High-Flying Group Will Star at Top Local Events : Music for upcoming festivities will be provided by smoky-voiced Darlene O’Connell & the Dixie Flyers.

Darlene O’Connell & the Dixie Flyers, the Canyon Country-based group featuring a vivacious, smoky-voiced female singer, has opened for national country artists Chet Atkins, John Anderson, Tracy Byrd, Rodney Foster and Jerry Jeff Walker.

Ventura County fans can catch the band at several local events, including the Country Lovers’ Texas Bunny Hop and the Ventura Police Block Party.

After a 7 p.m. dance lesson by Rick Henderson, O’Connell and the Flyers will play from 8 p.m. to midnight Saturday at the smoke-free Bunny Hop in Ventura’s American Legion Hall.

The nonprofit Country Lovers Country Western Dance Club, which includes children and teen-agers, is the backbone of country dance in the county. The public is invited to the weekly meetings on Tuesdays at the Fellowship Hall of College United Methodist Church, 16 Baylor Drive in Ventura.

The club holds a variety of dances and family-oriented events. And it organizes overnight trips to annual dance festivals and workshops. Annual membership ($45 for families) includes a monthly newsletter. For more details, call the club hot line, 647-1893.

The Fourth Annual Ventura Police Block Party will kick off at 8 a.m. on May 6, with a pancake breakfast by the Ventura Kiwanis Club. And events for the whole family will continue through the day.

Country music will be found on Stage I. A new four-piece country band, Silver Moon, will perform from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Shiloh, a local favorite, then takes the stage until 1:30 p.m. The Dixie Flyers will play from 2 to 5 p.m. There will also be dance lessons by Lori McGee and dance demonstrations by the Country Lovers and Double D dancers.

The Block Party takes place at the Ventura Police Department, 1425 Dowell Drive in Ventura.

Details

* WHAT: Country Lovers Texas Bunny Hop.

* WHO: Darlene O’Connell & the Dixie Flyers.

* WHEN: 8 p.m. to midnight Saturday.

* WHERE: American Legion Hall, 83 S. Palm St., Ventura.

* HOW MUCH: $7 members, $8 non-members.

* CALL: 647-1893.