What an incredible time, what joy & pleasure, like multiple .....oop's,thrills. I'd like to thank Rita, Jennifer & Charlie for the tremendous amount time & energy they had to have spent(& many others) for doing a job so well done. It was great meet, hear & do a workshop with Alaska Mike, his "I did, I did, Iditarod" song & his ballad of a young whaler's first & only kill are bound to become songs that will be well sung by many others. Singing a couple of songs, no matter what songs, next to Mary Lamarca is a wonderful experience, thanks Mary you'd make anyone sound great. I was bowed over listening to Rita singing some real choice songs. Janice Cole had me in stitches with her food (some how I don't think food was the real subject of the song) song, the last time I laughed that hard was when she sang "Rubber Ducky" a few yrs ago (I nearly died from a laughing fit that nearly triggered an asthma attack). Then the other side of Janice's voice, singing "South Wind" at 3am is a knock out. Heather Wood's singing of anything combined with her sharp wit is always dead on, she seems to nail everything she sings. Hey, Joe Offer I didn't know camp songs could be so visual & aerobic you should take yourself on the road (that's a high complement). Ron & Jan Davies's rap song (never enjoyed rap so much) of the Pheromones was another song that' was quite the hit, great job. I've heard about Joe Hickerson forever & have an LP of his but to hear him sing in the same room was masterful. One of the biggest singing highlights for me was listening to young Elizabeth LaPrelle 'of the mountains' sing, it was like traveling in time warp into a past where all the old ghosts from the hills seemingly sing through her. What can you say about the Shellbacks, terrific singers & terrific people down to the man/woman. They approach singing with all their heart & soul & never stop. Singing with Noreen, Alanww, Snuffy, Carole, Derek, Jill, Theresa, & the rest is a festival in it's self. Spirit & passion in everything they do & they spread it naturally, WOW. I know I only slightly touched on all that was great but I don't have a spare 8 hrs. to continue & still I wouldn't cover much.


Jeri, Susan A-R & I some how did much the same driving back. We missed the New Jersey Turnpike because we mysteriously couldn't get off Rt95 even though we were following all the signs & directions. We finally ended up on the turnpike but we were already past better than ½ the way, oh well, didn't matter much Susan was a great traveling companion.

Barry