SUNSHINE SINGLES GO ALL-AMERICAN FOR THE FOURTH OF JULY
Someone suggested to our group that we go to the Nokomis Beach Drum Sunset Ceremony. Many of us had not heard of this before, but one carful was available on the chosen date, and late in the afternoon with high spirits we drove to Venice Beach to witness this event.
While the world-famous iconic massive drum circle is located on Venice Beach, Calif., and goes back many decades, the local ceremonies are more recent, starting in the early 2000s. There are mainly two local hubs—the Nokomis Beach grouping, which includes Venice Beach and Laurel Beach, and the more well-known Siesta Key Drum Circle. According to local lore, the Nokomis/Venice tradition started when two local guys decided to bring their hand drums down to the beach to celebrate the beautiful sunset. The event grew through word of mouth exponentially over the years and is unusual in that there remains no structure. There is no leader, no stage, no tickets, no sponsors, and no fee for parking (although parking is limited). A circle is drawn and participants with instruments sit around that circle. The instruments may include West African djembeand Afro-Cuban congas, also known as tumbadoras, as well as simple tambourines, shakers, and even make-shift plastic milk jugs. The tempo shifts throughout the ceremony from quiet and reflective to a crescendo as the sun dips below the horizon. Dancers, hula-hoopers, gymnasts, and spectators (who bring their own chairs) sit around an outer ring. In addition to listening to the rhythmic beating, watching the dancers, and people-watching in general, we also had any evil spirits we might have had around us removed when a sage blower blessed us with sage smoke. For anyone who is interested in going, the Nokomis Beach ceremony is on Wednesday and Saturday evenings. The Venice Beach ceremony is on Sunday evenings.
The SunShine Singles enjoyed other happenings through the month of July, including music events and the July 4th celebration in our community, music and disco dancing at Cape Cabaret, a movie, a high tea at Wisteria House, an ECHO Farms tour (see related article on page 8), movies, and a second Drum Circle at Nokomis Beach.
The next meeting will be Wednesday, August 26, at 4:30 in the Sunrise Room of Eagle’s Landing. If you would like to have your name added to our list (or removed), please contact Jane Hansen ([email protected]).
