I miss very little about living in Washington, DC (now that I've moved to midcoast Maine), but one thing I REALLY miss is the wonderful FREE annual concert/presentation of the year's National Heritage Fellowship awardees. It is one event that makes me proud of my country and happy with how these particular tax dollars are being spent--recognizing the bearers and teachers of such a wide variety of folk traditions in music, dance, craft, and storytelling. Anyone planning to be in Washington, DC in late September should make it their business to get tickets to this inspiring evening at Lisner Auditorium (tickets usually available through the National Council for the Traditional Arts). Kathy

p.s. This is an award for which ANY American citizen can nominate a traditional singer, dancer, storyteller, craftsperson, or instrumentalist to the National Endowment for the Arts (the agency that makes the awards). The prize is $20,000 for each of the artists selected, plus a week in the limelight of official Washington.