Local group Skinny Leg Pete will perform the first of this year’s Concerts on the Green in Dover Thursday night at 7. Band members are, from left, Chuck Sapp, Steve Callaway, Sky Brady, Rick Cyrus and Mike Warren. (Submitted photo)[/caption]

The city of Dover begins this year’s Concerts on the Green series Thursday night at 7 by hosting local band Skinny Leg Pete.

The five-piece group, which got its start in 2010, plays everything from Motown to classic rock and blues and will offer up a little bit of everything to the crowd next week.

“Concentrating on a mix of different stuff makes it a little more exciting for me and I think the rest of the guys,” said lead singer Philip “Sky” Brady.

The band offers several different shows to cater to different tastes. Mr. Brady said Thursday’s show may lean heavily on Motown but then sprinkle different genres throughout the night.

“Younger kids seem to like the classic rock these days. We’d like to eventually add an ’80s show to our mix, since that’s becoming oldies music now, and also expand on our funk music as well,” Mr. Brady said.

The band, with members’ ages ranging from in their 40s to their 60s, also is comprised of drummer and singer Mike Warren, keyboard and saxophone player Chuck Sapp, lead guitarist Steve Callaway and bass guitarist Rick Cyrus.

All have played music since they were young and have been in various bands throughout their careers.

Mr. Brady found music success in his native Philadelphia in the mid-’70s and ’80s, recording a few songs that became popular locally. In 1985, he burned out on performing and a couple of years later became a disc jockey, one who remains popular in this area, playing weddings, parties and hosting various events from Dover to Ocean City, Maryland.

In 2010, Mr. Warren convinced him to “get the band back together.”

“We’ve been friends for years. He’s also a competitor of mine being a full-time wedding DJ. But we have a good relationship and throw jobs back and forth to each other all of the time,” Mr. Brady said.

“But one day he just said ‘Let’s monkey around with some different tunes. That was also the winter when we got 60 inches of snow so we had a lot of time on our hands.

“It was the right time to get back in it because my kids have all grown up and left and now I have grandkids. Some guys like fishing and some guys like music. The first couple of years, we went through some personnel changes but we have five guys now who really are clicking together. It’s like a baseball team, who when it’s going good, they really fire on all cylinders.”

Considering themselves more of a concert band than a bar band, Skinny Leg Pete has played Punkin Chunkin, the Apple-Scrapple Festival and just played a private gig for the national Lions Club convention at Dover Downs this past week.

In addition to Dover’s outdoor series, which it has played the past couple of years, the band also will make stops in Lewes, Georgetown and Milton this summer for their town concerts.

Whether it’s his job as a DJ or playing in Skinny Leg Pete, Mr. Brady is a big believer in the power of music.

“It’s a common thread for all of us,” said Mr. Brady, who got the name Sky when he was 16 after a girl told him his eyes were as blue as the sky.

“I’ll play music for veterans in a nursing home and you’ll have 30 guys in wheelchairs but you can see what effect music has on these guys.”

Mr. Brady says playing music has the same effect on the guys from Skinny Leg Pete, which got its name from a character in the 1970 MC5 song “Shakin’ Street.”

“We don’t have to be Mick Jagger or Rod Stewart. We just have a great time doing what we do — making people happy. That’s what it’s all about.”

This year’s Dover concert series features the return of Miss Delaware Night and Reptile World along with local artists Joe Baione, Bad Juju, The Honeycombs, Island Boyz Band and Bob Lougheed as Elvis Presley to round out the series on Sept. 3.

Newcomers to the series includes teens Fuss on June 11 and Sara Ann Garrison on Aug. 13.

In the event of inclement weather, call the City of Dover Parks & Recreation Weather Line at 736-7155 for relocation or cancellation information.

Brewgrass Festival a first

The first Downtown Milford Inc. Brewgrass Festival presented by Mispillion River Brewing is set for June 14 from noon to 6 p.m.

Tickets are $100 for VIP, $30 for general admission, $40 at the door, and $5 for designated driver. Beer tasters will receive a souvenir plastic Mason jar for their tastings.

VIP guests will enjoy an extra hour of festival fun from noon to 1 p.m., reserved parking, $10 food voucher to use at any food truck/booth, bag of souvenirs and a designated music listening area. VIP attendance will be limited to 22 tickets, with two tickets being raffled on May 30 at the Riverwalk Farmers Market, where tickets also can be bought every Saturday until the drawing ($5 for one, $10 for five) or online at www.downtownmilford.org.

All breweries will provide tastings and additionally Dogfish Head and Mispillion River Brewing will have full pints for sale. Event-goers also can enjoy beers from budding home brewers and judge their favorite.

Musical acts will include Mule Train, Flatland Drive, Blue Hen Express, Chapel Street Junction and Hooverville.

Other festival activities include a Brushes and Booze paint event with the Mispillion Art League. Paint an exclusive Brewgrass Festival design for $20 and take it home to hang as a keepsake. A festival ticket is required to enter paint event.

All tickets, including Home Brew Competition and Brushes and Brews, can be purchased at https://tickets.beerfests.com/event/DMIBrewgrassFestival. For more information, contact Sara Pletcher at sara@downtownmilford.org.

New face at museum

Have you ever seen a potbellied pig before? Well if not, head over to the Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village in Dover and meet LuLu.

In addition to its chickens, the museum now has a 75-pound potbellied pig. She is 2 years old and was donated to

the DAMV by Christine Seney of Camden.

Museum officials say LuLu grew up around lots of kids and other family pets and she loves attention. She is very friendly and will follow you around like a dog.

She resides in the museum’s fenced-in apple orchard to the left of the farmhouse in the 1890s village. The museum will build her a larger shelter for the summer with lots of shade and she will live next door to the chickens behind the farmhouse.

Museum officials ask visitors to bring some healthy vegetables to feed her. Mini pigs can develop diabetes and joint problems from being overweight so sugary foods are limited. Some of LuLu’s favorite vegetables are tomatoes, green peppers, corn, apples, peaches and pears. So far, museum staff has learned she does not like carrots, celery or bananas.

“If you scratch her belly she will flop on her side so you can get better access. We might even ask you to brush her or rub some vitamin E on her dry skin,” said Di Rafter, museum director.

The museum is accepting donations for Mini Pig Food Pellets for Adults, bags of whole oats (Producer’s Pride), Safeguard dewormer paste or Ivermectin, chicken feed, cracked corn and crushed oyster shells.

To make donations, call 734-1618 or deliver them to the museum at 866 N. DuPont Highway adjacent to Delaware State University.

If the shoe fits ...

The Second Street Players’ Children’s Dessert Theater presents “Cinderella’s Glass Slipper” today through Sunday.

All performances will be held at the Riverfront Theater 2 S. Walnut St., Milford.

Friday and Saturday shows are at 7 p.m. and Sunday is at 1 p.m.

In the production, Cinderella works hard in the home of her cruel stepmother. Her stepsisters, Brunhilda and Cleopatra, see themselves as beautiful and think the prince will marry them. The handsome prince spends most of the evening at a palace ball trying to escape from them.

New characters in this adaption include a brave mouse, a hesitant cat and Pumpkinhead, who changes into a coach.

Cinderella loses her glass slipper as she tries to run out before the clock strikes midnight. As the ladies of the kingdom try to fit into the crystal shoe, the prince finally finds the girl he is to marry. This classic is filled with songs by Bill Francoeur, such as the prologue “Once Upon a Time,” the stepsisters’ “Ladies of Fashion” and Cinderella’s “Dream of Tomorrow”.

Tickets are general admission and can be purchased at the door, $5 for kids 18 and younger and $10 for adults.

Today is a special family friendly performance; tickets are pay what you can.

For more information, visit secondstreetplayers.com.

Now showing

New this weekend in theaters is a 3D remake of “Poltergeist” and George Clooney in the fantasy film “Tomorrowland.”

On DVD and download starting Tuesday is the supernatural film “Seventh Son” with Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.