BRATTLEBORO — The Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce's One and Only Brattleboro campaign will present a community dance party called “Swingin' at the Garden.”
This all-dancing benefit kick-off to the Chamber's Swing into Fall campaign will take place on Saturday, Sept. 8, starting at 8 p.m. at the Robert H. Gibson River Garden, 153 Main St., and will feature the Keene Jazz Orchestra under the leadership of Scott Mullett and featuring local Brattleboro jazz players, including Eugene Uman, artistic director of the Vermont Jazz Center.
Proceeds of the community dance party will be awarded to a special fund set up as a resource for those businesses in downtown Brattleboro and in other more westerly locations, including Western Avenue, that are still reeling from the effects of Tropical Storm Irene.
“Despite how well we've weathered the storm, many of our businesses still have a long way to full recovery,” said Jerry Goldberg, executive director of the Brattleboro Area Chamber.
“We know there are a lot of you out there who understand that our community is only as strong and vibrant as the businesses that serve us and that bring visitors to us,” he said. “We must all pitch in to do what we can to fill the gap for those that were whacked last August.”
The evening includes food and a cash bar. Guests are invited to make a donation to the special Irene fund.
This is the Chamber's second attempt to put on this event. Everything was in place last year for the early September “Free Community Dance Party” when, on August 28, Tropical Storm Irene came to call. The Chamber decided that its event would be too soon for too many – residents and businesses alike that were clearly in dire circumstance – and called it off.
Now, as the one-year anniversary of Irene approaches, organizers said it's time to mark how well the town has come through, to celebrate the businesses that have worked so hard, and to acknowledge that there are still needs to be filled.
The “Swingin' at the Garden” community dance party is the linch-pin of a three-year Swing into Fall campaign designed to build and maintain momentum from the summer tourist season through September into the October leaf-peeping weeks, and on to the holiday shopping and vacationing season.
The campaign will feature a wide range of events with makers of all kinds of music, visual and performance artists, craftspeople, theater performers, jazz masters, literary luminaries, circus artistes, lecturers on all sorts of topics, workshops, and seminars.
For more information, visit www.brattleborochamber.org, or call 802-254-4565.