About Town: These Are the (Talented) People in Your Neighborhood

For the first time in many, many years, the Fort Lee Arts & Music Festival was not a sweltering, heat stroke-inducing event. Although the skies vacillated between sunny and overcast, a cooling breeze was ever-present even in the sizzling heat of the food court. And this wonderful weather brought out more Fort Lee residents than ever.  

The Fort Lee Arts & Music Festival is the event that About Town waits for every year. Why? Because we love to collect original works of art, and at the Arts & Music Festival, we can purchase original art within our budget while supporting incredibly talented Fort Lee artists. And oh, what artwork we did purchase!

Examples: a meticulously detailed pen & ink drawing of the Little Red Lighthouse, with a New Jersey view of the George Washington Bridge and the Palisades behind it, by local artist Eugene Kieloff; an astounding emotional memory-provoking watercolor of turn-of-the-century lower Main Street (corner of Main and Hudson replete with AW Bailey’s 5 and 10, Diehl’s Saloon, an ice cream shoppe, an early automobile and a Fort Lee Market horse wagon) by Barry Schiff; and a gut-wrenching unsigned portrait of a very maudlin looking 19th century African-American woman. All for well under $100.

Aside from the amazing artists that lined Main Street and the driveway into the municipal parking lot, there were many local vendors. It’s amazing that every day we stroll and drive along the streets of Fort Lee unaware of the incredible talent that walks among us.

Particularly impressive were Peter Hays & Beti Rozen, owners of Fort Lee’s Sem Fronteiras Press. So impressive was Peter and Beti’s display of children’s books that About Town HAS to do a future feature on them. Sem Fronteiras  is Portuguese for “without borders,” and Peter and Beti are dedicated to producing children’s books that celebrate Brazil—its artists, diversity and history. Most importantly, they are dedicated to bringing the experiences of Brazilian immigrants around the world to the attention of children through well-written and imaginative books.

Sem Fronteiras works with Brazil’s top illustrators, many of whom are known throughout Europe, but not in the United States. Their books are available in English, Portuguese and Spanish. They are beautifully illustrated books that tell wonderful stories that children will love. I encourage you to visit their website.

Also lining Main Street were many booths selling hand-crafted jewelry, t-shirts, bags, dresses and more. There was even a booth selling home-made dog treats packaged in cellophane, tied with red-satin ribbons displayed on Victorian cake racks. They were selling like mad! And what Fort Lee street fair would be complete without our very own Johnny Meatballs and his new “Meatballs on a Roll” cart? Fans were lined up waiting for him to scoop up some of his famous meatballs. There’s one thing Johnny does not do—disappoint.

Then there was the music—oh! The music.

Each end of the festival was flanked by bands. The bands on the western side of Main Street were playing hot Salsa, while the eastern side played host to rock’n’roll. Our very own Sammy Gnasso and his band were burning up the crowd and were followed by the fabulously fun Party Dolls, in their signature beehives and mod red swing dresses. The Party Dolls always know how to get the crowd up and dancing. From the minute they struck the opening chords to My Boyfriend’s Back to their final bow, the crowd did not sit still.  

About Town was thrilled to see Fort Lee Film Commissioner Nelson Page, who for the last five months, has been out of town building his new ten-plex movie theater in Pennsylvania. Congratulations and much success on your new theater, Nelson! We’ve missed you at the bar of Naps this winter and spring, and we’re glad you’re back in time for Fort Lee’s Movies & Music Under the Stars!

What a great day it was in Fort Lee. Thanks to all of our Patch readers who stopped to say hello. Keep reading and keep sending us your comments and stories!