Sarri Patterson stood backstage with her hands trembling.  She peeked out from behind the curtain to catch a glimpse of the audience members as they were taking their seats.  She was extremely nervous, but trusted all of the practice and hard work that she put in with her director.  Finally, the crowd settled down and the play was about to start.  Sarri took a deep breath and stepped onto the stage, ready to say her first line.

This was the scene that Sarri imagined as she remembered the first time she stepped foot onto a stage back in 2004.  Sarri works as a cashier at the local grocery store in Putnam, Connecticut.  Now, 11 years later, she sat down at a fast food restaurant ready to share her experience with performing live on a stage.  “In high school I was always so shy.  I never thought of performing in front of anybody, but that changed when one of my customers was an actress for the play, “To Kill a Mockingbird.”  The actress explained that they needed an actress to play Helen Robinson.  Sarri seemed to fit the role because there are very few African American women that live in the area.  It also happened that Sarri speaks with a distinctly Southern accent.

“I said no at first.  I consider myself to be very shy and I will only be outgoing if I know whom I am talking to”, she said.  Sarri decided to show up at the audition for the play anyways because the actress stressed that she was needed for the role.  She was immediately greeted with the words, “Hey Helen”, after arriving to Bradley Playhouse for the audition.  She was taken by surprise at first, but then decided to try out the role even if there was an ulterior motive.  “I also thought the actor who played John was cute and I wanted to be his wife”, she said with a laugh.

Since then, she has appeared in several other plays and has gotten starring roles in “Come Home Sheba” and “Doubt”.  She also seemed to have gotten over some of her shyness in her daily life.  Her coworker, Chelsea Noller said, “Maybe she fakes it well. She appears to be a totally different person on stage.  She even swears!”  Liz Gee is a friend who wanted to speak about Sarri and she wanted to add, “she can be blunt to customers, but opens up to people that she knows.”  Finally, another coworker named Carol Desmarais shared that “Sarri has definitely come out of her shell in the 18 years that I’ve been working with her.”

Sarri will be appearing in an upcoming play called “The Price” at The Complex in Putnam, Connecticut.  This drama is scheduled for April 2016 and she will be taking the role of a woman named Esther.  “My passion is dramas because there is so much depth to each of the characters.  There is a lot of emotion to put into it.”  The play is about two brothers that haven’t seen each other in twenty years, but are reunited after the passing of their father.

Sarri also had some advice for those that want to start acting.  “Trust the director”, she said.  “I was so nervous, but the director did so much to help me memorize my lines.”  The director would call her at night to practice lines over the phone or do exercises in person.  “Trust everything in the director because they want the play to succeed.  They’ll help along the way”

“Today is the kind of day when I just want to make Chewbacca noises.”

“I definitely wish I lived on campus.  Not only does being a commuter mean spending a lot of money on gas, but I feel like I’ve missed out on years of building relationships that I would’ve made if I lived on campus.  It is one of my biggest regrets right now and I’m going to look back on it years from now and think about the relationships that I might have missed.”

“I’m moving to Malta after I graduate because life is about living. It is beautiful there and there are twelve hundred places to go rock climbing. January 1st, 2017 I will hop on a plane with nothing and fly across the world and that wouldn’t be the first time.”

Woodstock- Musical acts at the Woodstock Fair attracted thousands of people from nearby areas.  Event goers got to enjoy performances by Craig Wayne Boyd, Belinda Carlisle, and others.

The month of September is always a bustling time of year for Northeastern Connecticut.  This year’s Labor Day weekend marked the 155^th anniversary of the Woodstock Fair.  Every year, event planners make an effort to book some quality talent to perform on the main stage.  Past years have seen performers such as Foghat and Weird Al Yankovic.  This year was no different as Craig Wayne Boyd was the headlining act for Friday night and Belinda Carlisle headlined Sunday.

Craig Wayne Boyd was a season winner for the hit television show “The Voice”.  However, not everybody knew who he was.  That didn’t stop people from seeing him because of the relaxed atmosphere of the fair.  A college student named Jeff Sirard said, “I plan on seeing the show after I eat some food.”  His upbeat tempo attracted people from all over the fair as many of the seats in the stands were filled and so was the lawn in front of the stage.  A couple named Judy and Bob went as far as to say, “He’s why we are here tonight.” Afterwards, audience members were able to attend a meet and greet.  They were able to get autographs and pictures taken with the performers of the band.

Hotel California was the tribute band to the Eagles that played as the opener for Belinda Carlisle on Sunday.  They played from 6:00 pm to 8 pm before she went on stage.  Belinda Carlisle is known for her work as the lead singer of the Go-Go’s.  She performed songs from her solo career to close out the night.

There were many other attractions for people to enjoy at the fair.  The Agricultural Center hosted contests for topics such as who had the best flower arrangements or who could grow the largest pumpkin.  Curt Sirrine is a longtime fair-goer and said, “I’ve been doing this since I was a teenager.”  He won the blue ribbon for various flower arrangements.

Families were able to enjoy seeing the different animals that were present as well.  Barns were filled with cattle, pigs, and various other livestock.  Some animals were for sale such as rabbits and chickens.  The llamas and sheep were located at the Birthing Center where Woodstock Academy students film an annual live birth of a cow.

Of course, a country fair has to have rides.  Rides such as Arctic Blast and the Thunderbolt made their annual appearance situated near the ferris wheel.  Families with younger children had miniature versions of the rides located North of the larger rides area.

The Woodstock Fair came to a close on Monday night.  It is expected to be just as busy as it has for the past 155 years.  A man named Tyler Luppi gave the reasoning as, “It is the one time of the year when people come out to see the culture of this town”.

-Kevin Fenstermacher