Latest News About The Flatbush Frolic

“I agree that the Frolic on Sunday had an indescribable feeling – it was my first – and the neighborhood energy was so warm and powerful and unifying that it was overwhelming at times. I walked down to Sycamore later that evening when things were all cleaned up, and the street still had a sparkle to it that will linger for me until next year’s Frolic!” — Richie Barshay, Flatbush Frolic Main Stage Music Director

Sustainable Flatbush will be hosting the second annual Environmental Fair at the Flatbush Frolic, with the following organizations joining us:

Brooklyn Botanic Garden Greenbridge Community Horticulture

Promoting conservation and community through gardening activities.

Transportation Alternatives

Your advocate for bicycling, walking, and public transit.

Flatbush Farmshare CSA
(http://flatbushfarmshare.com)
Making fresh, organic produce available to any Brooklyn resident, regardless of economic status.

Energy New York – Jocelyn Cohen, Energy Educator and Consultant (www.energynewyork.org)
Working toward a sustainable energy future for our schools, communities, nation and the world.

Brooklyn Compost Project (http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/urban/composting/index.html)
Promoting composting in Brooklyn neighborhoods, community gardens, institutions, and businesses.

Educating Tomorrow/United Federation of Teachers Green Schools Committee
(http://educatingtomorrow.org)
Our children. Our environment. Our future.

At the Environmental Fair you can charge your cell phone with solar power, learn how to care for street trees or start a recycling program in your school, watch worms turn your food scraps into compost, pick up a free NYC bike map… and much more!

Hey All,

Thanks to our super volunteer from Midwood Martial Arts we will be having a Just For Kids area at the Frolic. It will specifically be in the tot lot on Cortelyou Rd. Check out the schedule of the day for kids below!

 

JUST FOR KIDS SCHEDULE

12:00 The Magic Family magic show for all ages *with the Thompsons (magic show)*
12:30PM Music for Aardvarks – sing along to hip music for city kids ages 6 months to 5 years with Jen Milich *(interactive music)*
1:00PM Little Big Top Circus – juggle, balance, and clown for ages 6 and up with Bard Goodrich *(interactive)*
1:30PM Karate with MMA & FFC for ages 4 and up Sensei Alison *(interactive physical activity)*
2:00PM Music Together & The Flying Teapot – sing and play along for young children with Joanne Riel *(interactive music) Sound System?*
2:30PM Gymnastics with MMA & FFC for ages 2 and up with Alexandra Bayeva *(interactive physical activity)*
3:00PM Musical Explorers – big adventures for little musicians 3-5 years old with Yoon and Akiko *(interactive music) Requires sound system*
3:30PM Mini CPR & First Aid demonstration for parents and caregivers with Baby Be Safe *(parent’s activity)*
4:00PM Deedle Time with Lloyd Miller for ages 6 months to 4 years *(interactive music)*
4:30PM Yoga with MMA & FFC for ages 2 and up with Lauren Tepper *(interactive physical activity)*
5:00PM Abbasubi – concert en Espanol for all ages with Fati & Charles *(musical performance) Requires sound system*

MAIN STAGE SCHEDULE
11:00 Park Slope Players (String Quartet)
11:30-PARADE: Maracatu New York (Brazilian)
12:15 Raizes do Brazil Capoeira Brooklyn (Brazilian)
1:00 The Waywords (Rock)
1:45 Brooklyn Fife Revival (Brazilian)
2:45 Benjy Fox-Rosen (Klezmer)
3:30 Tah Phrum Duh Bush (Hip Hop)
4:15 Richie Barshay’s Roundtable and Petr Cancura’s People Music and Friends (Jazz)
5:15 Michael Powers Frequency (Blues)

The Just For Kids (JFK) area at the Flatbush Frolic was conceived to give Frolicking families a safe, enclosed area to celebrate our neighborhood with activities that appeal to younger kids.

Most of the Teacher/Performers are back for their second, third or even fourth year of sharing skills and fun.
A lot of them come from our school, Midwood Martial Arts & Family Fitness Center on Avenue H. Some others are neighbors who teach, or entertain.

We’ve got a wide mix of activities -  interactive music (Music for Aardvarks, Music Together, Musical Explorers), movement (Little Big Top Circus Skills,  Gymnastics, Karate, and Yoga with MMA & FFC staff), and entertainment (Fati & Charles, The Magic Family).

Baby Be Safe will offer a mini CPR & First Aid seminar and we expect the Verizon Telephone Pioneer clowns to be there to paint faces and make balloons. Alejandra of Juguemos A Cantar teaches Spanish immersion classes during the year, but will have arts and crafts activities for the children on Frolic day.

Family-oriented vendors will be right outside the Tot Lot  on Cortelyou Road for parents to shop, and the Farmer’s Market is across the street.

Of course, we will physical activities, including martial arts, gymnastics and yoga for older children and adults, too, outside the Tot Lot in the street fair itself.

Rides, food, bands; I could go on and on, but its best to just come and Frolic for yourself!

I have to say that our volunteers and local talent have really come up in hoards this year to make this a great Frolic. Today I want to thank John Stislow – a local graphic designer and branding expert.

A few months ago I posted an ad on the Flatbush Family Network asking for designers to volunteer for the Frolic – John was listening and contacted me right away. His work and portfolio can be found here.

Thanks again John!

This year we are going to have two MCs for the main stage – Jonah and Gideon Levy - our local tour guide extrordinairs! The happen to be the owners of Levy’s Unique Tour Guides. Here’s some information about them both:

About Jonah!

Jonah Levy began following in the family footsteps of tour guiding in the spring of 2006 when he received his Tour Guide license. Since then, he’s worked tours in-between being a full-time film and theater student at Hobart and William Smith Colleges as well as traveling and studying in Viet Nam last fall and Hong Kong this one! Jonah most recently completed his second film, “My Viet Nam: A Series of Vignettes from My Experience Abroad”. Jonah’s first film, “Thanksgiving“is a short piece documenting his love for his family, his city and the NYC subway. Jonah will return stateside in December to work as a guide and make films about his wacky family.

 

About Gideon!

Gideon Levy is a loud and proud Brooklyn native with an enormous amount of hometown pride (just ask to see his tattoo!). A graduate of University of Massachusetts Amherst, with a Bachelors degree in writing and performance, Gideon spent his academic career studying the art and the history of storytelling. And, unlike most liberal arts majors, actually got a job in his field of study.

After college Gideon spent a four month internship at the Bowery Poetry Club, as well as various websites and New York-centric events blogs. He has collaborated with the Galapagos art space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on various performance projects and shows. Currently, he is working on any number of creative projects, including but not limited to: a New York inspired graphic novel, a couple of New York inspired novellas, a slightly-fictionalized auto-biography, and assorted ephemera.

The stories and mythology of New York; the people and events that actually transpired on these city streets is what keeps him fascinated with the life of the tour guide. Gideon then tempers this interest with reading comic books, engaging in battle with plastic lightsabers, attending Art-mobs and costume parties throughout the city.

This year the Flatbush Frolic’s theme is about “Sustaining our Global Communities.” With that in mind, I am so happy to announce that we have confirmed rotating energy saving workshops which will be held at the offices of Assemblyman Jim Brennan’s Office at 1414 Cortelyou Rd during the Flatbush Frolic on September 13^th, 2009. These workshops will be led by Paul Kerzner of Con Ed who is the head of the Renaissance Housing Program. He is an expert in his field – and a terrific speaker on this topic! There will be quizzes and prizes during the workshop as well – so don’t think you will be missing out in Frolic Fun! It will definitely be a great rest-stop during the frolic activities.

 These 30-40 minute workshops will start at 12:30 and rotate for the entire afternoon until the end of the Frolic (6PM). We would love to start spreading the word about the workshops. So please pass this information along to everyone in the community!

Planning the frolic is getting more and more gruesome as we get closer to the date. But admittedly it’s also becoming alot of fun as we begin to narrow down all the activities for the night.

After months of planning, debating about the state of the economy, and its negative impact to the Frolic – we are still going to have 3 stages at the Frolic! There will be a main stage at the corner of Cortelyou and Rugby which is being coordinated by local musician, Richie Barshay. A second stage will be coordinated by Debi Ryan of Vox Pop.

And a “Just for Kids” stage in the Tot Lot which is being coordinated by our Frolic Executive Committee member Alison Morea of the Midwood Martial Arts & Family Fitness Center.

If you know of any bands please feel free to contact me, Sandy at shussain@fdconline.org.

Many years ago, the frolic was kicked off by a kid’s banner parade with each banner representing the neighborhood associations. We are tweaking this old idea into something that will incorporate all of the groups that make our neighborhood unique! This year we are bringing back the banner parade and we would love to invite neighborhood associations, neighborhood groups, non-profits, and our neighborhood artists and entrepreneurs to take part.
 
We would like as many neighborhood groups to take part. So if you are part of a family kids group, or part of a neighborhood association, or union of artists/musicians, or a budding entrepreneur, or a group of collaborative writers, or whatever it is that represents you working with your neighbors then we want you to be part of our banner parade – young and old. (Free ice cream sandwiches to the kids (and adults) participating). The parade should last about 10-15 minutes – so it is not a huge commitment the day of. You will have the rest of the day to partake in all of the fun frolic activities we have planned!
 
I think this will be a great frolic this year. And I really hope bringing back this tradition will inspire many of you to be involved and showcase your talents during the parade.
 
We will also have a design competition for the banners entered. If you would like to participate please contact shussain@fdconline.org for more information or call Sandy at 718-859-3800.
 
Thanks and hope to see you all frolicking!