Blues Jam Planned For March
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
CROCKETT – Downtown Crockett Association (DCA) held a meeting in downtown Crockett to work on their upcoming “Camp Street Blues Jam,” set for the weekend of Mar. 8-10. The event will feature everything from blues artists, to art exhibits and vendors. The meeting was called and led by local businesswoman Robin Ogg, who asked the large group for help in making the event happen.
Locals in attendance included Susan Knox, Marco and Aurora Hayes, K.J. Johnson, “Pipp” Gillett, Wade Thomas, Brian Lake, Michael and Abbey Nucci, along with Crockett City Administrator John Angerstein and Community Liaison Rebeca Huffman. This reporter served as representative for the Crockett Area Chamber of Commerce.
The event will begin Friday, Mar. 8 with performances by Sierra Green, Curt Christian and Johnny Riley, with a historical women’s exhibit at the Crockett library and artists’ displays at Mary Allen Museum bookending the event.
Saturday, Mar. 9 will see a full-day of entertainment and fun, with a large part of East Goliad closed for the event, which will see food and other vendors set up on Camp Street, along with performances by the Crockett High School Jazz Ensemble, and Crockett High School Band, Bruce Middleton, “Pipp” Gillett, Southern Android, Brent Price, Tony Henry, Donny Taylor, Kane Alvarado and Matthias Lattin at various spots along and around Camp Street and East Goliad.
The event will finish with a “blues brunch” Sunday, Mar. 10, with artists, participants and the public invited to all events. There will be commemorative t-shirts on sale, along with tickets available for purchase soon. While there is great interest in the event, there is still a need for volunteers, vendors of different types and promotion for the event, which hopes to attract both music-lovers in Houston County and tourists from all around the state.
Ogg confirmed the group will use HOT (hotel occupancy tax) funds granted from the county to promote the event While many in attendance pledged to help with different aspects of organizing the event, as Ogg herself pointed out, these events are a lot of work and any and all help is appreciated.
The Messenger has lamented in previous articles the need for a strong presence to be created for our area, given our rich music history, as a way to encourage tourism and tourist dollars to flow into our area. Gillett and this reporter discussed again the recent visit of several dozen German tourists to Crockett and the possibility to attract tours from all over the world, now that Camp Street is officially on the Texas Music Trail.
The historical women’s exhibit will run the entire month of March – women’s history month – at Crockett Public Library. Mary Allen Museum will feature saxophone player Bruce Middleton, along with visual artists Southern Android and Davelyn Hays, where the public will be able to vote for their favorite artist.
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
