WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES FEBRUARY 2, 2017 19 BUZZ Ridgewood brewery ready to ‘Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em’ again BY ANTHONY GIUDICE AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM @A_GIUDICEREPORT One of Ridgewood’s neighborhood breweries is getting ready for a ‘Rock’em Sock’em’ evening of entertainment. Bridge and Tunnel Brewery will be hosting the second annual Rock’em Sock’em Robots Boxing Championship tournament on Saturday night, Feb. 18, at 6 p.m. The brewery will invite 12 competitors to get behind robot fi ghters to see who will be crowned the Rock’em Sock’em Robots boxing champion. The last one standing in the tournament will be awarded an ornate championship belt, that only he or she will be able to access whenever visiting the tap room, showing off their robot-fi ghting skills to all that enter the brewery. During the tournament, Ridgewood Grove Oak Aged Golden Ale will be on tap, a style of beer that was created specifi cally for this event and is named in memory of the former Ridgewood Grove Arena that used to hold boxing and professional wrestling events in Ridgewood. “This will be our second tournament. The idea is that the fi nal champ becomes holder of the belt for the next year. The problem was that last year’s champ enjoyed it all of two weeks, then moved to China,” said Rich Castagna, owner and operator at Bridge and Tunnel Brewery. “The belt is up for grabs. If you want it, come and compete for it on Feb. 18.” As an added bonus, friend of the brewery, former Middleweight Champion John Duddy, aka “The Derry Destroyer” will be on hand during the tournament for contenders to meet and share stories over beer. Last Saturday, Jan. 28, Bridge and Tunnel Brewery — located at 15-35 Decatur St. — sold 600 cans of their signature coff ee cream ale called “20 Spot and a Switchblade.” It was the brewery’s fi rst line of canned beer. “Since the start of the brewery in 2012, we’ve only kegged our beer,” Castagna said. “We’ve developed about 30 regularly returning styles Bridge and Tunnel Brewery is getting ready to host the second annual Rock’em Sock’em Robots Boxing Championship tournament in Ridgewood. over the past four years, and now by canning those styles, each beer can be that much more accessible to our patrons. Now people will be able to enjoy Bridge and Tunnel beer at home, at a party, beach, wherever. We are a Photo courtesy of Bridge and Tunnel Brewery small bootstrap brewery, so to be able to now off er that as an option is a big step forward for us.” For more information about both events, visit bridgeandtunnelbrewery. com. Talented harpist brings beautiful music to former Ridgewood Times home offi ce BY ANTHONY GIUDICE AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM @A_GIUDICEREPORT There are many diff erent types of artists living in Ridgewood nowadays, from painters and sculptors, to fi lmmakers and musicians, but one resident has been playing and teaching a not-so-common instrument: the harp. Marilu Donovan is a harpist who gives musical lessons on the harp, as well as the piano, from her Ridgewood apartment as a way to join her love of playing the harp and her love of teaching. Donovan grew up in Houston, TX, where she attended a large artistic high school. After high school, she went to college in Toronto, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in music in harp. In 2009, she moved to Bushwick, where she was studying privately with the harpist for the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. “It was crazy. It was awesome,” she said of training at the Metropolitan Opera. “It was such a great experience to have lessons backstage at the Met. Who does that? It was really special. I am really grateful for that.” She then earned her master’s degree in music in Los Angeles, California. She moved to Ridgewood in 2015, and is currently living in the former Ridgewood Times home offi ce on Woodbine Street, off of Fresh Pond Road. “It’s amazing. It’s my favorite home I’ve had in New York,” Donovan said of her apartment. “It’s a beautiful space, and it’s very quiet for my harp studio. So it’s perfect for the recording sessions I’ve done here. I teach students here and I have a lot of rehearsals here.” Donovan says she fell into playing the harp 20 years ago when she attended a small private school in Texas. In the fourth grade, she had to pick an instrument to learn. She found out that most of her friends were taking a harp class and decided to join that class. She has been playing the harp ever since. In addition to playing in her apartment and teaching students, Donovan likes to play the harp in a newly formed quartet. Donovan’s latest performance was one she put together at the Chamber Music Concert at The Park Church Group Co-op in Greenpoint. A lthough she has played at some of the neighborhood’s newer venues like the Footlight and The Windjammer, she is hoping to find some spaces in Ridgewood to put on larger performances. To learn more about Donovan and her music lessons, visit her website at mariludonovan.com. Photos by Anthony Giudice/QNS Marilu Donovan with her cat and harp inside her Ridgweood apartment where she plays and gives lessons.
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