Sam's Dog House

There is a little hot dog shack located on Route 22A in Hampton, NY. If you are far from home and need a place to feel welcomed and part of the community stop by the little enterprise with a huge sense of hospitality. For the next three Tuesday nights, take in what is nothing more than the community coming together to entertain and amuse itself. It is called open mic night at Sam’s Dog House – Sam Jam. Grab a coke and ice cream cone or order a hot dog or two and then walk outback to have a little fun. Calvin a precocious eight year old will kick the event off, but the hostess and owner of this happy little place is Mary Holland. Young artists like Mike and Keegan will kick out the tunes and for good measure share their own original music. The audience comes and goes and if you are lucky so will the passing thunder showers that drift in from time to time. It is summer time in upstate.

The village of Hampton is not found on Long Island. This is not the Hamptons. Look further north, near the Vermont border. Next week, on August 5, the whole community has dedicated the day to raising money for the local fire department. Stop in, sponsor a duck in the duck race and have a good time.

Mary read from my book The Last Voyage of the Cosmic Muffin at last week’s Sam Jam. It sounded great to me, experiencing the book for the first time through someone else.