Countdown

July Fourth extravaganza: Spend the Fourth with the Cincinnati Pops at Riverbend, including saxophone virtuosos the Capitol Quartet and conductor John Morris Russell. The "American Celebration" will include patriotic tunes sung by the May Festival Summer Chorus, Broadway's Judy McLane, the Ropin' Rockets (jump roping students), fireworks and more. 8 p.m. Friday. Tickets: $18; children 12 and under admitted free to the lawn. 381-3300 or cincinnatipops.org.

Janelle Gelfand

Free to bookworms: Bookworm Wednesdays is back at Showcase Cinemas Springdale. Here's how it works: Kids get in free to a select children's film at 10 a.m. Wednesdays. All the child has to do is present a book report at the box office.

The schedule: Stuart Little 2, July 9; Hey Arnold: The Movie, July 16; Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie, July 23; Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, July 30; Space Jam, Aug. 6; and The Wild Thornberrys Movie, Aug. 13.

Concerts on sale

Rock tour: Riverbend has added another show: The Rock Never Stops Tour 7 p.m. Aug. 20 with Whitesnake, Warrant, Kip Winger and Slaughter. Tickets, $37.75, $27.75 and $17.75 lawn, go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday at Ticketmaster outlets, phone (513) 562-4949 and online at www.ticketmaster.com

FYI

Boy joins choir: Another Cincinnati Boychoir member has joined the elite, 500-year-old Vienna Boys Choir in Austria. Benjamin Kleykamp, 11, of Mason, replaces Donald Smith, who is graduating from the choir. Ryan Slone, who returned home in March after his voice changed, was replaced by Andrew Markowich.

Benjamin left for Austria last week.

Fest needs volunteers: The Queen City Blues Fest, an all-volunteer event presented by the Greater Cincinnati Blues Society, needs day of event volunteers for its annual festival Aug. 1-2 at Sawyer Point. People are needed for stage set-up and takedown, concession/souvenir sales, manning membership booths, ID checking and more.

Headlining performers at this year's event include Junior Watson, Rory Block, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, the Campbell Brothers and more. To register, call event organizers Gary and Debi at 385-5862.

Group helps orchestra: The beleaguered Louisville Orchestra, which has missed musician payrolls since May and just missed filing for bankruptcy, has struck a deal with its musicians, the Courier-Journal reported June 21. The three-year contract freezes salaries for the 68 full-time musicians and cuts three paid weeks from their season in the first and second years.

Elite Homes owner Joe Pusateri came to the orchestra's rescue, with a $465,000 pledge and a fund-raising effort by the Home Builders Association of Louisville, the paper says. The orchestra has been stung by an $800,000 drop in annual income from its endowment. It owes $1.5 million in bank loans and $250,000 to vendors.