We had another successful festival in 1998, thanks to the efforts of the Festival Coordinator, Bridget Noonan and summer student, Jane Moran; the Festival Committee chaired by Judy Stamp; the many volunteers who helped with the children's program, the beer tent, merchandising, transportation, programming, the stages, advertising, festival program, and finances; the City of St. John's; and our generous sponsors. Rob Brown and Michelle Brophy held a traditional music workshop and it went over so well that we are planning to hold another one this year. Last but not least, many thanks to all the musicians for their contributions and to the public for their support. Last fall a committee of Board and festival committee members was struck to make recommendations for the 1999 festival. The Board endorsed their recommendation to continue to hold the festival in Bannerman Park and to stay the course, focussing mainly on Newfoundland and Labrador performers and encouraging artists who reflect the province's traditions and roots. Please contact Bridget if you would like to help out at this year's festival, we always need volunteers.

I'm pleased to announce that the SJFAC recently won a national award in the "Cultural Event" category by Attractions Canada. This recognition should help draw additional tourists to Newfoundland and improve our fund-raising efforts with potential sponsors for the festival.

Your Board of Directors met frequently last year and I would like to thank them all for their comments and suggestions at our monthly meetings. June Hiscock, Michelle Riggs, Judy Stamp, Steve Dawson and Peter Narvaez resigned from the Board this year and we are very grateful to these people for their past and present service to the SJFAC. I am also pleased that Don Walsh, Andrew Lang, Anita Best, Hugh Scott, Scott Schillereff and Stan Pickett have elected to return as Board members and I welcome the nominations/acclamations of Rob Brown, Rod Shea and Vonnie Barron as new Directors.

We sent the Executive of the East Coast Music Awards the following resolution, "Whereas the current eligibility criteria for inclusion in the ECMA awards competitions, Roots/Traditional category, discriminate against traditional musicians by obliging them to produce recordings containing at least 51% vocal tracks or to compete against instrumentalists in various other musical genres, the St. John's Folk Arts Council strongly recommends changing the eligibility criteria for this category to reflect a more accurate definition of 'Roots/Traditional'. The SJFAC urges the ECMA Board to re-consider its eligibility criteria and to add categories or sub-categories rather than introducing exclusionary criteria".

Much of Board business dealt with the relocation of the folk club (see here) and moved to the Ship Inn in early June where Byron Pardy and Eastern Audio will now provide the sound. Wallace Hammond had handled the sound for us for several years and on behalf of everyone, I would like to sincerely thank him and Denise for their considerable service to the SJFAC. I'd also like to thank Don Walsh who will continue to book performers for the Folk Club and Vonnie Barron who has kindly taken on the responsibility of inviting people to host.

We owe a debt of gratitude to Jean Hewson for reviving and editing the SJFAC newsletter and to Peter Narvaez for editing and formatting it for duplication. The next issue of The Broadside is due in September, please send articles and letters to Jean. A web site was set up this year and includes links to the folk club lineup, festival and the newsletter. Please send me your comments and suggestions.

The finances of the SJFAC are always a concern, especially during the spring before festival funding arrives. In order to alleviate this annual cash crunch and provide additional monies for SJFAC activities, the Board recently voted to reduce the hours of operation of the Water Street Office to one day a week from October to February. We are also pleased to have a volunteer book-keeper, Betty Spencer, to keep our books up to date on a monthly basis. Our two months at O'Reilly's has put the folk club back into the black and I am optimistic that we can continue to make the folk club self-supporting at the Ship Inn. Bridget has been working very hard negotiating excellent deals with the many groups who tender their services for the festival, as well as maintaining existing sponsors and attracting new ones. With these efforts and good weather, I'm confident that this year's festival will be a financial as well as artistic success.

There is still much work to be done, but the future of the SJFAC looks strong. Many thanks to everyone who has worked with me on behalf of the Council and to all members who allowed me to spend a hectic and interesting year as President. Feedback from members is important and please feel free to submit items for discussion to the Board.