The Arc of Schuyler's celebration set for May 16

This year marks an important milestone for The Arc of Schuyler: 30 years of providing supports to people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities and their families.

The Arc was founded by a group of parents and friends of people with disabilities in 1978. Over the past 30 years, the organization has grown and evolved, but its basic mission remains the same.

To celebrate this and all of its accomplishments, The Arc will hold its 30th Anniversary and Birthday Celebration at the Watkins Glen Community Center on Fourth Street on Friday, May 16.

The evening’s celebration will include cocktails, dinner, and live music and dancing. Entertainment will be provided by the band Flame from Fulton County -- a band in great demand that is made up of 11 people with developmental and physical disabilities, including autism, Down’s syndrome, and blindness. The band's fame is growing fast, but its message remains this: it wants to change the world through music.

People of all ages and backgrounds connect with this band. Parents with developmentally disabled children are often overcome with emotion watching Flame -- inspired to hope that their child can achieve great things and, even more importantly, have a fun, fulfilling life.

The group has two strong-selling CDs and a full tour schedule, and has drawn the interest of documentary filmmakers and a TV production company interested in developing a project for it.

Flame began in 2003 from a recreation program at Lexington in Fulton County. The plan was to have the band play at the agency and around town. However, word spread and requests for appearances began pouring in. Flame now averages over 90 paid performances per year -- at conventions, corporate conferences, civic events, school functions, dances, and private parties. Their song list contains over 100 classic-hit rock, country and blues songs from the past five decades.

Activities at The Arc’s celebration begin at 5:30 p.m. with cocktails, followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. and entertainment at 7:30 p.m. Anyone interested in attending should contact The Arc at 535-6934 for ticket information by May 9.