Setting Up GrassRoots

Once again I got to be on the crew to set up for the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance.  An annual tradition I treasure, I'm part of the group that sets up the Infield Stage, I love putting together the stage where my heroes stand.  We also do a community project spearheaded by Alan Vogel.  This year a pavilion for the Montour Falls Farmers' Market and an additional ticket booth for the fairgrounds were constructed, along with improvements to the old booth.  I took a bunch of pictures of the progress, but they are lost in the void of the computer.  We did quite well considering we had to start a week early to be done before the Culture Camp got underway the Sunday before the festival started.  I calculated I've spent over 200 days in Trumansburg because of the festival, the next best thing to living there.

Family Time

Never one to neglect the family, I left Trumansburg for a few days.  Pat, Sue and John were all in Westfield for the Reunion Weekend, organized this year by Pat's class.  From there everyone converged in the Boston Hills south of Buffalo for a week.  Gail and I couldn't get there until the end of the week so missed a few people, but that's inevitable when nine siblings, our mom, and many nieces, nephews and their families are coming and going.  I think this picture of Pat, who was there all week with Helene and the boys (who I got to spend time with at Blue Heron the previous week) is an indication that spending the whole time there can be a bit much.  I hear he's better now.

Family Time

Badminton Ninja, fishing in the pond, second cousins and worshiping at the banjo altar. 

Family Time

The crew took a day trip to Buffalo for some kayaking on the waterfront, a beautiful place that is just being opened to the public after a century of industrialization.  Some of the boys in attendance before I got there gathered by the pond for a group photo.  Father Joe visited to see his beautiful Goddaughter.

Family Time

I was really sorry to miss Kelli, Eduardo and their sweet girl, Juliette.  They'll be living in China for several years and were on a grand tour visiting as many friends and family as possible so had a tighter schedule than Gail and I did and left before we arrived.  Julia got to see her Great Grandmother and the next generation taught Eduardo how to fly a kite, something he'd never done before.

GrassRoots 2016

And then the weekend I think about all year, GrassRoots.
One of the headliners this year was Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder.  Their musicianship is remarkable, people say it's too bad it's wasted on bluegrass.  I was struck by how much the guitarist looked like Will Vendryes.
Gail got a nice picture of Johnny Dowd, one of the musicians at the State Theater show 27 years ago that got the whole ball rolling.  As always, Bubba George kicked things off on the Infield Stage, but something new happened this year:  the Indigo Girls crew showed up with so much gear we all got kicked off the stage (except Bubba George).  Who kicks little dancing kids off a stage?  Fortunately I got to hang out on the guest platform of the stage, that I spent four days putting together, for Orlando Julius and the Afrosoundz set.  It's great to see things as the performers see them, and to be close to them without getting jostled by all the commoners.

GrassRoots 2016

Perennial favorite, Jim Lauderdale was on hand.  The guy in the yellow shirt in the top photo told me he bought the hat at the Merch Barn and wore it thinking that was the band playing.  I didn't want to burst his bubble so kept quiet.

GrassRoots 2016

The Ithaca Journal ran a nice piece about the Culture Camp that was new to the festival this year.  It was four days of workshops, dances and dinners.  I went up a couple mornings for banjo workshops by Richie Stearns and Mac Benford, and went to the kick-off dance Sunday night that featured the original line-up of Donna the Buffalo playing songs from the Red and White tapes.
The article in the paper included this picture of me on the front page above the fold.  It was either that or Trump, I guess they didn't have much choice.  There was also a video narrated by Tara and just as she said Mac was giving an advanced banjo workshop they cut to me, demonstrating it was somewhat of a beginners workshop too.
I later got a picture of a Journal reporter talking to my friends from WVA.  

GrassRoots 2016

This year the festival was a celebration of Leslie Puryear, mother and organizer along with some of her kids including Jordan, Ward and Jeb who have all been part of host band Donna the Buffalo. She died on Wednesday, the day before the festival started.  GrassRoots wouldn't exist if she hadn't supported it from the beginning and helped run things for many years.
I was fortunate to be around when Dan was painting pictures on a memorial to her and made some suggestions to fill the separate panels with images reflecting the life she led.  Jordan wrote a beautiful tribute to her that was placed on the memorial, I hope to get to read again.  The real tribute was seeing a wagon load of kids go past the memorial once it was placed at a spot she often could be found during the fest.  That was an apt reflection of her spirit.

GrassRoots 2016

Taking pictures is nice for more than just the memories, it also gets people to put their arms around each other and smile.  I rode up to T-burg with Connie and Andy several times during set-up for the festival so why not Thursday too?  Complete with a stop at Taughannock Trickle.  As always, Bubba George opened things up on the Infield Stage and all of a sudden it feels like I'm at some kind of reunion.  Well, I am.  A quick glance around reveals friends, expected and unexpected, from all over the northeast standing all around me.  I was quite surprised to see Julie and Steve, owners of Blue Heron Festival, they came for the day to celebrate Julie's birthday and visit family.
A few hours later Gail had arrived and wouldn't you know it, she and Annie were wearing the same outfits.

GrassRoots 2016

A good friend and musician from Blue Heron, Lori Burke, stayed at our house during the festival.  It's nice having an out of town guest during G'Roots, we get to get share the fest with them and get away for some sightseeing.  She's particularly impressed with Moosewood Restaurant so we joined her for lunch.  She was enticed to make the trip from Edinboro, PA because two of her favorite groups were performing this year, Indigo Girls and Mandolin Orange whose version of "Boots of Spanish Leather" provided the musical highlight for me this year.

GrassRoots 2016

On my way to the Grandstand Sunday morning for the GrassRoots Chamber Orchestra set I was struck by the job the clean-up crew does.  This area had thousands of people eating and drinking for the past 24 hours. 
Jeb introduced the orchestra claiming he'd had a solid 20 minutes of sleep.  He was up for the annual Sunrise Kickball Game Sunday morning and declared some of the participants to be rather talented.  If there's any video of the orchestra on the youtubes, I can't find it, so I guess you just better be there next year and I hope they do another revival of the arrangement of Jeb's "Mystic Water" that Judy Hyman wrote a few years ago.

GrassRoots 2016

It got kind of dusty at the Grandstand and Infield.

GrassRoots 2016

I've been camping since the last century down the road from the Fairgrounds at Jake's Place.  Eric, aka Jake, is married to Wendy and they have two great daughters.  Their place is spacious enough to accommodate 30 or so friends and family and over the years has added wonderful amenities such as a zip line over the pond and a covered stage for when you've just got to make the music.

GrassRoots 2016

When Jorden falls asleep on the soundboard it's time to close down the Dance Tent and finish the festival for another year.

Great Blue Heron Festival 2016

The Great Blue Heron Festival celebrated it's 25th year this summer, I think it was my 20th.  Things went smoother than ever, great weather, fine music and well coordinated by the folks in HQ.  Tammy really gets all the credit for what happens in HQ and there was a period I thought much more of it would fall on my shoulders as her husband had some serious health issues in the spring.  By serious I mean the doctor came out of the operating room and told Tammy he'd gone into cardiac arrest and asked if they should revive him.  She said yes and he was at the festival.
Annual Core Crew photo, the Crew Chiefs of HQ, and Chris and Ray who rarely walk anywhere on the grounds, but sometimes I tell them we don't have a golf cart for them.

Great Blue Heron Festival 2016

Festival founders, Julie and David.  This is a picture of a picture that was posted on the Memory Board in the Silver Anniversary Lounge.  Great people who are aging gracefully.  Well, Julie is.
One whole section of the Memory Wall was devoted to festival friends who have passed on.  The woman on the top right was a former crew chief in HQ, Tracy.  

 A really sweet picture of Richie and his son Cole who is over 21 now.

Great Blue Heron Festival 2016

The headliners this year were the New Riders of the Purple Sage.  I think they can drop the "New."  It was a good set and they told some cool stories about the Grateful Dead and played a few Dead songs I actually like.
Some friends who don't claim to be new are Patsy and Joe from Buffalo.  I've been hanging out with them at GBH and G'Roots for longer than I can remember.

Great Blue Heron Festival 2016

A real treat this year was to have Jim Lauderdale perform, a favorite from GrassRoots.  He started out solo, then was joined by Jeb from Donna the Buffalo and finally the rest of the band came out.  While he was alone I figured we weren't getting enough so after taking a picture of Pat, handed him the camera and said, "Get a picture of this."  I walked up to the stage, greeted Jeb, took the clock down and set it back a half hour and told Jeb to let Jim go on solo for a few more songs.