Hot ‘n’ Spicy JAMboree! August 5, 2012

When it comes to jams and jellies, some like it HOT!! Think you make a pretty good hot jam or jelly, using jalapenos or habaneras or other chili peppers? Care to see just how good it really is?! Then enter it in the second annual, Hot ‘n’ Spicy JAMboree to be held on Sunday, August 5, 2012 during the Mosquito Bluegrass Jam in Roseville. The free musical event, and the Hot ‘n’ Spicy JAMboree contest, will be held at the Frank Rog Amphitheater in Roseville’s Central Park.

The Hot ‘n’ Spicy JAMboree judges will be members of the public that, while enjoying the great bluegrass music, can pay a small fee (just $1.00) to sample all of the jams and jellies and choose their favorite. Prizes will be given for the highest votes during a break in one of the bluegrass performances.

In addition to the contest, extra jars of jam and jelly that any contestants bring will be for sale. That way, if you sample a jam or jelly you really like, you might be able to bring home a jar of it for only $5.00! Volunteers from the Harriet Alexander Nature Center put on the contest, with proceeds from the contest going to the nature center’s budget for environmental education. It’s a win-win, really HOT deal all around!

Registration for the Hot ‘n’ Spicy JAMboree begins Monday, July 30 at the Roseville Parks and Recreation desk at City Hall, 2660 Civic Center Drive. Along with the modest entry fee of $5.00, all entrants are required to submit two unlabeled half-pint jars of their jam or jelly for the contest; in addition they can bring up to ten additional half-pint jars (labeled if desired) for selling. Registration ends at 4:00pm on Friday, August 3. No late entries will be allowed.

In addition to sampling the hot ‘n’ spicy pepper jams and jellies, you can enjoy the hot sounds of a great music lineup at the Mosquito Bluegrass Jam, part of Roseville’s Summer Performances in the Park series, sponsored by Genisys Credit Union and supported in part by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund and the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old Time Music Association. Open jam sessions will run from 2:00-3:45 – bring your instrument and your enthusiasm and join in a group, or come to listen in on these informal, off-stage jams. Bill Cagley will be leading a Beginner’s Jam at this time as well.

Bill Cagley and Phil Nusbaum (from KBEM) will entertain the audience with “tweeners” and talk between performances, starting at 4:00 with the Wild Goose Chase Cloggers, followed by Sasquatch Wristwatch at 5:30 and the Roe Family Singers at 7:00. Meanwhile, the Hot ‘n’ Spicy JAMboree begins at 3:00 pm and will run until the last bluegrass act starts at 7:00 pm.

Visit www.CityofRoseville.com/Parks and follow the link on the left to Special Events -- Summer Entertainment for more information about all the Summer Performances in the Park, including the Mosquito Bluegrass Jam and the Hot ‘n’ Spicy JAMboree. Or call or visit the Harriet Alexander Nature Center, (651) 765-HANC (4262), located at 2520 N. Dale Street, for more about the contest and the nature center itself.