Last Friday night (December 4) the Anderson Alley holiday festivities got off to a rousing start when the jazz group stationed outside the BOA Editions’ office was confronted by peripatetic musicians from a Civil War reenactors group, intent on jamming. And jam they did on a lively version of “Dixie”! Following that musical set, it was the poets’ turn. Four RIT students read their own poems in honor of the 25^th anniversary of Signatures, RIT’s student art & literary magazine. These included Rob Witko, a software engineering major who is the Signatures webmaster and co-editor of last year’s issue; Sarai Oviedo, a graphic media major in the School of Printing who was co-editor last year and chief editor this year; Andy Knight, a computer science major and a member of the Signatures staff; and Danielle Gatti, advertising major in the communication department, and a member of last quarter’s “Editing the Literary Magazine” which helped produce a commemorative “25” chapbook to be distributed at the Signatures “25” show, opening on Friday December 11, 7-9:30 pm, at Gallery r, 775 Park Avenue, Rochester. Rounding things off, John Roche, RIT assistant professor and Signatures advisor, as well as a BOA Board of Directors member, read his poem “Joe the Poet.” BOA Editor Thom Ward ended the reading with a recitation of Rumi’s famous love poem, “Come to the Garden Love.” [caption id="attachment_252" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Holiday Gala Book Sale Sign"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_256" align="alignright" width="300" caption="BOA board member Nan Westervelt on the sales floor"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_258" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Thom Ward with BOA friends"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_251" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Holiday Gala Hallway Jam"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_249" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="BOA book browsers"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_246" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Board member Boo Poulin with friends of BOA"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_248" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="BOA staff: Thom Ward, Peter Conners, and Melissa Hall"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_255" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Musician Joe Hernick playing the Holiday Gala"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_257" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Peter Conners with BOA Board Chair Bernadette Catalana, Honorary Vice Chair Boo Poulin, and Cookie"][/caption]