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Holiday Event To Focus On Families

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By Cheryl  Bentley | The Suncoast News

Published: December 1, 2007

OLDSMAR, Fla. - OLDSMAR, Fla. - The city of Oldsmar will welcome in the holidays with an evening of family friendly festivities at R. E. Olds Park on Friday, Dec. 7.

The entertainment on Dec. 7 will combine the music of a 2,000-year-old instrument and dances featuring children as young as 4 years old.

The Hammerhead Dulcimer Society of Tampa Bay will present a one-hour concert of holiday and other music.

The hammered dulcimer is a trapezoidal stringed instrument played with a mallet, called a hammer or hammerhead, held in each hand.

It originated in Persia about 2,000 years ago and is used in American folk music. It is also played in Wales, China, Thailand and Austria.

"It touched my soul. It spoke to me," the group's founder, Ray Belanger, said about hearing the dulcimer for the first time, about 20 years ago.

Before he changed to the dulcimer, Belanger had played guitar in various bands. He began teaching the dulcimer about 18 years ago.

Belanger expects about 15 dulcimer players to perform at Friday's concert. They will be accompanied by musicians on the guitar and autoharp.

"A dozen hammered dulcimers playing at one time is the most beautiful sound in the world," said Belanger.

Also on tap are 35 young dancers from the city's recreational dance program.

Children with ages ranging from 4 through the teens will perform six tap, jazz and ballet numbers "with a little acting in between," said dance teacher Suda Yantiss-Colón,

The young people will dance to music from the soundtrack of the film "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

The children will be costumed. Additionally, Colón has made scenery for their performance.

"It's bringing the Grinch to Oldsmar," she said.

The event will also include pony rides, photos with Santa and food concessions.

One of the most popular attractions is sledding, according to the city's Director of Leisure Services Lynn Rives. The city will grind up 300-pound blocks of ice to make the snow.

Both children and adults line up to sled down one of the four lanes of a 100-foot ramp. There will also be an area for throwing snowballs.

The free event is Friday, Dec. 7, 6 - 9 p.m. R.E. Olds Park is at 250 Shore Drive E.

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