Terry's Serendipity Cafe

On Sept 22, we held the Alumni Serendipi
2012-09-24 00:00 (America/New_York)
On Sept 22, we held the Alumni Serendipity which was warm and humid, but we hosted over a dozen alumni, Byron in a top hat and ran over only a little. Pinegrove and Werebears were great, Gifts were wonderful, the Space Monkeys lead off, and we promised “Based on the Novel..” something, because there wasn’t time to fit them in open mic. I had to give the old “respect” speech, since the audience was not paying attention to Ben Rosefeld and his acoustic guitar during open mic..

The 8/31 event was very good reprise of
2012-09-04 00:00
The 8/31 event was very good reprise of the 7/27 Amphitheater concert, except no fishing. We somehow managed to get along almost entirely without Ken P., with Trucker Mike doing all the heavy trucking. Couple of leftover items probably belong to Toasted Plastic, of Ridgewood, who think Serendipity is something every town should have, but not many towns do.

Did the critique of the 7/27 Amphitheate
2012-08-02 00:00
Did the critique of the 7/27 Amphitheater show which was by all accounts a success. Charlie doesn’t like outdoor shows, though, so we’re kicking him out of the club. Or maybe letting him graduate. Something. Anyhow the parade was great, thanks to our costume wearers, Gillian, Emily, Alexis, Price, Max, and of course the candy flingers, banner bearers, etc.

Wow! The Festival Underground 2012 was e
2012-06-18 00:00
Wow! The Festival Underground 2012 was extra good. Weather: 10, Music: 10 Attendance, way more than usual. Thanks to Ross H. and our Senior Staff Scholarship award winners, Price and Harris. And our runner up: Snatcher.

After an exchange of emails and a bit of
2012-05-17 00:00
After an exchange of emails and a bit of a cooling off period, we get to announce that we are not involved in this year’s Relay for Life. Maybe someday we will know why, but we’ve decide to look ahead and maybe rename the July event “Jonahdipity”.

First Lutheran Church. The turnout for t
2012-04-28 00:00
First Lutheran Church. The turnout for the final unload was great, I think we set a world speed record. Entertainment was good & smoothly presented. Attendance was still on the small side, so we can still work on that. Wound up with a red electric guitar in the lost & found. We think it belongs to Jen.

at First United Methodist Church. For a
2012-04-07 00:00
at First United Methodist Church. For a lot of staffers, this was the first time at FUMC and the stairs were a surprise. But things went well until everyone went home before the final cleanup. The music was good, though, and even though Toasted Plastic from Ridgewood only had a small audience, they were full of praise for the Montclair audience’s respect and attention. We have to work on publicity and support.

at B’nai Keshet: Much calmer than last m
2012-02-25 00:00
at B’nai Keshet: Much calmer than last month, mostly due to the audience being half the size. Space Monkeys again. Some thought it was the same show. But we sold some snacks, had A good deal of open mic, and, about a week afterwards, found the coffee mill. OK!

Our first time at Central Presbyterian C
2012-01-28 00:00
Our first time at Central Presbyterian Church. Good size audience, lots of 8th graders due to the Space Monkeys band, plenty of things for the critique. A great way to start the year.

The audience was impressive, by being ov
2011-12-31 00:00
The audience was impressive, by being over 160 people, of whom 94 paid $3.00 to come in. The performers were grand, the sets a bit short, mostly, but the open mic was definitely best of the year. Thanks to the staff, the audience, the performers and the advisors for a great year!

The Tree lighting on Friday, followed by
2011-12-07 00:00
The Tree lighting on Friday, followed by the Café at Bnai Keshet went exactly as planned, including more than double the previous attendance. The music was good, The Skin Cells were well organized, so were the Toasted Plastic and all the locals. Nice work, everyone!

After doing sound for the Veteran’s Day
2011-11-11 00:00
After doing sound for the Veteran’s Day ceremonies in Edgemont Memorial Park, we trucked over to St. James’ church and had a full Serendipity Café with a not full audience. Seems to me we need to work on getting the audience numbers up. Good music, though, and thanks to St. James for letting us use their Parish Hall on short notice after our Scarendipity Cancellation.

Another Warm Serendipity, this time in t
2011-09-24 00:00
Another Warm Serendipity, this time in the Park House in Edgemont Park. The consensus seems to be that it was good, there was a good sized audience, the coffee was great, and the bands mostly got to play their whole sets. Josh Heaps was the entertainment head, and we were slightly overbooked. The Alumi theme was carried on by the Porchisas with founding members Alan and Adam. And then Pinegrove with Alumni Evan Hall, Zach Levine, Nick Levine. Aden Feliciano was there, as well as Catherine Weller-Demming, a founder and current Deputy Mayor. Alma Schneider of the Parents Who Rock presented us with a check for $1363.00 which the PWR raised at their annual backyard party, which we did the sound for, with Emily, Max, and a couple of other Staff members helped out at. There’s pix on Facebookm see link above.

The Warm Serendipity: at least a hundred
2011-07-22 00:00
The Warm Serendipity: at least a hundred in the shade. But we had Los Huevos, Sumi, Stolen Jars, a standup comic, Anna and Carmen, I even got to sit in with Vinnie & Los Huevos. We had S’mores, with a camp stove, lotsa water, and visits by alumi Ethan Cantor, Oliver Rew, Ross Hamilton. And Even Peter Guiffra was there. Many thanks to Ken and Mike for all the help.

Festival Underground 2011 was an awards
2011-06-18 00:00
Festival Underground 2011 was an awards fest, with Anna Berlin and Katherine Wolfgang receiving the annual Staff Scholarship Award, presented by Carlos Lejnieks, who, by coincidence, spoke at the MHS graduation ceremony this year. Carlos is a founding staff member, and gave us some history, as well. Ken Pasture received a special award for trucking, and dedication and Farrah Stephenson from the American Cancer Society, presented Serendipity with a plaque thanking us for our participation in Relay For Life for the last 2 years. The music was tops, although I wish we had Stolen Jars. The chalk art was immense, and widespread.

The Relay for Life on was punctuated by
2011-05-21 00:00
The Relay for Life on was punctuated by a rainstorm, but the drying out worked and we got the system back on line & no damage but mud. There was all night DJ work by Max and Emily, under a point system of great complexity. A grand appearance by Alma and the New No Rehearsals, plenty of darkness, a 2 AM ukulele jam with guitar, good performances by Passing Notes, Stolen Jars, and others, but my notes are all blurry, I’ll probably not be able to read the list until Josh makes a copy for the entertainment notebook. In spite of all that, it appears that the ASC collected over $90,000.00! And it was much better after I went home and put on dry socks.

show was loud and echo-ey. Good performa
2011-04-29 00:00
show was loud and echo-ey. Good performances all around especially the famous Pokey-Men, plenty of audience members. Staff was non-existent except for Emily and Anna at load-up time, though, and we are currently searching for our missing snare drum stand.

We taped an episode of “Arts Close Up” w
2011-04-14 00:00
We taped an episode of “Arts Close Up” with Meg Beatty Patrick on Channel 34 for broadcast in early May. Anna, Julia, Josh, Harris, Emily, Thatcher, Charlie and Ed were there. We did some interview-like stuff, some Josh/Harris guitar, some Anna B tunes, and Thatcher & Charlie improvised a Serendipity “commercial”. It will be on the schedule, and in the On Demand menu, I hear. Thanks to Sharon Collucci, and Michael Reitman, the blues photographer. Use the following link, and select category “Arts Up Close” Montclair TV34

We collected some money for aid to Japan
2011-03-28 00:00
We collected some money for aid to Japan, tried out one of the bands that found us through the Star Ledger article, and tried to be good for our newest hosts, the Bnai Keshet Synagogue. It was pretty good, except for having to cancel Open Mic for lack of time. I will speak to the people at BK and see how they feel about us running over. Never had a guitar in the lost & found before, not to mention power supplies, cables, etc.

Friday’s “Carendipity” went very well. E
2011-02-27 00:00
Friday’s “Carendipity” went very well. Extra help at the start meant a quick Load-In, So we got right to the music, which was quite tuneful, in spite of the complete lack of live drums. The “eat your heart out” jell-o contest was quick, and not too messy. It’s good on the videos uploaded to tumblr. So, to sum up, no one threw up over this one. Notes: Serendipity Café in the Star Ledger at (2/10/11). http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/02/teen-operated_montclair_cafe_w.html And then Pokey Men were in the Montclair time on 2/24/2011. Good stuff!

Nearly everything went as planned on thi
2011-01-28 00:00
Nearly everything went as planned on this first event of the year, and first time at St. James. There was plenty of music, Battle of the Band winners and runners-up, some spirited moshing. We’re promised some of the doors won’t be locked next time. And we will be back! We split the Snack Bar income with St. James, and they seemed happy with that. The critique at the following meeting was good, too. I happened to notice that the two singers from Stolen Jars performed in Passing Notes the next night at the Concert for Haiti.

The old year was ended at Fletcher Hall
2010-12-31 00:00
The old year was ended at Fletcher Hall of the UUC with a good variety of music, recruited by Josh and Harris. Anna Berlin’s Mocha Coffee, Shirley Temples, Julia as MC, Emily on the sound board. We wish great 2011 to everyone. I hope for more new ideas and enthusiasm for the Montclair Student Café Project in 2011.

Serendipity Café at the First United Met
2010-11-22 00:00
Serendipity Café at the First United Methodist Church. This one was solid. Hip-Hop with harmony! Anna Berlin, Lotsa acoustic guitar players of many different styles. No Actual contests, and slightly OK for a November event. Had a talk with Vidal of the Parish Council and we are welcome there.

Scarendipity 2010 featured 10 Sleep, Thi
2010-10-29 00:00
Scarendipity 2010 featured 10 Sleep, Things Keep Happening, Werebears, Mannyfesto, a bit of that gameboy stuff at open mic, Josh on guitar, etc. 67 paid customers, and more than a dozen staff members. Pumpkin pie eating contest. Nick Levine, the winner. Should have had prizes for not being sick afterwards.

The Alumni Reunion worked out pretty wel
2010-09-18 00:00
The Alumni Reunion worked out pretty well. We had some good music, some olde buddies, and some swirley cake. Not to mention ukuleles. Next year I want someone to be alumni invitor.

The 8/6 event at the Library was smooth
2010-08-30 00:00
The 8/6 event at the Library was smooth and cool, despite the many changes in performers, & the competition with the Acres reunion performance. We got out on time, which helps our chances for doing Serendipity at the Library in the future. On 8/28 we had some difficulties at the Nishuane Park “Camp Serendipity”. Now, the s’mores were fine, and no one actually got hurt, but the electric power was awful, the street light was not turned on, and we had a problem with Lima being too loud. But, it didn’t cost that much and Father Earth was great listening.

The independence day was a great success
2010-07-05 00:00
The independence day was a great success. Elvis lead our group, which included Patrick from Sponge Bob (Jeremy), Winnie the Pooh (Julia Z and Josh), Cookie Monster (Nick Levine) and Cat in the Hat (Aidan Feliciano). The angels, Emily and Lidia (and sometimes Julia) and the Banner makers and bearers, Anna, Johnny Q, Ethan, Thatcher, and everyone I left out really made it a hot one. By which I mean like 101 F. In the shade. You could of fried an egg on this parade! Consider revising.

There is nothing like Festival Undergrou
2010-06-19 00:00
There is nothing like Festival Underground, when it doesn’t rain! There was a decent crowd of our usual audience, including some open mic performers, regulars, and so on. The weather was perfect. Ken was as tough as a circus roustabout, and the staff were very helpful, happy, relaxed. We put on 7 or eight bands, Had a jam at the end with Adam, Jeff, and Vin doing some tunes. Cell phone pix below. The bands were: The Porchistas, Hazmats, Tasm, A vs B, March to the Sea, Ten Sleep, Los Huevos, Slim Deer, Tense Deer. An the Alumi Trio. Alumni: Iris perrot, Adam, Jeff, Vin Demming, Kathryn Weller-Demming Charlee Swanson, Harry Wohl, Ethan Kantor, Max Kravitz, Max Mellman, Julia Berlin, Larry Pope did the recording, Ross Hamilton performed.

The Relay for Life was definitely an all
2010-06-05 00:00
The Relay for Life was definitely an all-nighter. We set a record for playing outdoor live music in Montclair, playing until 11:15PM without getting complained about! The relay was a great success in terms of money raised. Ken donated the generator rental fee. We could have used some more help at the end. And some better weather.

The best ever Hip-Hop Serendipity, the “
2010-04-30 00:00
The best ever Hip-Hop Serendipity, the “Rap-Fest”. Good sized audience, interesting variety, a whole new bunch of people.
