Staten Island book cafe calling on creative minds to help celebrate St. George Day

by Jodi Lee Reifer/Staten Island AWE

Friday April 10, 2009, 11:00 AM

AWE Photo/Hilton FloresEvery Thing Goes Book Cafe is calling on creative minds and skilled theatrical technicians to help make giant dragon puppets in anticipation of St. George Day, a festival in nearby Tompkinsville Park.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Sure, brawn can slay a dragon's destructive habits -- but all you really need is creativity.

Every Thing Goes Book Cafe is calling on creative minds and skilled theatrical technicians to help make giant dragon puppets in anticipation of St. George Day, a festival in nearby Tompkinsville Park organized around the theme of peace.

Check into ETG from noon to 8 p.m. April 13 and 20 for puppet-making workshops. Expect to paper mache, brainstorm, cut fabric, sew and wield a hot-glue gun. The free family fest, set for April 24 and 25, was inspired by the myth of St. George and the Dragon. According to one version of the tale told in Great Britain and beyond, a dragon was terrorizing a town. Princesses were offered to the dragon until the warrior George rode into the village, slayed the dragon and rescued the princesses.

Steve Jones, co-owner of ETG, is asking Staten Islanders to imagine George coming to peaceful terms with his fire-breathing foe. Winning pieces will resolve George and the dragon's conflict "by way of respectful communication, cooperation and love" in original prose, plays, visual art and songs.

"People can make the world they want," Jones says. "There are a lot of obstacles, but most of those are in the mind. The festival is about discovering you can make the world you want by cooperating and learning to communicate. It's a community building project to get people to meet each other and have fun together."

A literary contest will be judged April 24 at 7:30 p.m. in the cafe, 208 Bay St., Tompkinsville; 718-447-8256; etgstores.com/bookcafe. Music performances will run from 4 to 5 p.m. April 25. Artists are invited to hang their work in the park (at Victory Boulevard and Bay Street) from noon through dusk. No exhibition fee or commissions on sales will be taken. Dogs can also pick up the dragon's scent April 25, when pooches are invited to dress like the mythical creatures for their own contest in the park. Winners get trophies and prizes.