August
2002
DOWNTOWN
NEWS BITS
Thunder
set regular-season game attendance mark
The
Trenton Thunder, the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox,
set the franchise regular season attendance record on July 17,
an afternoon game. The announced attendance for the game was 7,943
fans. The Thunder defeated the Norwich Navigators 8-3.
The
figure is the third largest total in Waterfront Park history,
trailing only the Boston Red Sox vs. Thunder exhibition game on
May 27, 1998 (8,602), and the Double-A All-Star Game on July 8,
1996 (8,369). Wednesday's attendance total broke the previous
regular season record of 7,886, set on August 30, 1995 against
the Harrisburg Senators.
"Thunder
baseball is all about affordable entertainment for the whole family,"
said Thunder General Manger Rick Brenner. "The number of
camps, recreation departments and families that came out to this
special weekday afternoon game really shows that Thunder games
are a special place for family fun and we appreciate that so many
chose to visit us today."
Trenton
Downtowner staffers were in attendance at the game, and can vouch
for the fact that there were, indeed, a lot of campers in attendance
for the game.
Top
10 Largest Crowds at Waterfront Park
8,602
vs. Boston Red Sox on May 27, 1998 (Exhibition Game)
8,369 AL vs. NL on July 8, 1996 (AA All-Star Game)
7,943 vs. Norwich on July 17, 2002
7,886 vs. Harrisburg on August 30, 1995
7,769 vs. Harrisburg on August 31, 1994
7,757 vs. Altoona on June 22, 2002
7) 7,753 vs. Canton-Akron on July 3, 1995
7,714 vs. Portland on July 14, 2001
9) 7,676 vs. Harrisburg on July 3, 2001
7,669 vs. New Haven on July 4, 1997
First
Annual Mercer County Antique Show August 3
Antiques and antique experts will converge on Trenton on August
3 for the first annual Mercer County Antique Show and Sale at
Sovereign Bank Arena. Sponsored by the Mercer County Improvement
Authority, the show will feature local antique dealers along with
those from around the region. Antique cars will also be on display
during the show.
Special guest Carolyn Remmey, from Antiques & Fine Art, is
a participating appraiser on the cult PBS TV program "Antiques
Roadshow." She will give a "Trash and Treasure lecture
beginning at 11 a.m. Author Tom Rago will also be on hand to autograph
his book, Collectors Guide to Trenton Potteries, and show his
Trenton pottery collection.
Tickets for the event are $4. Children 12 and under are free.
Tickets can be purchased the day of the show at the Sovereign
Bank Arena box office. For more information on tickets, call 609-520-8383
or go online to www.ticketmaster.com.
Sculpture
is in the air in city and at Grounds for Sculpture
Last month Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer kicked off the Summer Sculpture
Workshop program in a ceremony at City Hall.
Funded through a grant from from Public Service Gas and Electric,
the workshops are designed to give young people greater exposure
to the world of art. Students will be engaged in a positive creative
educational experience of making sculptures from discarded objects.
Meanwhile at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, the Summer 2002
exhibition will continue the pattern it set several years ago
by featuring a sculptors' organization for the season. This year
from July 30 through September 29, both the museum and the Domestic
Arts Building will feature sculptures by 35 current members of
the Tri-State Sculptors' Guild.
The Tri-State Sculptors' Guild is a volunteer-run, nonprofit organization.
Its mission is to promote public awareness of sculpture and disseminate
information among its members. Originally organized by artists
from North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, membership now
includes sculptors from 19 states and the District of Columbia.
The works on display date from 1998 on and range in styles and
approaches, with some of them abstract and anumber either large
in scale or created as installation pieces. Media ranges from
found objects and nontraditional materials to carved stone and
wood, welded steel and fired ceramics.
Grounds for Sculpture is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m.
to 9 p.m. For more information call 609-586-0616 or visit www.groundsforsculpture.org.
13-year
old rapper Bow Wow at Sovereign Bank Arena August 11
Thirteen-year old Columbus, Ohio native Bow Wow will be performing
at Sovereign Bank Arena on August 11.
Known by his publicists as "the new millennium's prince of
hip-hop," Bow Wow's credits as a rapper include being known
for rapping 16 consecutive bars of pure rhyme-"sharper and
faster than rappers from both the old and new school." MC
Hammer could not be reached for comment.
At age 6, Bow Wow made his first stage appearance on the Chronic
Tour, where he caught the attention of rapper Snoop Dogg. Since
then, Bow Wow has made guest appearances on Snoop Dogg's "Doggystyle,"
Will Smith's "Wild Wild West," and Jermaine Dupri's
"Big Momma's House."
Dupri considers Bow Wow as gifted as Kris Kross, his first teen
discovery, so, as you can imagine, he expects big things to come
from Beware of Dog, Bow Wow's So So Def/Columbia debut disc which
features Dupri, Da Brat and more surprise guests.
Dupri and Da Brat have penned profanity-free lyrics for Bow Wow
because, as Dupri explains, "These days in rap, kids don't
have any role models."
To buy tickets or for more information, go to www.sovereignbank-arena.com
or call 609-656-3222 or 609-656-3200.
Capital
City Market opens 8th season in downtown at new location
The
Capital City Market, one of downtown Trenton's liveliest seasonal
events, began its eighth season on July 18 in a new setting on
the lawn of the Trenton War Memorial. For the past seven seasons
the weekly farmers', artists' and crafters' market in downtown
Trenton, whose main attraction is the abundance of fresh produce
from area farmers, took place on the Trenton Commons. The market
offers Trenton's downtown workers and residents lunch-hour shopping
for fresh tomatoes, sweet corn, cantaloupes, blueberries, and
other fresh vegetables and fruit.
The
market sought a new address as a result of the sidewalk and street
reconstruction taking place on the Commons.
Besides
Jersey Fresh vegetables and fruits grown by local farmers, the
market features a bakery selling breads and pastries, vendors
selling roasted nuts, candy, snow cones, antiques, quilts, watercolor
and oil paintings, metal garden and folk-art sculpture, handcrafted
gifts, decorative painted items, homemade all natural personal
care products, photographic greeting cards, opera-themed postcards,
poetry books, garden ornaments and giftware, gift baskets, figurines,
handmade dolls, rock and shell art and jewelry, a variety of work
by a graphic artist, a custom art framer, a bookseller, two massage
therapists and more.
In
addition to the market, the Patriots Theater at the War Memorial
is sponsoring live musical entertainment on the landing of the
main staircase each week and a Market Café, at which a
different downtown restaurant sell lunches, is set up on the portico,
called Memorial Court. Cafe tables and chairs are arranged on
the portico and market attendees are also welcome to bring their
lunch and enjoy the music and the view.
"The
War Memorial management has been very enthusiastic about getting
involved in this season-long event, which has become a weekly
highpoint for the downtown community," said Bea Scala-Fischler,
TDA director of programs. "And for those who have not yet
visited the new downtown Marriott hotel next door, the market
will provide them with another reason to come by."
The
market, which is produced by the Trenton Downtown Association,
is open every Thursday through Sept. 26 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
When
the Capital City Market opened originally in 1995, it returned
a farmers market to the capital city after a 52-year absence.
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