Come Home Week!

This summer, the SJFAC decided to have a weeklong celebration to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Folk Arts Council and the 30th birthday of the Folk Festival. The entire week leading up to the Festival was a smorgasbord of great music, dancing and storytelling, with the scattered fire drill thrown in for good measure!

The opening event on Sunday July 30th was Recitation Night at the Crow’s Nest, sponsored by the SJFAC and the St. John’s Storytelling Circle. Due to a slight glitch, the organizers arrived at the Crow’s Nest to discover that it hadn’t been booked for the event. Undaunted, they led their merry crew across the street to Harbourside Park, where a magical evening of recitations by the water ensued. Many passersby were charmed by the gathering, and stayed to hear the recitations and find out more about the art of storytelling.
Sadly, the SJFAC reunion barbeque scheduled for Monday July 31st was scuttled because not enough people purchased tickets in advance. Many of us were disappointed, but we had many other opportunities ahead of us to socialize and enjoy each other’s company. Photos here.

On Tuesday August 1st, Session Night took place at the Masonic Temple on Cathedral St. It was a tremendous success. The Masonic resounded with the sound of music. In fact, just about every musician I knew (except Julie Andrews) was there. There were singers upstairs, young musicians practicing for the Folk Festival’s Youth Invasion in the main hall, and a group of hotshot players in the lounge. Photos here and here.

Session Night proved to be a great warm-up for the Pre-Festival Bash on Wednesday evening at the Ship Pub. It was open mic all night long, with a great lineup of artists including Duane Andrews, Colleen Power, Nancy Kerr and James Fagan, Rik Barron, Graham Wells and many more. The evening was recorded for the national CBC Radio Show “The Circuit,” as well as for the Regional CBC show, “The Performance Hour.” At about 11:30 the fire alarm went off (right in the middle of Randy Smith’s recitation) and all hands filed out into Solomon’s Lane. The alarm shut down just a few minutes before midnight. The diehards resumed their places at the bar, but many others went home, no doubt to save their strength for the weekend itself. Photos here and here.

The final Come Home Week event was Multi-Cultural night at Gower St. United Church featuring The Forgotten Bouzouki, The Mahers Bahers and Mopaya. It was a lovely evening of culturally diverse music and company. All the bands were hot, but luckily they didn’t set off the fire alarm again, enabling the audience to stay till the end of the show. Proceeds went to the Association for New Canadians. Photos here.

All of the events were well attended, attracting both new and established folk music fans. Aidan O’Hara, former SJFAC board member and programming director of the very first festival, came all the way from Ireland with his wife Joyce to take part in the festivities. Aidan joined the traditional song session at the Festival on Saturday night, and he and Joyce had a great time reminiscing with old friends and acquaintances during the weekend.

The SJFAC also honoured several past presidents of the organization on Saturday afternoon by presenting them with lifetime memberships on stage. It certainly brought back a lot of memories for me to see Andy Samuelson, Jude (formerly Samuelson) Moakler, Eleanor Dawson, Bert Riggs, Tonya Kearley, Rick West, Ed Lear and Linda Russell backstage.

It was indeed a wonderful week, culminating in a great festival. The SJFAC would like to thank all those who helped put together the Come Home Week activities. Let’s do it again for the 50th!

Jean Hewson serves on the SJFAC Board as Past President and has been Artistic Director of the Festival for several years. Who knew she is also friends with Julie Andrews!

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	Come Home Week! by Jean Hewson The Broadside Vol 10. No. 2 August 2006

	This summer, the SJFAC decided to have a weeklong celebration to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Folk Arts Council and the 30th birthday of the Folk Festival. The entire week leading up to the Festival was a smorgasbord of great music, dancing and storytelling, with the scattered fire drill thrown in for good measure! The opening event on Sunday July 30th was Recitation Night at the Crow’s Nest, sponsored by the SJFAC and the St. John’s Storytelling Circle. Due to a slight glitch, the organizers arrived at the Crow’s Nest to discover that it hadn’t been booked for the event. Undaunted, they led their merry crew across the street to Harbourside Park, where a magical evening of recitations by the water ensued. Many passersby were charmed by the gathering, and stayed to hear the recitations and find out more about the art of storytelling. Sadly, the SJFAC reunion barbeque scheduled for Monday July 31st was scuttled because not enough people purchased tickets in advance. Many of us were disappointed, but we had many other opportunities ahead of us to socialize and enjoy each other’s company. Photos here. On Tuesday August 1st, Session Night took place at the Masonic Temple on Cathedral St. It was a tremendous success. The Masonic resounded with the sound of music. In fact, just about every musician I knew (except Julie Andrews) was there. There were singers upstairs, young musicians practicing for the Folk Festival’s Youth Invasion in the main hall, and a group of hotshot players in the lounge. Photos here and here. Session Night proved to be a great warm-up for the Pre-Festival Bash on Wednesday evening at the Ship Pub. It was open mic all night long, with a great lineup of artists including Duane Andrews, Colleen Power, Nancy Kerr and James Fagan, Rik Barron, Graham Wells and many more. The evening was recorded for the national CBC Radio Show “The Circuit,” as well as for the Regional CBC show, “The Performance Hour.” At about 11:30 the fire alarm went off (right in the middle of Randy Smith’s recitation) and all hands filed out into Solomon’s Lane. The alarm shut down just a few minutes before midnight. The diehards resumed their places at the bar, but many others went home, no doubt to save their strength for the weekend itself. Photos here and here. The final Come Home Week event was Multi-Cultural night at Gower St. United Church featuring The Forgotten Bouzouki, The Mahers Bahers and Mopaya. It was a lovely evening of culturally diverse music and company. All the bands were hot, but luckily they didn’t set off the fire alarm again, enabling the audience to stay till the end of the show. Proceeds went to the Association for New Canadians. Photos here. All of the events were well attended, attracting both new and established folk music fans. Aidan O’Hara, former SJFAC board member and programming director of the very first festival, came all the way from Ireland with his wife Joyce to take part in the festivities. Aidan joined the traditional song session at the Festival on Saturday night, and he and Joyce had a great time reminiscing with old friends and acquaintances during the weekend. The SJFAC also honoured several past presidents of the organization on Saturday afternoon by presenting them with lifetime memberships on stage. It certainly brought back a lot of memories for me to see Andy Samuelson, Jude (formerly Samuelson) Moakler, Eleanor Dawson, Bert Riggs, Tonya Kearley, Rick West, Ed Lear and Linda Russell backstage. It was indeed a wonderful week, culminating in a great festival. The SJFAC would like to thank all those who helped put together the Come Home Week activities. Let’s do it again for the 50th! Jean Hewson serves on the SJFAC Board as Past President and has been Artistic Director of the Festival for several years. Who knew she is also friends with Julie Andrews! (back to table of contents)