Coffee House Still Going Strong after Nine Years

By CASPAR EWIG
SCHUYLER LAKE

Do you have a musical, comedic or other talent that you would like to share?

Every fourth Saturday of the month from 7-9 p.m.—including this coming Saturday—the “Coffee House” that springs up at the Schuyler Lake United Methodist Church at 128 Church Street holds an open mic night. And every fourth Saturday the little church comes alive with artists performing works of varying genres (and some, like this writer, of varying talents) entertaining an enthusiastic assemblage.

And it helps, of course, that Pastor Sharon Rankins-Burd is an accomplished pianist and guitar player who can provide accompaniment or back-up when needed.

The monthly event, hosted by Timothy Peters, was launched in December 2015 and has been sailing along continuously, except for the pandemic interruption.

“When the church was rebuilt after the fire in 2014,” Peters recalled, “church members felt it was a shame to limit use of the building to only one day a week. We also felt that local amateur musicians and performers needed an outlet for their talents, which in some cases are extraordinary. We’ve had a classical cellist, a saxophone quartet, dance, spoken word, and comedy, as well as lots of the kind of guitar-based music typically associated with coffee houses.”

In the meantime, the coffee house open mic has found a nice little niche.

The evening is usually opened with a series of melodies by Burlington’s Jack Cooper on banjo and Milford’s Patsy Lyons on guitar. Cooper plays both four-string ragtime styles as well as five-string bluegrass banjo. Thereafter, with Peters as master of ceremonies, the evening is thrown open to anyone in the audience who wants to perform.

On a recent evening, Chris Kjolhede, the choir director of the Fly Creek United Methodist Church, cajoled the entire audience to join in creating a vocal orchestra. John Potocnik on the violin and Kathy Shimberg on the piano performed a duet of Native American melodies. Joe Rossi, a tenor, presented several songs from the great American songbook by composers such as Stephen Sondheim and Cole Porter.

Some performers, such as Ken Gracey and Cooperstown’s Mark Murphy, play their own compositions as well as pop and gospel favorites.

Amidst all the musical offerings, a regular feature of the coffee house evening is “A Few Moments with Tom Huntsman.” Huntsman’s monologues provide a delightful march through history and all the important, and not so important, historical occurrences on or about the date of the event, interspersed with appropriate riddles and jokes.

Coffee, tea and sodas as well as assorted baked goods to nosh on are provided. Admission is free, although an offering to help defray the costs is gratefully accepted.