Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 11 Sep 06 - 03:37 PM

GUEST WITH THE NEW TRAILER

"Camper Density" seems a bit lower than at this time in recent prior years, and there are still plenty of "parking" places. Since the festival "officially" starts in a couple of days, a fairly large number of incoming may be expected, so finding a spot gets increasingly difficult as time passes.

Electrical hookups in the Pecan Grove were of course all gone the first day of landrush. I haven't been into the Walnut Grove enought to tell if there are still a few hookups, but it is **possible you might find one there.

By Thursday you will have trouble finding any place with shade, but there are plenty of friendly canopies and camper awnings to provide places to retreat from the heat if it gets too severe. Thus far the heat's been reasonably tolerable.

Weather has been unusually good thus far. I sat in rain every night for the first week in pre-lineup, but we've had only very minor sprinkles since. Last night brought an "intense" rain lasting about a half hour, but didn't actually deposit much moisture, although humidity was high early today. Fortunately no wind of significance in that one. Forecast is for somewhat cooler, but of course includes possibility of "scattered showers."

Early pickin' parties have been fairly numerous, and we've found a few new groups to like.

We're back in Wichita for Lin to replenish her med supplies and to do a bit of laundry, but hopefully will be outa here within an hour or two to get back to camp. Her new "mobility device" is keeping her in wide circulation - and is keeping me close to camp mostly charging batteries. We seem to have gone "electric" in a pretty big way this year since they've decided that bicycles, scooters, golf carts and other such must have "lights" if used at night (when everything fun goes on) and for our primitive equipage that means a separate rechargeable battery for each bulb - and often a separate charger for each battery.

** If you're not able to get a hookup, you won't be able to use Air Conditioning of course; but you can be reasonably assured there will be plenty of folk willing to assist with battery recharges if needed to keep your DC accessories running, although you might have to lug the battery to the charger in an area where there are hookups. Some of the areas remaining are a fair distance from a water pipe, so depending on where you land you may need to depend on on-board water. (One of the reasons lots of camp groups "pool the dishwashing."

See ya there. (We're in the Pecan Grove, South side of the main loop, and lots of people refer to us as "Thumper" - the brand name on our somewhat rare trailer.)

John

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: GUEST,Pete Peterson
Date: 11 Sep 06 - 03:51 PM

Have a wonderful time, and please let us know how our friend Jeremy Stephens does in the banjo contest. (He blew us all away at the Charlie Poole festival and again at CLifftop 2006)
   Wish I were there. . .

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: Lin in Kansas
Date: 11 Sep 06 - 04:45 PM

As usual, my SO tends to (gasp) exaggerate just a little. He hasn't spent QUITE all his time charging batteries, but he has put in a good deal of "tinker time" fixing various things he thought really needed to be fixed. He now has me trained to automatically put the charger on my electric scooter when I pull into camp, so that's one less he has to worry about!

Pete, we'll let you know if your friend Jeremy wins or places in the banjo contest, but we probably won't attend the contest ourselves, as it's being held on Sunday, and that's usually tear-down day for us. Surely do wish him good luck, though!

Kaleea and Sharon, the Carp Camp is up and running nearly full blast. Gestapomeister Dave has been there from the get-go and the Irish songs are flying thick and fast. Should we mention your names in vain to anyone there?

The Fiddle Fest is strong this year, too. Last night they had somewhere around 15 fiddlers, plus standup bass, dulcimers, a couple of guitars, and even some spoons. Plus lots of good songs.

The Chick Pick in the Pecan Grove was a blast--I heard three new songs I want to learn, and met about 20 ladies for tea, cookies, and no-testosterone music. The rule is, if you're male, you can only play music if you wear a skirt...this year, nobody showed up to play in a dress, although Desiree' did drop by for a few minutes. The ladies from Frontporch.com were there to record, and said they plan to play the recordings after the festival as well so we'll all get to hear them too.

Laundry's done; gotta get back--we're sure to be missing something!

Newguy and Guest With New Trailer, we sure hope you make it okay and find a place to lay your weary bones when you get there. Come by the Water Hole Camp if you can to say hello. You can see our big American Flag hanging over camp from nearly everywhere in the Pecan Grove. See y'all there!

Lin (who is MUCH enjoying her increased mobility this year)

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 11 Sep 06 - 08:43 PM

Yep, I'll be there, but not 'til Friday morning, with a tent. Try the Walnut Grove, you think? How far from your vehicle do you have to hike to pitch your tent, by the way? I don't need no new-fangled electricity (though a close-by shower would be nice).

I'll wear my Mudcat Badge and look for the BIG AMERICAN FLAG in the pecan grove!

LEJ
St Louie Contingent

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: Sorcha
Date: 11 Sep 06 - 09:54 PM

LEJ!! Since when are you St. Louie??? You've abandoned me!!!!

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 11 Sep 06 - 11:03 PM

Been in STL for two years, but I do get to Colo and Wyoming pretty often. Maybe I'll see you at the Getaway?

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: GUEST,FreeRange James
Date: 12 Sep 06 - 12:22 AM

LEJ, good luck to you this year. The Walnut Grove looked pretty packed to me on Sunday, seemed a bit more dense than the Pecan Grove.

The showers are east of the grandstand, at the southern end, and they were needing a part to keep them all up and running, but no lines yet during the midday. Down to half strength but they expanded to two good sized trailers for the showers. $3 a pop, soap and shampoo available for two bits. I forgot to pack a towel, but the place is exposed to a bit of wind, dried quickly in t-shirt/shorts.

Lots of 'sunny' spots in the prairie area near the showers, but water and shade would be the trade off. Spend the hottest part of the day listening to jamming in the 'pavillions' (plastic tarp garages on poles) for shade, and the camping experience is more tolerable for tentdwelling. Bring a canteen, and carry a chair with you was my plan during my tenting years, before middle age crept up and mauled me.

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 18 Sep 06 - 07:06 PM

What a hoot! Byron Berline and his group were terrific, as were the Wilders, the Hot Strings, and Cadillac Sky. More pickers walking around on Pecan Street at 2 AM than you could shake a stick at. We sure had a ball!

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 18 Sep 06 - 07:23 PM

LEJ - 2 AM??????. Are you "amateur" or "elderly?"

Most nights in the Pecan Grove I saw 4 AM before my elderly bod' gave out, and at least one 06:30 - meeting the traditional "see at least one sunrise," but just barely.

Our departure from Winfield was delayed a bit from our usual Sunday morning habit due to Lin's injection of a bit of drama. A low sugar episode required a trip to the emergency room at 03:30 Sunday morning; but she was treated well and claims to be fully recovered. We stayed over Sunday night to allow a more leisurely packing, and came back to Wichita Monday afternoon.

Lin has made rather rash promises to a few people about getting some photos up at our Waterhole website "real soon;" but I don't think she understands fully how much "Photoshopping" goes into turning what we get out of our totally inadequate digital cameras into visible images (especially for shots on the street at night). We'll try to get a link up as soon as something actually appears.

Now if I can just get unpacked in time to start packing for next year ....

John

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 19 Sep 06 - 07:32 PM

John, frankly I'm a little of both.

Made 4:30 Saturday morning, and about 3:30 Sunday morning, when the storm sent us into our tent.

Look forward to the photos.

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 19 Sep 06 - 11:00 PM

LEJ - Same here. I still spend the time enjoying; but I tend to pick places a lot closer to the home camp to do it, for the most part.

We have made a rough first pass on most of this year's snapshots to see which ones actually are pictures and which ones are just "camera (a.k.a. "operator") failures," but it will take a while to get them sorted.

John

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: Lin in Kansas
Date: 21 Sep 06 - 12:45 AM

LEJ:

Glad you made the Festival, and sure wish I could have met you in 3D! Did you make it by the Water Hole at all? What with all the street stompers and the Biergarten Camp setting up their "Stage Four and Three-Quarters" right next door, their was usually music and activity until the wee hours in camp.

I had a blast with my new electric scooter--saw camps and places in both Groves I didn't know were there. Visited the Fiddle Fest a couple of times, and the Carp Camp and the Thistle Dew crew two or three evenings. Learned three new songs to try to perfect for next year and met lots of new friends and neighbors. Can hardly wait until next Sept. to see them again when we Come Home to Winfield.

Was great to see all the 'Catters: Phil and Michele, Gary and Karen, Bill and Deanna, Al and Barbara (at least we think we saw them on Stage Five...I went Nowhere a few times trying to locate them, to no avail). Gary, thank you for your rendition of "Old Dun Cow" and "You Don't Know Me." And congratulations on being (once again!) part of the 1st-place band at the Rat Camp Band Scramble.

So...we'll meet again next year, right? Only 363 days until Walnut Valley Festival 2007!

Lin

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: Uncle Phil
Date: 22 Sep 06 - 12:33 AM

We finally made it home.

Michelle crashed around midnight on Saturday. After that I took food to her cousin who was working the gate on the 14th street bridge and stayed there talking with migrating musicians until the weather hit. We did family stuff on Sunday then hit the road Monday (it's nice having family in Winfield -- washers and dryers, the occasional homecooked meal,and what Michelle calls a proper bath).

My favorite on the "official" stages was the set that the Greencards and various guests played on Friday night. It was fun watching pickers of that caliber push one another.
- Phil

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 22 Sep 06 - 01:14 AM

Lin

I made a note about where your camp was, stuck it in my guitar case, then took the other guitar....ooops. Sorry I missed all of you.

LEJ

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: Lin in Kansas
Date: 22 Sep 06 - 01:19 PM

Phil--Glad you two made it home okay. And yes, I can certainly relate to Michele's love of having a place for a "proper bath". While we have a shower in the camper, it's too small to really feel like you're clean, and the *@m**! shower curtain is ALWAYS wrapped around your posterior!

LEJ: Next time bring BOTH guitars--you know you want to. Hopefully, we'll see you next year.

Sure had a good time. New pictures up on the website this weekend, I hope.

Lin

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 22 Sep 06 - 09:53 PM

It's always great to look forward to these threads and hear these tales of the festival. I can sort of be there in my mind with y'all.

Say, does Bob Redford know about Mudcat? I'd think he would enjoy popping into threads like this one!?

Say, is anybody out there in touch with Leota Coats? Her late husband, Art, was the mainstay of those early festivals---and the one responsible for bringing me there in the 1970s. It's hard to believe, but I did perform at twelve of 'em----including the year they tried doing TWO festivals---the second one being in June. It only happened that one time I think?!

All the best to all the Winfield folks!

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: Gary T
Date: 22 Sep 06 - 10:35 PM

Art, I recall there being a Spring Fling in May of '76 (which I missed - my first time was that fall) and a June Jamboree in '78.

Lin and Jon, and Deanna and Bill, it was great to see all of you. Lonesome EJ, and Phil and Michelle, sorry I missed you.

We were blown away by the David Munnelly band. Three minutes of Irish instrumental music is normally a year's supply for my taste. But these guys - they infuse it with a richness and verve that makes it a whole new ballgame. And then there's the Irish swing music they do. And the awesome fiddler. And the amazing dancer. Etc. Wow!

Is it next year yet?

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: Lin in Kansas
Date: 23 Sep 06 - 12:03 AM

Art, hope you enjoy all the pictures on our site, as well as the ones from other campsites that Don Shorock posts on his "Virtual Winfield" pages. (It's going to be a few days before we get any new ones up!)

I doubt Mr. Redford knows about Mudcat. He hasn't been seen too much around the festival in the last few years; don't know if that's from health problems, or if the Festival's just at the point where he doesn't feel he needs to supervise everything.

Gary, it isn't next year yet, but it is only 363 days to Winfield 2007. See ya there!

Lin

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 23 Sep 06 - 03:47 AM

That's 362 (note the passing of midnight in Kansas 1 hour after mudcat time) days until the Festival starts officially, but only about 355 days until the next Landrush to get the good camping spots. Which means it's only about 348 days until the next lineup when we can get our "landrush position" and only around 334 days until we can go down and camp in the County RV park to be in position for lineup.

Gosh - Golly - Gee but it's right upon us. I'd better start packing now or I'll never get everything ready in time....

Er, ... uh, ... well, ... ... ... maybe I should finish unpacking first so I can see what we broke, wore out, or found out didn't work ...

Now where did I put that list of all the things we're gonna do better next year ? ? ? ? ?

John

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: Uncle Phil
Date: 23 Sep 06 - 05:10 PM

We talked with David Munnelly for a while at one of the "meet and greets". He's already booked again for next year and says he will be bringing a 7 piece band plus singers and the tap dancing dude.

They were fun to watch last year, too. The first time we saw them was on a small stage late in the afternoon -- probably not more than a couple dozen of us. The crowds swelled to a couple thousand by the weekend more folks arrived for the festival and word got around about how much fun the Munnelly band is.
- Phil

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 27 Sep 06 - 11:00 PM

Lin informs me that our PICTURES ARE UP at our WVA Camps Smugmug Photo Gallery [http://waterhole.smugmug.com/].

She's split them into seven separate "galleries," all showing "2006" in the titles.

I haven't looked at them all yet, so you're welcome to join me to see what fascinating commentaries she's added to explain what's going on in the photos (almost like as if we knew?).

John

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: Uncle Phil
Date: 08 Oct 06 - 10:31 PM

Just got around to downloading Winfield pictures from my camera and put some of them at the URL below. - Phil

http://home.comcast.net/~phil_doubleu/index.htm

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 09 Oct 06 - 01:14 AM

Great pictures, Phil.

If I'd get me a camera with an actual lens on it do you suppose I could get some like those?

John

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 09 Oct 06 - 01:14 AM

Fine shots! Thanks for those.

Art

Subject: RE: Winfield (35th Annual) 2006 WVA Festival
From: Lin in Kansas
Date: 09 Oct 06 - 01:29 AM

Uncle Phil--

Awesome pictures! I think among you, John, and me, we pretty well covered the Festival this year, don't you?

Thanks much for posting them--they made me remember what the grandstand looks like in action (it's been 10 years since I've seen it that way, I think. Too much pickin' in the Grove!)

Lin, looking forward to the 36th.