The West Kortright Center will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a free party for the community Saturday, July 19.
The community celebration will celebrate the center’s 50 years of “bringing art, love and music to this valley,” according to a news release. It will “honor the past, look to the future, and dance until the cows come home” with headline act The Big Takeover, followed by world dance music with disc jockey cal.vino.
The party will begin at 4 p.m. A pet parade will take place at 4:30 p.m. with guest judges Richie Stein, Cindy Dunne, Lynne Fischer, Meredith Monk and Jonah Shaw.
Roast chicken, crème brûlée and pulled mushrooms from Catskill Smoke House will be served at 5:30 p.m.
Other activities include, The “Crap Shoot Photo Booth” in the outhouse, with an array of costumes from the WKC collection to choose from; tie-dying WKC commemorative T-shirts; ribbon dancers for children; indoor showing of films shot at WKC. A loop of short films by Carlo Mirabella-Davis, Olivia Briggs, Francesca Mirabella-Davis and Chris Dapkins will be shown.
The Big Takeover will perform from 7 to 9 p.m. Fronted by the “charismatic Jamaican-born singer and songwriter Nee Nee Rushie, the seven-piece New York band The Big Takeover plays original music that is rooted in and reverent toward the genres and rhythms of Jamaican pop: reggae, rocksteady, ska,” the release stated. “Their deceptively complex arrangements and big hooks connect with the spirit of Motown and the uptown sophistication of the 21st century retro soul and R&B revival scene.”
World dance music with cal.vino will begin at 9:30 p.m.
The center was originally the West Kortright Presbyterian Church from 1850 to 1972, according to the WKC website. After the church was closed by its members, members of the community joined forces to save the building from being torn down. The Greek Revival structure was turned into a non-profit arts center in 1975 and the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
Attendees are encouraged to bring WKC pictures, memories, vintage WKC merchandise and their dancing shoes. The center is at 49 West Kortright Church Road in East Meredith.