Bring Back the Greek Festival
Benefit Concert for St. Demetrios
7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28
Fox Theatre17 W. Congress St.
547-3040;stdemtucson.org
One of Tucson's most popular annual events was sidelined earlier this year when a fire tore through St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, causing more than $1 million in damage after a prayer candle accidentally ignited a wooden cross.
While church activities have slowly resumed, some on-site and others at another church on the eastside, the repair and cleanup at 1145 E. Fort Lowell Road has prevented St. Demetrios from holding its Greek Festival for the first time in 38 years.
"The fire shut down our community hall, our kitchen and our storage facilities," said Jim Howell, secretary of St. Demetrios' Parish Council. "It would take us four months of preparation to put on the festival."
The four-day festival, which draws more than 10,000 visitors each year, had been scheduled for this weekend. Instead, St. Demetrios has put together a benefit concert to help raise money for the church's restoration. Howell said insurance covered most of the repair costs, but additional funds are still needed to keep the process moving along.
The concert lineup features pianists Bill Cantos and Mari Falcone as well as the Tucson Jazz Institute's Ellington Big Band and Howell's own group, the Jim Howell Band. Cantos, from San Diego, is the brother of St. Demetrios' pastor, Father Earl Cantos.
Tickets are $20 to $35, or $65 for a VIP package that includes a preconcert reception with hors d'oeuvres and a meet-and-greet with some of the performers. Tickets can be purchased at foxtucsontheatre.org or at the Fox Theatre box office.—B.J.P.
Tucson's Musical Melting Pot
7th Annual Celebration of Music & Culture
4 to 7 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 29
Tucson Convention CenterLeo Rich Theater260 S. Church Ave.
907-7325;tucsonmusiciansmuseum.org
On Sunday, the Tucson Musicians Museum will host its annual Celebration of Music & Culture, the seventh of its kind.
The night will feature performances from eight bands showcasing genres from rock 'n' roll to mariachi to the cultural lovechild "jazzmenco." The night is held to honor and showcase the talents of the TMM's 2013 inductees: Gabriel Ayala, Peter McLaughlin, Bob Meighan, John Coinman, Rich Hopkins, Ann Iveson, Daun Suarez, George Hawke, Robert Thames and, posthumously, Tombstone Slim and Bobby Smith. The night's finale is a performance by Motown legend Mel Rivers (of the original Drifters).
The event is held to "celebrate, preserve and perpetrate Tucson's unique musical heritage and culture," said founder and co-host Susan French. Proceeds from the night will go toward the TMM's youth mentorship program. The program pairs experienced local musicians with students from public and charter schools around the city and provides them with perhaps otherwise unaffordable lessons in music, marketing and promotion, starting up bands and studio recording.
Students from the program will be invited to play alongside the performers throughout the night. French hinted that students would even be playing "in the horn section with Mel Rivers" during the finale.
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at the door or on the museum's website.
—I.G.
A Community in Cardboard
2nd Annual Cardboard Ball
7:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28
Steinfeld Warehouse101 W. Sixth St.
995-9019;facebook.com/events/338904652908263
Prepare yourself for a night of high fashion, local art, good beer, live music and—most important—recycled cardboard!
The second annual Cardboard Ball is a charity event that thinks way outside the box. For one night only, Tucsonans are invited to flock to the Steinfeld Warehouse wearing their most stylish, homemade cardboard fashions. The occasion? An all-local cardboard art exhibition and raucous dance party.
"Last year we had (people in) cardboard lederhosen show up." said event founder Mykl Wells, who is also co-founder of Tucson's All Souls Procession. Proceeds from the Cardboard Ball will go toward the All Souls Procession's free community workshops, where tips for face painting, making lanterns and building floats will be shared in preparation for the procession.
Beyond raising money, the point of the ball is to "get people involved, build things ... there's really no better way to build community," Wells said. "One of the things I try to create is an environment where creativity can flourish."
The ball will include a bar stocked with a specialty brew from Tucson's Borderlands Brewing Co. Wine will be provided by Tap & Bottle. The event also includes food trucks, live music, DJs and an art raffle.
Tickets can be purchased for $7 at Yikes, 2930 E. Broadway Blvd.; Pop Cycle, 422 N. Fourth Ave., and Borderlands Brewing Co., 119 E. Toole Ave. Tickets are $10 at the door.
—I.G.
Bully Pulpit
Author Emily Bazelon
7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 1
Loft Cinema3233 E. Speedway Blvd.
989-0664
After Slate contributor Emily Bazelon wrote a few articles about bullying, she discovered the topic really resonated with readers. So she decided to dig in deeper.
The result was her new book, Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy. Bazelon will discuss what she learned about bullying next Tuesday, Oct. 1 at the Loft Cinema.
"I was struck by how serious the consequences of bullying can be," says Bazelon, who explains that when kids are subjected to sustained and repetitive harassment, "you see these serious problems that go into adulthood. For targets—and for people who are both bullies and victims—the rates of things like depression and anxiety disorder and suicidal thinking really persist into adulthood. And that surprised me. Like a lot of people, I figured the effects would just wear off."
While bullying has long been a problem among kids, it's changing in the digital age.
"It's not that cyber-bullying is totally separate from real life," says Bazelon. "But going online has two really important consequences. For the target, it can make the bullying seem really inescapable, because instead of going home from school and finding escape, you can still feel like people are talking about you online."
The second problem: Online bullies say things they'd never say in person.
"It can pull kids into saying things they'd never say in real life," says Bazelon. "They don't have to look someone in the face to see what kind of impact their words are having."
Bazelon will sign books after her talk. General admission is $35, with 50 free tickets available to students with ID on a first-come, first-served basis.
