What’s up with the drumming heard along the Roanoke Greenway on weekend mornings?
You’re on the Roanoke Greenway on a Sunday morning, and you hear… drumming?
If you’re near the bridge by Black Dog Salvage, you’ve stumbled upon the Roanoke Arches. From Memorial Avenue SW, turn onto Wasena Avenue SW, taking an immediate sharp left into a parking lot. Then follow the drumming.
There have been other drum circles in Roanoke, but the Arches took off in 2020 when Dan Kuehl started refurbishing the sandbox and painting the concrete supports to resemble cottages to “make a creative space for people to hang out,” Branch says.
Others joined her, happy to have a safe outdoor space to gather during the early days of COVID. As more people learned of the informal get-togethers on Sunday mornings, people committed to attending regularly, so that there would always be someone there in case a newbie showed up. Now, every Sunday from 10:30 AM to noon, anywhere from five to a dozen people gather.
Anyone who shows up at The Arches on a Sunday morning is welcome to observe, or, if they choose, to join in and drum, dance, sing, or make art, although there is no pressure to participate. Kids and dogs are welcome, and participants can come and go as they please. There is no leadership per se, rather a handful of regulars with instruments who routinely attend.
On a typical Sunday, people arrive and find a place to sit, making small talk. Someone starts a rhythm, and the other drummers join in, following the beat or adding to it. The rhythms come together organically, and the drumming becomes louder as people find their groove, and their passion. At some point, the drumming becomes so intense that all chit chat ceases.
The Roanoke Arches draws all kinds of people, from educators to entrepreneurs, health care professionals to retirees, even professional musicians. The drumming is a way of bringing everyone together, but the most important aspect of the gathering is community. “I feel a peace of mind and a release in connecting with other people,” explains Tahitia Woods.
“It’s [also] a way of expressing yourself,” adds Renet Schuld.
Or, as Phyllis Van Eps comments, “I get a bang out of it!”
