'Lacy's on School Street.