I just came across a small pocket book titled "Hootenanny Tonight." This is paperback, probably sold for 50 cents, published by Fawcett in 1964. It mentions an interesting thing ... I'll quote "In the Summer of 1940 some political leaders from Seattle were looking for a name to pin on a series of fundraising parties they were planning. Since the parties were to be of an impromptu nature featuring everything from dinners and dancing to entertainment, door prizes and uncertainty, the hootenanny tag was a natural. Credit for giving the right name to the right place at the right time goes to Terry Pettus who remembered it from his Hoosier youth. Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie picked up the idea in Seattle and took it back to New York where they attached it to their Sunday afternoon singing gatherings. By the time those Sunday afternoon hoots had worked their way up from rent paying homespun affairs to Carnegie Hall the hootenanny was an established folk term. The usage was academically confirmed in 1959 when the dictionaries began to include it." I can't speak to the accuracy of this history, but it sure rings true to me. Terry Pettus was a LARGE force in early Seattle politics. He lived on one of the more famous Seattle Lake Union houseboats where we used to hoot all night, every weekend. He organized the "Seattle Floating Home Association", which proved to be a real pain in the left nostril of Seattle lawyers for decades. Anyway, thought you'd enjoy this glimpse. CHEERS, Bob(deckman)Nelson ... Everett, Washington