Lunch On The Roof At The Strand

 

Thursday, June 11, 2026 I played guitar on the roof top of the old Strand theater in Watertown, NY. Thanks to the vision of local musician Joe Foy it is now a premier venue of entertainment in the downtown district. Thursdays feature a Lunch On The Roof program sponsored by HarmoNNY and the NNY Community Foundatin. 2 hours of live music. Bring a lunch from home or take out from your favorite restaurant. Bring it up on the roof. Enjoy. Following are some shots I took to give you an idea of what the place is like. 

To my surprise and delight my grandson Aiden and a couple of his friends showed up. Aiden took the photos of me presented here. 

Jigsaw Puzzle and Low Key Day

It's about mid January on a Sunday here in Northern NY.  There was an event at The Strand in Watertown today that I decided not to attend. It was to remember local musician and music store owner Chuck Martuzas. He actually passed away back in the mid 1980's. But he still has musician family members and many, many local musicians are still with us and remember him fondly. I bought my first guitar from Chuck. It was a Guild Mark 3 classical guitar. Anyhow, I would love to be there but I was up exceptionally late last night resulting in a late rising this morning. The flu is running rampant this season all over the country. The Strand is a small venue and with a lot of people in there I started to think it could be a flu festival, so, I decided to stay away. 

Weather today was  mild, sunshine off and on, high temp of 39. I brought in some firewood and did a couple miscellaneous chores. We started a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle on the 6th. Today, the 11th, we are still picking away at it. It's a pleasant diversion. It's slow going but  we are in no hurry. We had a chuck roast cooking slowly all day in a crockpot. We had that for dinner with some roasted carrots and onions, and mashed potatoes.

Jigsaw puzzle January 6.

Jigsaw puzzle January 6.

Jigsaw puzzle January 11.

Two Guitar Gigs, A Swim and Cape Vincent Photo

 Saturday August 16, 2025

Boy playing on dock, Cape Vincent, NY.  photo copyright Gary Walts

Sunny, hot and humid today. Oatmeal for breakfast. 10:30 I was at the Saturday Farm Market in JB Wise Parking Lt, Watertown NY. Played 2 hours. Back home a little before 2:00. THEN, I discovered I missed a gig. I was supposed to be at The Strand Theater in Watertown to play at 2:00 for an art auction to benefit the Lions Club. YIKES!  I thought the job was for Sunday. Anyhow, all was not lost. I was to play 2:00-3:00. Instead I played 3:00-4:00. It was a nice event. Afterwards the Better Half and I drove to Cape Vincent where I went for a swim and then snapped the above picture of a boy running on a dock. I used a Sony a6600 camera and a Minolta 500mm f8 mirror lens to grab the photo.

Guitar tips received at Saturday Farm Market

Art auction at the Strand Theater in Watertown

Art auction at the Strand Theater in Watertown

Art auction at the Strand Theater in Watertown