This year’s feature film, “Black Gold,” explores the coffee industry through the experiences of farmers in Ethiopia.

As westerners revel in designer lattes and cappuccinos, impoverished Ethiopian coffee growers suffer the bitter taste of injustice. In this eye-opening expose of the multi-billion dollar industry, Black Gold traces one man’s fight for a fair price.

As the directors explain, “We don’t believe that one film can change or solve a global and systemic problem. But Black Gold can affect the way people think and, as Tadesse says in the film, ‘Awareness is the first step to change.’”

As was the case last year, two related “featurettes” will be shown with facilitated discussion about justice and social action.

The film festival will take place at the beautifully restored, historic Riviera Theatre at 50 North Main Street in downtown Three Rivers, with a reception to follow across the street at World Fare. Attendees will be invited to “migrate across the street” to World Fare to enjoy food, beverages and further discussion about the evening’s featured films.

Tickets, priced at $5, include a $5 gift certificate for World Fare.

World Fare, located at 37 North Main Street, is a volunteer-run, non-profit store marketing fairly traded handcrafts and foods from around the world.

Riviera Manager Danielle Moreland says the theatre and other local vendors “are working together to provide a beautiful shopping experience.”

The event will feature wines from around the world to sample and purchase. Twenty different wines will be available to sample, each paired with hors d’oeuvres.

Wandering through the beautifully restored theater, enjoying a glass of wine and finding exciting gifts for those hard-to-shop-for family members, one will be able to purchase from vendors such as:

• Great Lakes Chocolate and Coffee of Sturgis

• World Fare, Love Your Mother, UniQ Jewelry, Lowry’s Books and More, all of Three Rivers, and many more vendors from surrounding areas.

After finding many lovely wines and unique items to gift, one may utilize the gift basket packing station, where any merchandise purchased from multiple vendors at the event, can be packed together in a beautiful gift basket.

The Holiday Wine Tasting event will take place Friday evening from 5:30 to 8:30 in the Riviera Theatre at 50 North Main Street. The $15 per person admission fee includes wine tasting and hors d’oeuvres.

Four chosen “shorts” have been paired with four selected feature length horror films and an opportunity for the audience to score each film. The festival winner will be announced at the Riviera Theatre’s Halloween Party on October 31st.

Tickets are $5 per showing.

The horror film festival is a new addition to the Riviera’s Halloween Horror Week that includes a showing of Monsieur Verdoux on Sunday, October 25th, at 3 p.m. and Nosferatu (1922) accompanied by bLuE daHLia performing an original score on Wednesday, October 28th, at 8 p.m.

Saturday, October 31st, Halloween night, stop by the Riviera for spooky drink specials and costume contests beginning at 9 p.m. The theatre will take on a spooky air for the showing of the original 1931 Frankenstein at 10 p.m.

For more information and a full synopsis for each film, visit www.trriviera.com, or call (269) 278-8068.

            Manager Danielle Moreland says, “We have a great weekend planned.”

            The lineup includes the following:

·         Friday at 8 p.m. – “The Elders”

·         Saturday at 3 p.m. – “Songs from the Stage Benefit Recital,” a free event

·         Saturday at 8 p.m. – Goldmine Pickers and The Bearded Ladies

·         Sunday at 3 p.m. – “Il Viaggio a Reims” Opera in Cinema.

For additional information about the Riviera’s One-Year Anniversary Weekend, go to www.trriviera.com.

                From the Riviera Theatre website, here’s some descriptive language that will provide a sense of the band and its music:

With jubilant vigor that spills from the stage to the streets, Firecracker Jazz Band revitalizes the energy of the roots of Jazz!  In paying homage to the pioneers of early 20th Century Jazz, including that of Dixieland and New Orleans, Firecracker Jazz Band carries the torch that was once lit by such greats as Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong & Bix Beiderbeck.  Popular and obscure Tin Pan Alley songs appear alongside clever original compositions. The instrumentation of the group is styled in the manner of the King Oliver Jazz Band, with stride piano, tuba and banjo providing the foundation for the contrasting voices of the cornet and trombone. Firecracker Jazz Band’s dynamic, raw energy ignites listeners of all ages and fans the fires of a new generation of enthusiasts ready to revisit an era of rollicking New Orleans dance halls and Chicago speakeasies of the 1920’s.

Tickets are available online via the Riviera Theatre website at www.trriviera.com and at the Riviera box office Monday through Friday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.  Call (269) 278-8068.

Six members of the Abiel FellowsDAR chapter of Three Rivers attended the Michigan Society Daughters of the American Revolution annual State Awards Day in Lansing on March 31^{st and witnessed bestowing of the honor on Monroe during the Awards Luncheon.}

Sharon Hedrington, State Chairman of Historic Preservation, read a brief history of the Riviera Theatre in downtown Three Rivers and Monroe’s involvement in restoring this gem to its original splendor. Presented to the State Regent Sharon Hopkins, Monroe received the DAR Society’s Medal and Certificate for Historic Preservation.

Monroe dedicated the award to his family and to the memory of his mother, Jane (Pritchard) Monroe, and grandmother, Edwina Pritchard, both of whom were involved in the early years of the Riviera Theatre and wee active members of the local Abiel Fellows Chapter, DAR.

Also present for the ceremony were members of the Monroe family: sons Brendan and Evan, daughter-in-law (and Theatre Manager) Danielle Moreland, and friends/co-workers (at the theatre) Lee Ann Ewer and Haley McColm. Unable to attend were Monroe’s wife, Cynthia Giacobone, son Colin Monroe and grandson Cian Monroe.

At the morning business session, the Abiel Fellows chapter received over 20 awards for its work in the promotion of education and patriotism and the preservation of history.

The Carnegie Center for the Arts and the Riviera Theatre are joining forces to present the popular group at the Riviera on Sunday (March 15^th) at 3 p.m.

Previous shows have been at the Carnegie Center, but the band will bring their Irish music the Riviera Theatre to make room for an audience which grows larger every year.

The lively performance includes a mixture of traditional dance tunes, pub and original songs, stories, jokes, and well-embellished tall tales.

Tickets are available for purchase now via the Riviera Theatre website (www.trriviera.com), or at the Riviera box office Monday through Friday from 4 to 10 p.m. – (269) 278-8068.

Familiar songs – and some less known – were included in a program that featured the 19-piece band led by trombonist Larry O’Brien, who is the orchestra’s current musical director.

The audience was enthusiastic in its response to the musical lineup that included Miller classics such as “Tuxedo Junction,” “Moonlight Cocktail,” “Pennsylvania 6-5000,” “A String of Pearls,” “In the Mood,” “(I’ve Got a Gal) In Kalamazoo” and George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.”

Vocalist Julia Rich was another highlight of the concert, performing as a soloist and also with three members of the band who joined her as the “Moonlight Serenaders” to perform songs in the style of “The Modernaires.”

ilitary veterans in the audience were applauded after O’Brien asked them to stand as he introduced “American Patrol” which was played as a tribute to their service to the country.

Another highlight of the evening was an all-acoustic performance of “Londonderry Air,” otherwise known as “Danny Boy.”

O’Brien described the recently-restored theatre as a “treasure” and – regarding the sound quality the theatre provides for such performances – said, “It’s superb.”

O’Brien noted that such theatres aren’t being built anymore and encouraged the audience to support the live entertainment that comes to the Riviera.

“Riviera Theatre re-opens in Three Rivers” earned the number six spot on the newspaper’s list of local entertainment stories.

In reporting the compilation in the “Ad Lib” column of its “Ticket” entertainment guide in the New Year’s Day issue, John Liberty wrote, “There were a number of remarkable accomplishments by those in the arts community as well as the devastating loss of several talented members of the same community in 2008.  The Kalamazoo Gazette entertainment staff takes a look back at the top local entertainment stories of the year as a way to applaud those achievements and honor those who are no longer with us.”

Regarding the Riviera, the newspaper said, “Bruce Monroe and his family poured more than $1 million into renovating the old Riviera Theatre in downtown Three Rivers.  Monroe bought the venue in 2005 and made massive renovations to it before opening August 22nd.  The Riviera Theatre, which originally opened in 1925, is home to live music, comedy, films and more.”