Concert - The Final Report - LONG!!!!

Ok.  Maybe not FINAL final report, but the concert happened.  Dan and I rocked!  Totally! As did everyone else...and we had a lot of fun up there in the sanctuary of Trinity Episcopal church (or the transept or wherever...)  And we raised over $1200!  I KNOW!!!!!!

So pretty!

Here is the whole unexpurgated story of the BIG day.  Dan and I practiced in the morning at my house.  And it's a good thing we did because Dan found the very last piece of the 1000 piece puzzle that Hub and I just finished that morning.  (I had to take my mind off the concert details somehow.  Also, looking for a missing puzzle piece means forgotten corners were swept.  Win-win.)

Then off we went to Trinity Episcopal Church where bedlam was slowly percolating.  Two Lehigh Valley Storytelling Guild tellers, Ingrid Bohn and Judy England-McCarthy, were already there and ready to take over the kitchen!!  Dave Howell, another LVSG member and Trinity Episcopal Church member, was resplendent in his chef's toque.  He was ready to make his wildly popular tomato soup for the after-concert party.  Marcie Lightwood, Trinity Episcopal Church member and my CO-CONSPIRATOR and PLANNER handled the influx of food for the potluck.   Jolene Kiernan and her amazing husband, Charles Kiernan (LVSG member), were there ready to help out.

I ran around - this is the only way to describe what I did - I ran - checking with every single person - except the sound and video folks because I know nothing about sound and video.  Dan consulted with Bruce Marold (LVSG and Trinity Episcopal Church member) on matters electronic.   Tom and Betty Druckenmiller arrived at about the same time that we did.

Around 12:45, other performers started to arrive.  I had hoped that ALL the performers would be there but traffic and family and finding parking and other stuff often intervenes.

In the church people, plugged things in, said "testing, testing" over and over again.

In the Parish Hall, Marcie and I went over EventBrite ticketing in case people wanted to use credit cards.

Then, Denise McCormack arrived. I showed her how to do EventBrite ticketing because, just like me, Marcie was running around- I felt that her mode of perambulation was somehow more serene, and elegant, than mine - and had kitchen stuff to check on and etc.

As normally happens when I plan events, people found themselves talking to air as I left - like the Roadrunner - in a puff of dust to attend to something else.  I know it's irritating but, hey, I was a tad anxious.

More performers arrived with MORE sound equipment, so there was MORE plugging and feedback and "testing, testing" and 2 pm rolled around.

One act was not at the church.  One act was fussing with their equipment.  Five acts were sitting quietly on the sidelines waiting .  The audience, full of friends and family and church members and generous people, waited.  The MC, Rick Weaver, of Piper's Request, smiled benignly in an attempt to calm me down.

FINALLY, about 25 minutes late, we started.  Rick sang a wonderful song.  What a lovely voice he has!!   YAY!  Today, We Fight with Peace arrived!

Then Dan and I, in our Chiles' Play personas, took the stage.  We did very well.  And we were well-received.

Judy England-McCarthy was next with an animated and masterful telling of how Anansi, the spider, got his come-uppance!  It was a great example of reverse psychology.  A little info on arachnids and insects set the stage.

Today, We Fight with Peace's leader and her dad.

Today, We Fight with Peace got up to sing and play after a short technical check-in (testing, testing?).  They were awesome and have such a nice onstage rapport.  That girl has a lovely clear singing voice.  There was a balance problem with the instruments drowning out Annabellie's voice at times.  Still, a wonderful performance by all, Father, daughter and Uncle/brother. My favorite? - The Hungry Song but Awkward Teenager was a close second.  I love the way they play with words in that one.


Ingrid Bohn came next.  Her story, The King's Drum, was about working together and carrying your part of the burden AND about guilt.   Anansi made an appearance in her story but as a wise counselor, not a trickster.  Ingrid prowled the front of the church and into the pews like the lion in her story.  Wow!

I can't find the words for the music of Tom and Betty Druckenmiller.  I love their old time sound, the history of the songs they sing, a genre of music that is heart warming and heartening, (see what I did there?).

This wasn't taken at the church but here they are.

However, I wanted to get a total of the money we brought in so I left the church for a few minutes and, what??? We brought in that much?  Over $600 in cash and with the checks people wrote, we had over $800 in the cash box.

I got back in time to hear Tom and Betty sing one of my favorites, "You've Been that Friend to Me" and two songs I had never heard before.

Up next was Charles Kiernan with a story about loss and reclamation, curiosity and faithfulness, from Spain, A Sprig of Rosemary.  Charles is always in control of his story, his presence and his audience.  The story featured the wind as helping character, unlike the winds that destroyed much of Puerto Rico.

Rick Weaver introduced each act, interjected facts about the events in Puerto Rico and the conditions there and kept things moving.

The last act, Closer (pronounced like "getting nearer", not like "closing the deal", although they truly did) performed classic rock and country-rock songs and they were sooooooo very good.  SO GOOD!  They don't have an online presence, alas, or I would link you to them.

Then, PARTY TIME.  We all made our way to the Parish Hall where we ate soup and hummus and cheese and sausages and crackers and fruit and drank coffee and tea and chatted and visited and just had fun.

This is just the story of the BIG DAY!  All the planning, emails, FB boosts, website building, PR, graphic design, networking, - that will be chronicled elsewhere.

BTW, we have most of the day's events recorded.  I might post video here.

You can still donate here.