my friends, (both Mudcat & FSGW friends)..this is amazing!..the very existance and thoughtfulness of this thread shows it is working!...as several have pointed out, some out-of-towners have better attendance records than the locals! (Dick Greenhaus,Susan of DT, Keith Baldwin, Sue & Charlie West & Dick & Marlene Levine come to mind)....

as to late night sings...trying to plan them is like herding chickens! I know several people who 'can' fit into almost any music that happens, and others who have a narrower focus...and it often DOES happen that a planned 'group' in a planned location gets sidetracked because someone got there first! So...where do we go? "Over to my cabin...pass the word"..and it works better some nights than others. And...lets be right up front with this...the dynamics of any given group change as people get up, sit down, need to eat, pee, or have a smoke.

....and you ALL know that in any group there are those who want to do every 3rd or 4th song, even if there are 17 people there...do the math and imagine what goes on inside the heads of those who are thinking,"hey, no one is asking me to sing, and I am way to shy or proud to just butt in"...so they get up & leave, looking for a less competitive venue. I do know that at one point, Rick Fielding practically held up a red flag and said "It's Bill's turn!"...*grin*...bless you for noticing, buddy.(and I didn't ruin "Black Waters" too badly, huh?)

...anyway, it IS a good idea to have 'places' identified for singing, even if the exact nature of the gatherings vary, (and sure, it is handy to be near the dining hall for quick access to coffee and snacks...but,,,*shrug*)..[that back part of the dining hall is just one long set of rooms, and acoustics carry..hard to have pickin' in two rooms close together]

this was my 23rd consecutive Getaway, and I sure plan on 20 or 30 more, because NO MATTER HOW they go, they are always wonderful, if you allow them to be!...and Mudcat has made them better.

If Mudcat eventually has weekends of it's own, great!...I suspect that a 10th anniversery gathering might be best timed for a 'safer' time of year...we are rolling the dice with this late October thing. But if is does happen, there will sure be a contingent of FSGW members wearing out 'other' hat! *grin*