Welcome to July Open Mic Night, Via Zoom

When I was a kid, July was smack in the middle of the most blissful season of the year. Once school was out in June, my family moved to the cottage for the whole summer. Nestled on the banks of the Richibucto River in Upper Rexton, my days at the cottage were filled with swimming (between the jellyfish), digging for clams (I didn't eat them, though--yuck), canoeing upriver, and making ashtrays out of the soft, red clay dug out of patches in the sand. I remember hamburgers on the barbecue that my father built out of an oil drum, and my mother's blueberry dumpling for dessert. I remember family picnics where we would boil live lobsters over a blazing fire on the beach, in a giant cast iron cauldron.

I remember beach campfires at night, built with driftwood collected along the river's edge during the day. There were no streetlights to hamper the view of the night sky. The river was frequently still and silent at night, except for the noisy loons.

I remember playing all day and night in my bathing suit, and being too tired to change out of it before bed.

I hope summer holds many pleasant memories for you, as well, and with this in mind, I propose that our theme for July Open Mic will be "Memories are made of this." Dean Martin won't mind, I'm sure.  Of course, if the memory you bring isn't pleasant, that's okay, too.

We have an ongoing opportunity to share the recordings of our open mic events on 107.3 FM in Saint John, the UNBSJ/community station. Anyone who'd like to participate in the reading, but not in the public broadcast, can be edited out. Airing these events does increase and enhance the profile of WFNB, as well as that of our readers. But we certainly understand if you'd prefer to keep it just between us. We will be adding the recorded live readings to our members-only section--if you'd like to be edited out of any of them, just say the word.

Poetry, prose, screenplay--even songs. Whatever is keeping your creative juices flowing, we wanna hear it! You know the drill: a maximum of 15 readers, with five minutes each to read. Just want to listen? The public can register as audience only. Looking forward to hearing you all on Saturday, July 9.