Young musicians, writers, story-tellers, and more are encouraged to come and share their talent on stage for a youth open mic style event. Each youth performer will get up to 15 minutes on stage to share (performers don't have to fill the entire 15 minutes- one song or poem etc. is fine as well!). We hope family and friends will come out to support the young talent in our community! Complimentary chocolate treats available at our first Chocolate House event!

Years ago, “The Chocolate House” filled the CB Middle School auditorium on Friday nights. An open mic style event planned and performed by youth, this was the positive start for a lifetime of music-making for many of its participants. Teachers, Steve Bailes and Charlie Streisel, are helping us revive this new version of The Chocolate House here at The River House!

Chocolate House History:

The Chocolate House

Years ago in a galaxy far, far away, two bold explorers dreamed up the idea of a chocolate house.

This was to be a place where young people could come and show off their talents to whomever was interested in watching. In an old gym, with poor lighting and a makeshift sound system, the kids came up one by one and played their guitar, or their drums, recited a poem, told jokes or sang Acappella. No one judged them, everyone applauded, and the evenings zoomed by. Many of the duties associated with the logistics of the coffee house were assumed by students; themes, decorations, stage management, set up, refreshments, master of ceremony and the ugly job of cleaning up. Sometimes Charlie, Steve and Terry designated themes for the evening, like Beatles, Hawaiian, Christmas and even a beach theme. One never knew what genre of music they might be exposed to; classical, bluegrass, folk, rock, rap and original compositions. One evening, to our surprise, the local police dropped by, took the stage and proceeded to do the hambone using their hands and bodies as percussion instruments. They were a big hit and from that day on they were regular additions to the show. In the officer’s words, he would rather proactively create good kids than chase bad kids.

Time has drifted by and those young kids are now truck drivers, doctors, scientists, factory workers and a few of them are musicians. We like to think that maybe, the musicians got their start at our humble Chocolate House. 2017, the emergence of the RIVER HOUSE brought a renewed quest for connectivity and arts for the entire community in an accepting environment.