HVFG Picnic 2000

Bring your voices! Bring your instruments! Get ready to jam and have a great time. The Folk Guild will hold its annual picnic on Sunday, June 4, 2000 at Bowdoin County Park, from 12:30 to 4:30pm. This year's picnic will be pot luck, just as it was last year. The Folk Guild will provide beverages, paper plates, cups, etc. If you would like to be part of an effort to coordinate food (even if it merely means telling us what you plan to bring so we can work around it) please call Rebekah Martucci at (914) 255-4930.

Bowdoin Park is located in Wappingers Falls and can be reached two main ways: from the north, take Route 9 south, make a right at Old Post Road, follow it for two miles (it will become Sheafe Road along the way), look for park signs. From the south, take Route 9 or 9d to County Route 28 (Old Hamburg Road). Go left (west), continue until Main Street, then right (becomes Channingville, then Sheafe).

Bring your voices! Bring your instruments! Get ready to jam and have a great time. The Folk Guild will hold its annual picnic on Sunday, June 4, 2000 at Bowdoin County Park, from 12:30 to 4:30pm. This year's picnic will be pot luck, just as it was last year. The Folk Guild will provide beverages, paper plates, cups, etc. If you would like to be part of an effort to coordinate food (even if it merely means telling us what you plan to bring so we can work around it) please call Rebekah Martucci at (914) 255-4930.

Bowdoin Park is located in Wappingers Falls and can be reached two main ways: from the north, take Route 9 south, make a right at Old Post Road, follow it for two miles (it will become Sheafe Road along the way), look for park signs. From the south, take Route 9 or 9d to County Route 28 (Old Hamburg Road). Go left (west), continue until Main Street, then right (becomes Channingville, then Sheafe).

Letter From The Editor

by Cheryl A. Rice

Summertime, and the listenin' is easy! Music festivals abound from May through September, and many venues that normally specialize in cozy, intimate settings venture out into the great outdoors for this sultry season.

Among the better known folk festivals in the area are the following:

-Clearwater Hudson River Revival, June 17-18, Croton Point Park, 454-7673.
-Old Songs Festival, June 23-25, Altamont Fairgrounds, 518-765-2815.
-Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, July 21-23, Long Hill Farm, Hillsdale, 860-350-7472.
-Winterhawk 2000 Bluegrass & Beyond, July 28-30, Long Hill Farm, 860-364-9396.

It's a family affair, a rendezvous for two or a walk in the park. It's what attracts so many to the Hudson Valley-- the stunning area that Ms. Nature has crafted for us hear in the Catskills. What better inspiration for a new song, or better way to hob-nob with fellow folkies. Have a magical, musical summer...

CAR

Thoughts And Observations

What has happened to our audience? Why do people sign up and play their music and then leave? Why does the feature performer pack the house but hide in the backroom until he or she goes on? And why when the feature is over do they leave and take all their friends with them, leaving only the last performer , the sound man , and the guy putting the chairs away? Where are the mentors we all need? Where is the respect we owe each other as people,as teachers and as students?

The next time you get up to go, think about the last time you were the last guy. The next time you hide in the back room until it's time to go onstage, think about what it may mean to the person who is on stage, and how you could help them by letting them see a friendly face.

Just a thought.

-Vince Sauter

Millenium Membership Drive Breaks 400!

April 1st is the time of the year when the Folk Guild takes a "point in time" measurement of its memberhip rolls. For the 14th consecutive year, the number of Folk Guild members has risen to new heights, eclipsing last year's record of 391 to 405 members! The slow, steady growth of our membership and audience speaks volumes about the arts and entertainment value we deliver to this region. It also reflects a growing need for organizations like ours which provide opportunities for self actualization and development. Of particular note this year is the record number of people who have been especially generous, 33 in all, who made membership donations at or above the Patron level. THANK-YOU!!

Angel:

• Kevin and Carol Becker
• Ken and Betty Folster
• John and Rebekah Martucci

• Carolyn Edlund and Richard Adin
• Bob and Penny Lusk

Christine Archambault & Mary Alice Scully, Helen Avakian & Terry Champlin, Bruce Blair, Linda Breithaupt, Ethan Campbell, Frank Collin, Bob DeGraw, Chris DePalma, Allen and Marjorie Hendrickson, Priscilla Herdman, Cheryl Kelley, Anne Kirtley, Walter and Lorraine Klara, Gordon Maxwell, Bruce Morrison, Janet and George Peters, Barbara Post, Cheryl Rice, Bonnie Richardson, John Salvaggio, Ed Schaffer, William Schlutow, Allan Shaw, Bruce Swanson, Jon Sweet, Frank and Marti Tetler, Mario Zecca, Elliott Zucker

	4/1/96	4/1/97	4/1/98	4/1/99	4/1/00
Members	308	325	354	391	405
% Performers	33%	33%	28%	22%	25%
# Performers	102	107	98	84	103
Renewal Rate	78%	81%	72%	74%	80%
NewMembers	70	62	101	103	79