Meet Me on the Island draws crowd
South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Indiana),
June 8, 2002
by Ann Marie Stewart
 There's no doubt about it - this year's first Meet
Me on the Island, sponsored by WVPE Public Radio and South
Bend Regional Museum of Art, started with a bang. Perhaps
it was the sheer number of people that emerged for the
event (at least 2,500) filling the "island" space on the
whitewater rapids of the St. Joseph River, nestled up
next to the Century Center. Or maybe it was the atmosphere
of celebration and relaxation that pervaded that crowd
as they mingled with one another, clustering in circles,
talking, eating, laughing, drinking and discovering new
- and old - friends. Or possibly it was the fireworks
at dusk that seemed to celebrate not only the event itself,
but also the beginning of summer - easy, carefree, and
alive.
I've always been a sucker for fireworks. But particularly
interesting about these fireworks were not only the display
itself, but the response of the crowd. The age groups
that were represented were remarkable - people from 7
months to 70 were having a jolly good time. Kids were
playing with toys under the yellow peaked tents, neo-hippies
were dancing in their bare feet, and young lovers were
noticing only one another along the ramp between the island
and the Center. Around the periphery of the island, along
the St. Joe and on Colfax Avenue, crowds were lined up
along the guardrail of the river watching the celebration.
As the fireworks exploded in the air, they echoed off
the downtown buildings all the way to the Studebaker corridor.
In the middle of the bodies, the tents, the kids, and
the food was "Dog Talk", a critically acclaimed world
music party band out of Indianapolis. For those who stopped
long enough to listen, they recognized that the band provided
the ideal atmosphere for the event - happy, free, and
uninhibited. The diversity in musical styles which the
group performed included calypso, pop, jazz, reggae, rock,
Latin, and zydeco. They had a little something for everyone.
If you attended Meet Me on the Island Friday night - then
come again. If you've thought about attending Meet Me
on the Island - then go. There are eight more events to
come, about every other week until the end of August.
If you've thought about donating to public radio such
as WVPE because you enjoy their programs and the contribution
they make to the cultural community or about visiting
the art museum - it's time. It's summer: Have some fun
on the island.
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