Getting COTA Close

The Celebration of the Arts (COTA) held their now tri monthly meeting for August on Tuesday August 2nd at The Deer Head Inn in Delaware Water Gap, PA in order to plan for their 34th Annual Jazz and Arts Festival. New and established friends met to receive updates on how things are progressing and to share new ideas on how to make this year’s festival even better than the ones that came before. The meeting began with the announcement of plans to hold a Thursday September 8th screening of the documentary about Bob Dorough titled, “Devil May Care” at the Pocono Community Theater in East Stroudsburg, PA which will include a Question and Answer session after the film has been shown.

Other topics mentioned included a report of a very successful Camp Jazz experience and the unveiling of the poster and other promotional materials for this year’s festival. This last item added to the excitement of all that went before as the concepts of this year’s festival became visualized and those in attendance were eager to snatch up copies of the poster so they may help distributing them in areas where jazz lovers gather to await news of the festival’s arrival.

However, although the information shared and explored were germane to the meeting and to the success of this year’s festival, the most meaningful aspect was the opportunity to gather together with fellow jazz lovers. This combination of catching up on what the friends one has made throughout previous festivals and re learning why we love the musical form and the festival it celebrate through the conversation we hold with those who come to COTA for the first time enlivens our endeavors as we work toward our wonderful goals. You’ll find more photographs taken during the gathering in The COTA Meetings 2011 Gallery at www.facebook.com/forwardian.dude.

The 34th Annual Celebration of the Arts Jazz and Arts Festival is scheduled to begin Friday September 9th and will continue until Sunday September 11th. The three day festival begins on Friday evening with an Artists’ Reception at The Antoine Dutot Museum and Gallery who will present their Annual Music Motif Exhibition and continues with the night of Music, Theater, and Dance presented at The Presbyterian Church of the Mountain. The festival continues the following Saturday and Sunday with outdoor performances of Jazz on the Main Stage along with numerous strolling musicians, story tellers, and vendors offering a variety of high quality crafts, art, and food. You’ll be able to read my article about The 33rd Annual Celebration of the Arts Jazz and Arts Festival which took place in 2010 at www.cotajazz.org/cota-2010.html.

The Celebration of the Arts (COTA) presents and supports the arts and the music of jazz in all its forms and historical breadth through youth education, performing arts presentations, scholarship opportunities, and community outreach throughout the Pocono area. The festival and all its functions is organized and run by volunteers. Their next volunteer meeting will be held Tuesday August 16th at The Deer Head Inn in Delaware Water Gap, PA beginning at 7:30pm. Those who would like to lend their time, talents, and insights are welcomed to attend. Numerous volunteer positions are available and they include Program Ad Sales Manager, a Program Ad Salesperson, Back and Front gate workers, Security, and Marketing/PR personnel. More information abut these positions, the festival, and how to purchase tickets in advance at a 20% discount can be obtained by Exploring The COTA Website at www.cotajazz.org or by calling 570-424-2210. I hope to see you there.