TURNER — Members and friends of the North Turner Presbyterian Church will present a Fall Music Festival designed to provide family entertainment while raising funds for the church.

The Cabin Fever concert series, organized and run by Paula Anderson for the Turner Center Community Church last winter, proved to be popular with local residents who enjoyed visiting with neighbors before and after the concert.

North Turner Presbyterian hopes to provide that same kind of enjoyment with its three-concert festival beginning in September.

The first concert, on Saturday, Sept. 24, will feature singer Bryce Libby, who favors a cabaret style, along with his sisters, Rhonda Libby Chase and Connie Libby. Rhonda performed at local events from the 1970s through the 1990s; Connie didn’t appear publicly as much as her siblings, but shares a childhood filled with family evenings around the piano.

Bryce has performed in clubs and other venues in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York City. During his solo shows, he often paid homage to his musical heritage and home state.

“Most of my best childhood memories involve the music in our house. My dad used to sit at the piano and work up intricate vocal arrangements for my mom and sisters,” Libby said.

“I never heard some of the old standards arranged any other way. So when I was an adult and I heard Nat King Cole’s recording of ‘Mood Indigo,’ it sounded strange because I had only heard it in three-part harmony,” Libby said.

“We haven’t sung together as family in decades. So to have my sisters with me is great,” he added. “It’s a chance to re-experience part of the best of our childhood. I think the audience is in for something special.”

The Libbys will be accompanied by well–known local pianist Jerry Ellis, who plays regularly for Leeds Community Church as well as at weddings and other local musical events.

The Saturday night concert will begin at 7 p.m. Refreshments will be available at intermission.

The Oct. 22 concert by the Way Down Willies will offer a variety of music genres from golden oldies to country. The Way Down Willies, formed by George Chaisson of the Fore Season’s Restaurant at Turner Highlands, features drums, guitars, harmonica and vocals by several band members.

The November concert has yet to be finalized.

The more than 225-year-old North Turner Presbyterian Church was, according to church history, built by the women of the village. It continues to serve as a place of worship with members representing many Christian denominations and a place of community gathering and outreach. Members and friends of the church run the Clothing Center in the square at North Turner as well as the Turner Food Bank at Boofy Quimby Memorial Center. The church puts on five or six public suppers each year and has begun to provide desserts at the Tuesday night gazebo concerts once each month.

The church came close to being closed eight years ago but due to the efforts of many is again moving forward.

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