Third Fridays return to downtown

The Waynesboro Cultural Commission, the Wayne Theatre Alliance and Waynesboro Downtown Development Inc. are working together to bring Third Fridays, an event tying downtown Waynesboro businesses together with art and entertainment venues, back to the River City. Third Fridays had been absent from downtown since the closing of Under the Roof, its previous venue.

This Friday, the band Little Dark Town will be in concert at 329 W. Main Street, the former Sharon Bookstore, in the heart of downtown. The event will begin at 7 p.m. and will be no charge, although donations will be accepted; Stone Soup Books will provide coffee and desserts to attendees.

Only two Third Friday events - this Friday's concert and another next month - have been scheduled thus far, but according to Wayne Theatre executive director and Waynesboro Cultural Commission member Clair Myers, more will hopefully be on the way.

"So far, we have a request in to the Commission for the Arts to do a matching grant. If we get it, we will do [Third Friday events] starting in September through May or June of next year," Myers said. "We're really in the planning stages of this.

"We're hoping that, by the event in mid-May, we'll have something planned with a lot of businesses downtown involved," Myers added. "We're also hoping to tie the [Heritage] Museum and the [Shenandoah Valley] Art Center into things eventually."

On Friday, Little Dark Town will treat concertgoers to arrangements of classic songs by the Beatles, Grateful Dead, Bob Marley and more. The group will also play original music and harmonies. The band includes musicians Buddy Thomas, Chris Wray and Toby Thomas. Buddy Thomas said in a press release that he thinks that the idea of bringing people downtown for music is one that will catch on over time - and something he is glad to kick off for the region.

"I think the concert series is a real good idea for the area," he said. "Things are always slow to start, but gradually this could be successful for Waynesboro."

Mountain Air Gallery, at 401 W. Main St., will hold an affiliated event Friday from 5:30-8 p.m., featuring an art exhibit by Glenn Bangley, a Charlottesville artist known for designing movie and television sets, including the Sally Hemmings' miniseries on PBS and the film "Hannibal."

"With the Wayne Theatre project moving forward, we think it is a great idea to get people used to coming downtown for cultural events," Myers said. "With downtown emerging as an arts district, this is the perfect way to reinforce that image."

Contact Sage Merritt at 932-3559.