by: Michael Zabrodsky

"Your band is awesome!

"You sing nice!"

These were just some of the comments singer Natalie Merchant heard Saturday as she let a few kids have their moment in the spotlight by speaking into her microphone.

Potters Terrace, located on Third Street at Potters Alley in downtown Jamestown, was filled with people dancing to the beat as The 10,000 Maniacs gave an hour-long free performance. It was the perfect ending to the Chadakoin River Cleanup Project, in which hundreds of people pulled trash from the Chadakoin River that morning. Many people gathered as they ate pizza and hot dogs, drank soft drinks and watched the band give something back to its community.

The band played songs Like the Weather, My Sister Rose, Trouble Me, Gun Shy, A Campfire Song. Cherry Tree, Rum and Coca-Cola, Poison in the Well and What's the Matter Here? During A Campfire Song, Miss Merchant let a friend in the audience sing the duet part of the song.

The river cleanup project was put together by Maniacs' bassist Steve Gustafson, who asked people to lend a hand and clean up the Chadakoin River. It was in conjunction with cleaning the downtown streets in preparation for this weekend's Lucille Ball Festival of New Comedy.

Gustafson is an advocator of a clean Earth, and on various occasions has voiced his opinions about the nature and environment. In the past, the band has played a benefit for the Concerned Citizens of Allegany County to stop construction of a low-level nuclear waste dump proposed for the county. The band also has shown its environmental awareness by performing at Earth Day festivals the past two years.

Environmental consciousness is a topic always on Gustafson's mind. He wanted people to see the improvements on the river banks.

Was it to much to ask?

He doesn't think so. "We should reacquaint ourselves with the Earth. Let's treat it like it was our mother," he said during a break in the music Saturday. "I haven't felt this good since I got married."