Tonight, we’ll also announce the winner of our kid’s art holiday ornament contest at 7 PM. Whose art will be immortalized on this year’s Brooke Pottery ornament? Come find out!

The “Pottery” side of the store will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, August 30-31 for repairs. But don’t worry, you’ll still be able to shop. Just enter through the “Garden” gallery doors during construction. And remember, our 30% off sale ends on Sunday, so hurry in. Thanks for your help!

It’s back to the grind of the school year, but it doesn’t have to be all work and no play.  Downtown merchants and title sponsor MIDFLORIDA CREDIT UNION want you to have fun with knowledge, so we’re organizing a trivial pursuit scavenger hunt.  Pick up your game cards at any participating merchant and go in search of knowledge. Visit the stores, answer the questions and register for a chance to win prizes for you and your school.  The school with the most registered participants wins the grand prize!

See…the FCAT can be fun! The Downtown FCAT that is…

Get your FCAT game card at participating merchants.  (Lists provided at First Friday.)  Merchants will be waiting for you and will ask you a question from the category they are assigned.  Get the answer right and you’ll get a sticker for your card.  Turn in the cards to the DLP booth or any participating merchant when you’re done and get a chance to win prizes.  Plus we’ll ask you to write on your card the school you represent. The school with the most participants will also win a prize. Individual prizes are gift certificates to retail/restaurants.

Traditions Unlimited will be doing a drawing for a teacher gift pack of supplies.

FastFrame will have a drawing for teachers – Register to Win a Goodie Bag of cool stuff!

Brooke Pottery – Teachers, register to Win a basket of goodies!

Home Essentials – Labor Day Chilling and Grilling Sale! Select Items, buy one get one half off

Arts on the Park -  FREE art reception with music and refreshments. People choice award, everyone get a vote!

The Kiddie Train will be loading at the corner of Pine St. and N. Kentucky Ave. ALL ABOARD!!

Check out our members who are setting up along the streets:

Watson Clinic Foundation will host a Dunk Tank on S. Kentucky Avenue.  Check out who’s in the tank!

Lakeland Moonwalk will have bounce houses on S. Kentucky Ave as well.

Along N. Kentucky Ave…

Lakeland Memorial Gardens will have a fun Ring Toss game.

Critter Watcher will offering activity sheets for children and drawings for Rachel Hale stationery and sundry items.  One flea comb plus flea control tips will be available for those who request one. (one per family, please)

Sapphires Dance Studio will be dancing in the street. Watch or join in!

Evolve Hair Studio celebrates its GRAND OPENING by demonstrating Vivid Haircolor Application and a Rocking Layers Ponytail Haircut, as well as performing free Makeover Consultations with discounts on scheduled appointments, and a raffle for free services!

FAITHRiders from Scott Lake Baptist Church will be giving away candy, tracts, and rubber bracelets.

UUCL will have free cookies to decorate.

Liquid Hair

• Quick styling tips for kid’s unruly morning hair.
• Demos on the kids that stop by the booth. (braiding, styling products, ponytails, pinning up)
• Free nail art on girls nails
• Free hand massages for parents
• Giving out vouchers for “Free Kids Cuts (under 12) with an adult haircut and style” – Must come by booth to pick up voucher and then call to make appt.

Plus many many more!!

Become a VIP!

Downtown Lakeland is launching a VIP 10% OFF card during the September First Friday.  The card is FREE and you can register at the following locations during First Friday.  The cards will be available at these locations until they expire on12/31/2010.  Over 25 Downtown businesses are participating, so be sure to get your card at First Friday so you can take advantage of the savings right away!  The card can be used over and over at the participating businesses. Some restrictions apply. See the list of participating businesses below for the details.

Where to get one: Home Essentials, Fitz Gallery, Brooke Pottery, Traditions Unlimited, Fast Frame

See a list of participating businesses.

VIP cards will require registration. But don’t worry, Downtown Lakeland Partnership does not share your information with anyone, including the businesses on the card.  But we’d like to keep get an idea of where our VIPs are coming from, so we do ask for contact info. We respect your privacy, so don’t expect us to hassle you.

Other COOL activities going on During FIRST FRIDAY! Check out these links!

Pecha Kucha Night

The Gallery at Lake Mirror Tower Apartments

Downtown Lakeland’s October First Friday will also feature an art show!

The DLP is looking for artists, in all mediums, to exhibit their work along Kentucky Avenue in Downtown Lakeland during the October First Friday. This will be a great opportunity to reach the First Friday crowds and perhaps kick off the holiday buying season a little early!

Items exhibited must be made by the artist. If you are interested, please contact us no later than September 15th.

Cheryl Dossey, Fitz Gallery 686-0887 or email registration information to:
cherylfitzgallery@gmail.com

REGISTRATION FORM

The DLP cannot supply any items needed for set-up including tents, tables, chairs, nor extension cords. There will be no charge for setting up. Artists are responsible for all sales transactions and sales tax.

Thriller is back!!

You loved their performance last year! Well this year will be even better! We want the details to be a surprise, but be assured you’ll go GAGA over what they’ve got planned! The show will run twice – once at 7pm and again at 8pm along S. Kentucky Avenue in street.

General Tour Information

SIGN UP FOR OCTOBER 9

SIGN UP FOR NOVEMBER 13

Today Lyn is actively engaged with Women in the Winner’s Circle Foundation and working to celebrate the achievements of women in the motorsports and automotive industries. The foundation provides mentoring and leadership programs to create more opportunities for women in racing.

Visit their web site.

October 23th, 2010

From 1:00 p..m. to 8:00 p.m.

The Hispanic Club of Lakeland will celebrate the 13th Annual Hispanic Festival at the Lake Mirror Promenade and Barnett Family Park.  Thousands of participants from all cultures will gather to enjoy a family day with the music, dance, food, art and overall Latin flavor from a diversity of countries.  This is also an opportunity for businesses who are hoping to reach the ever growing Hispanic population to display their products and services.
The main purpose of this festival is to raise funds for charity and to promote goodwill and excellency among  the local students with Hispanic heritage by means of scholarships.

For further information concerning space rentals or to become a sponsor please contact:

Felix Delgado at guajiro38@verizon.net or by calling: 863-646-1742

www.hispaniccluboflakeland.com

another great Downtown Lakeland tour!

Tour date set for Saturday,  October 30. Meet at the Polk Museum of Art @ 9:30am with your bikes. Firm limit of 20 riders.   Registration required.

“Over the last thirteen years Lakeland has become a city of sculptures,” explains Dan Stetson, Executive Director of the Polk Museum of Art.  Most of the city’s collection came from the Florida Outdoor Sculpture Competition on Lemon Street Promenade.  You’ll also see private pieces – swans and butterflies -  from the Swansation and Kaleidoscope projects sprinkled throughout Lakeland and Downtown.  “The success of the Historic Walking Tours has inspired us to create others,” says Julie Townsend of DLP.  “Pedaling the Arts accomplishes multiple goals. It exposes residents to Downtown and the outdoor art we have, and it also gets folks biking in Downtown.”  Dan Stetson will lead the group beginning and ending at Polk Museum of Art. The tour will last about 2 hours, with a break Downtown for drinks and rest rooms.  All participants need to be on bikes obviously and will be required to follow bike safety rules.  This is just another great reason to come Downtown.  As of press time, only one tour date was set. If this date fills quickly another will be set for sometime in November. Tours will require the purchase of $10 worth of Downtown Dollars per person.  “We want to generate sales in Downtown,”     says Townsend.  The Downtown Dollars can be used for purchases in more than 20 businesses, so after the tour you can grab lunch or shop with your Downtown Dollars. They expire one year from the purchase date.

In addition to the BIKELAKELAND efforts, bike enthusiasts like Mitch Harvey, owner of Mitchell’s Coffee House, wants to work toward getting Lakeland designated as a “Bicycle Friendly Community”.  The city of Lakeland’s Parks & Rec. Department installed “Cindy the Cyclist”, an artsy bike rack, in Munn Park in June.

It is truly a pleasure to represent talented American crafts people. Florida glass artist Sharon Earl Burridge is one such person, and she brought exciting new work to Brooke Pottery this month.

Simply put, Sharon Burridge’s stained glass art enchants. The graceful linework and artful tapestries of color transport us into a realm where the wonders of the natural world stand still. Burridge has been working with glass since 1978 and is clearly a master of her craft. And her exhuberant passion for glass is contagious. “Finding the right color mixes and putting them together is my favorite! Like finding that special sheet of glass, knocks my socks off!” If you love glass, too, come visit Brooke Pottery to see these new stained glass window panels in person.

Above, Monet’s Garden, 16″x40″, $1,175. Below, Macaw Panels with Three Crow Glass ornaments. Macaw on branch, $340. Best Friends, $2,400.

Sharon loves “designing from nature, especially fish and corals, where there are great opportunities to use unusual glass to recreate the amazing colors and textures found in the ocean realm. Fun!” The new 15″ round sea turtle panel is an excellent example,using textured and dichroic glass. Green sea turtle, $375.

Sharon’s circular swan window has a special place in our hearts, celebrating the beautiful white swans that have graced Lakeland since the 1920’s. Lake Morton and Lake Mirror downtown are particularly good spots to observe scenes just like this in person. The swans really do make this heart pose when they dance together.

In addition to stained glass panels, Sharon Burridge also creates dichroic glass jewelry and small painted fused glass plates. She delights in creating custom work for clients, whether the project is big or small. So if you’ve been dreaming of a french door installation or a small portrait of your dog and cat, we know a wonderful Florida artist who can help!

Square plates, $22-68.

Yardbirds are handcrafted by Rich Kolb in Kentucky. Rich and his father created the first yardbird in 1991 while talking about and tinkering with scrap materials. Yardbirds were an instant hit! Today the Yardbirds menagerie is filled with hundreds of birds, cats, dogs and critters to decorate your home and garden.  As an artist, Rich maintains a tradition of creating exciting new designs. He says, “The things in life that bring us the most joy are those which are fun and unexpected, not the mere necessities. I believe we can all benefit from a little more whimsy in our lives!”  We agree whole-heartedly. Brooke Pottery has carried Yardbirds and Junkyard Dogs & Cats for more than 10 years, yet we continue to be surprised and delighted by new arrivals.

Also on First Friday, Florida artist Sharon’s Glass will be in the shop with pet-inspired glass jewelry. You may have admired Sharon’s spectacular stained glass windows depicting swans, flowers and aquatic scenes; Friday is your opportunity to meet Sharon and learn more about her work.  And for kids who have yet to enter our holiday ornament contest , draw your design in the shop or pick up a form. Not only might your art be selected as our 2010 Holiday Ornament but the top 3 designers will be awarded savings bonds! Deadline is August 13.

Not a dog lover? Then check out the Junkyard Cats and Creepy Crawlies. Some of our new favorites are the skateboarding frogs, pincher crab and scorpion.

Junkyard Cats

Skateboarding Frogs,$44

Creepy Crawlie Crab,$32

Creepy Crawlie Scorpion, $49