TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Get Beatle Juiced At Founders Day

Live and Let Die will pay tribute to Paul McCartney and other musicians Saturday at Founders Day in New Port Richey. From left, members are Eddie Toye, Carl Viola, Teddy Toye and Ron Gravley.

ADVERTISEMENT

By CHERYL BENTLEY

The Suncoast News

Published: September 25, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - Don't call Live and Let Die a tribute band.

"We pay tribute, but we're not a tribute band," said guitarist and lead vocalist Eddie Toye. "We're a Paul McCartney concert experience."

The six-member band will appear at True Oldies Music Night on Saturday at the 12th annual Founders Day, a three-day festival.

He and his band are not imitators, Toye said. "Nothing is exactly as they did it. But it is the heart and soul of the music."

Live and Let Die, which takes its name from the theme song McCartney wrote for the 1973 James Bond film of the same name, regularly pays homage to Sir Paul and other rock musicians - including Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker and Buddy Holly - at Florida festivals. The band attracts a crowd ranging from aging baby boomers to elementary school children.

The Beatles span age groups because they speak to the spirit, Toye said. "Every song they made is about love and trying to find love. It's still a great concept."

Founders Day activities run from 5 to 11 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Activities are in the Orange Lake and Sims Park areas of downtown New Port Richey.

Other entertainment includes a Saturday and Sunday lineup of folk artists from Friends of Florida Folk, a nonprofit organization that promotes the folk arts.

On Saturday and Sunday, folk artists will perform from 1 to 5 p.m. at Peace Hall. On Sunday from 10 a.m. until noon, the group will present a folk and gospel singalong at the amphitheater in Sims Park.

Founders Day sports two new events, the Chaotic CoteeMan Triathlon and the Founders Day Richey Elementary Alumni and Friends Golf Tournament. Both are Saturday.

"We wanted to emphasize the healthy lifestyle of Florida, living in New Port Richey," said Judy DeBella Thomas, executive director of the event's organizer, Greater New Port Richey Main Street.

Attendees also can enjoy arts and crafts, antique work engines and fire engines, and a NASCAR simulator, all in Sims Park. A carnival and boat, kayak and canoe rides will be available all weekend. Vendors will offer a variety of food.

For children, activities include pumpkin painting and scarecrow making at Orange Lake, and a treasure hunt maze, tornado slide and bounce house at Sims Park.

Saturday events include a Florida native plants sale on the grounds of the West Pasco Historical Society on Circle Boulevard near Sims Park. At Orange Lake, pets and their people can enjoy gourmet lunches courtesy of Suburban Feed & Supply and Sweetbay Supermarkets at Leashes and Lunch by the Lake from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

On Sunday, the Classic Car Show will be held around Orange Lake from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The West Pasco Historical Society, whose museum on Circle Boulevard is across from Orange Lake, will be open 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. This year's theme is Pasco County's Railroads, with details about the Tampa and Gulf Coast Railroad that ran from Port Richey to Tarpon Springs from 1914 until 1943.

At noon Sunday, Gregg Turner, former director of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society at Harvard Business School, will speak. Turner is the author of "A Short History of Florida Railroads."

FOUNDERS DAY ENTERTAINMENT

Sims Park Amphitheatre Main Stage

Friday

7 to 10:30 p.m.: Dixie Highway Band with John Wayne Wilkinson - country, Southern rock

Saturday

11 a.m. to noon: Gotta Dance - dance and singing troupe

12 to 2 p.m.: Lulu - oldies, country, pop

2:30 to 4:30 p.m.: Boneyard Dogs - classic rock

6 to 6:45 p.m.: Jonathan Cortez - doo-wop, Motown, soul

7 to 8:30 p.m.: '60s Groove - 1960s and '70s rock

8:45 to 10:45 p.m.: Live and Let Die

Sunday

10 a.m. to noon: Gospel and folk singalong

1 to 5 p.m.: Wayne Pearson Quartet - jazz

Post photos from New Port Richey Founders Day at www. pasco.tbo .com. Keyword: Founders Day.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT