Mountain Dog, Dick Cerri isn't dead (yet); it was his brother Bill who died a few years ago, on the air, no less. Bill Cerri was a wonderful classical DJ who made his life in radio; his morning show was witty, irreverent and eclectic (he mixed Mozart with Stan Freberg, for instance), and is sorely missed. Dick Cerri, the younger of the two, is still very active in organizing and promoting the activities of his "World Folk Music Association".

BK, the Bal'mer folk song circle says specifically in its ads "We will be singing from Rise Up Singing"; bringing us back around to the continuing argument about the use of RUS as a hymnal...And yes, the DC group has its share of "Insiders" who have a tendancy for cliquish behavior. I used to move every 2-4 years for the first 35 years of my life until I got settled in the DC area; in every new place I went, I joined the local community theater group. EVERY one of those groups had factions and cliques and the "In" set, no matter what part of the country I was in; it's a part of human nature and human social organizations, be they theater groups, church softball leagues or folk music societies.

People who share years of experiences with each other develop a group "history" that any newcomer CAN'T share; they weren't there, after all. However, I found that becoming part of any such group as a newcomer means joining in on as many public group activities as you can, and not feeling hurt when you aren't immediately included in private social events involving people who have known each other for a long time. I was very taken aback the one time I went to Augusta and encountered people who instantly assumed that since we were all at camp together that week, we were instantaneously each other's best and deepest friends, and should share all our innermost thoughts and feelings with each other. True friendship and trust takes time and work, whether you're talking about a singing group or other social group.

Every local folk song circle has its old-timers and group leaders - some, like Joe Offer seems to be, are publically defined as such, others are less clearly labelled. But whether it's Boston or San Francisco or Baltimore or DC, there are going to be people who have made the local folk group their entire life, and are going to react negatively to newcomers upsetting their narrow little world. Hopefully, they are balanced out by people who are friendly and more inclusive; just don't expect to be "one of the gang" immediately...