Wake Up The Earth origins celebrated

I write to express thanks to all who helped produce the “Retrospectacle” at Spontaneous Celebrations. The exhibit is on display until June 8 of Read Brugger’s extraordinary, compelling photo documentation of the early years of the Wake Up The Earth Festival and the Southwest Corridor Community Farm illustrates how the roots of these community initiatives grew from the aftermath of stopping I-95 in Jamaica Plain.

The exhibit could not have been produced without the generous and spirited help of two local businesses. Thank you, Christina Fritsch and Kosta Demos of 3rd Eye Photo Services for scanning all the pictures and printing the color photos. Equally heartfelt appreciation to Mary and Dwight Jameson from Jameson and Thompson Fine Arts Services for matting all the color photos and then framing all 65 of the exhibit photos! These two local businesses made the exhibit possible, and their enthusiasm has encouraged the larger group produc-ing all the other aspects of the “Retrospectacle” and this year’s festival. Thanks to David Hannon whose professional expertise in hanging artwork contributed to the success of this exhibit and to Neil Horsky for his I-95 artworks.

Thanks to Danielle Sommer, who put together a beautiful photo book. The book shows all the photos that are in the exhibit and all the colored ones that were scanned but not printed. This photo book will be for sale at Spontaneous Celebrations through June and at the Festival on May 2, when there also will be exhibit tours, guided by activists of the times who can tell stories related to the photos.

Thanks to both the organizing committee of the “Retrospectacle” and to those who risked their reputations as wise and constructive members of the community by participating in the spirited Southwest Corridor Cabaret: Danielle Sommer, Janice Rogovin, Leroy Stoddard, Mary Jameson, Mary Hannon, Gloria Carrigg, Giovanna Tapia, Jeff Ferris, John Robinson, Hank Werlin, Jen Kiok, Silvia de la Sota, Maaak Pelletier, Cornell Coley, Jomar Lopez, Slug Rosenbaum, Woody Nussdorfer, David Howell, Kathleen Gaskin, Charleston Sargeant and Angela Hartt. Also, warm thanks to the “activist old-timers” who came to the event and joined us on stage: Chuck Turner, Ron Hafer, Winkie Cloherty, Sue Naimark, Susan Redlich, Jon Ellertson, Susan Brown, Fatimah Paine, Deborah Brien, Ache Cook from Paige Academy, Chickie Rivera from Estrellas Tropicales, Norma Rey Alicea rep-resenting her mother Clementina Acebedo from Oficina Hispana, T-shirt artist Connie Barbour, Amika Kemmler-Ernst and Roxana Bentes. Last, but not least, thanks to those who sponsored the event by contributing and to those who provided food: Centre Street Cafe, Amir’s Food, Norma Rosario, Michelle Vidal, Simone Rivera and City Feed & Supply.

A shorter version of the cabaret, which we call a “cantastoria,” will be presented at the Wake Up The Earth Festival. It will be a portable puppet theater that will show how I-95 was stopped and how that led to the community farm and the Wake Up The Earth Festival. The photos and the cantastoria depict important local history that we forget at our peril.

Femke Rosenbaum
Spontaneous Celebrations
Jamaica Plain

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