By Julia Beauregard
Hometown Weekly Editor
Late last month, families in Westwood gathered together outside the Council on Aging gazebo to enjoy a night of family fun. The Westwood Young Women’s Club (WYWC) hosted the final concert of their summer concert series this year, concluding the series with Rockabye Beats!
Performer and Rockabye Beats creator, Marco Valles, entertained young children on Monday evening with singing, dancing, and engaging them in creative movement through his performance. Valles performed popular children’s songs such as “Good Morning,” “Going for a Ride,” “If You’re Happy and You Know It,” “Icky Sticky Bubble Gum,” and “Sleeping Dinosaurs,” just to name a few. These songs encouraged children to sing along and move their bodies to the various prompts embedded into the lyrics.
Through these whimsical songs, children learned about different animals, colors, times of day, places, and various types of movement. Kiddos flapped their arms like birds, stomped their feet like dinosaurs, and hopped around like bunnies. Between spending time outside and allowing their children to engage with one another and the performer, parents were sure to see their children enjoying their evening out at this summer concert.
Valles is a multi-talented performer; not only does he sing, but he also plays guitar and the harmonica. He played various tunes on his harmonica to test the children’s musical recognition skills. Valles played the tunes of “Baby Shark,” “Old Macdonald,” and “Happy Birthday,” which the children guessed with ease. He went on to play the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," which confused the young listeners since this song has the same tune as the "ABCs" and "Ba, Ba, Black Sheep."
Families enjoyed the music, and many packed a picnic dinner or purchased food available at the event to enjoy while their little ones danced, sang, clapped, stomped, and grooved to the music of Rockabye Beats. The WYWC Summer Concert series this year was one for the books. It is safe to say that the Westwood community will eagerly await next year's Summer Concert Series.
To stay up-to-date with all the wonderful events provided by the Westwood Young Women’s Club, please check out their website: http://www.wywc.org/events.
