Florence, Oregon -- January 21, 2006
Vancouver, Washington -- January 28, 2006
First, let�s go back to the Winter Folk Festival in Florence, Oregon, Jan. 21-22. Though Cheryl and I live just a couple hundred miles away, we�ve never before attended this very well-organized and interesting event. Boy, have we missed something! Florence is a small, historic resort town on the central Oregon Coast. Each year it hosts the Winter Folk Festival in the Florence Events Center, a facility of which the town is rightfully proud. Aside from live folk music all weekend long, there are dozens of displays by folk artisans and vendors, a pie baking contest � a whole lot of fun with a lot of nice people from all over the Northwest.
The headline attraction this year was, of course, The New Christy Minstrels. The group arrived in town in time for a couple of days of rehearsal before their concert on Saturday night, January 21. On Friday, January 20, busloads of schoolchildren were brought to the Events Center for two half-hour Kids� Concerts by Randy and several of the Minstrels. The group, on stage in front of a 20-foot-high mural made by the schoolkids highlighting the historic subjects of many Sparks songs, were Randy Sparks, Becky Jo Benson, Clarence Treat, Barry McGuire, Ron Wilburne, Chuck Cole, Linda Paul and Igor Glenn. The kids� teachers had previously been provided lyric sheets to the songs (including such numbers as Paul Bunyan and Appleseed John) in the Kids� Concerts, so the audience already knew the songs and joined right in! Don�t let anyone tell you that kids today don�t relate to good folk music!
The Saturday night concert had been sold out for several weeks � and it was a smash hit. On stage the front row was made up entirely of �original� Minstrels: (left to right as seen by the audience) Barry McGuire, Gayle Caldwell, Randy Sparks, Jackie Miller Davidson, Art Podell and Clarence Treat. Backing them up were Linda Paul, Todd Hallawell, John Doan, Becky Jo Benson, Chuck Cole and Ron Wilburne (due to prior engagements Igor Glenn had to return to Arizona before Saturday�s concert).
Among the treats in the concert was Randy�s new song, Here Comes Grimes, celebrating Mark Twain's contemporary Absalom Grimes, who delivered the mail for soldiers in the Civil War. But the emotional highlight of the evening was a song called Faretheewell. John Doan wrote the music (originally titled Farewell) as a tribute to his friend Burl Ives; and Randy later added the stirring lyrics. You can hear John play the beautiful song on his harp guitar at John's website; scroll down to Farewell.
The early sellout of the Florence concert led Randy to inquire whether another Northwest concert could be arranged for the following week, for Saturday, January 28. Lo and behold a suitable venue in Vancouver, Washington, was found on very short notice (many thanks to the pastor and staff of Peoples Church) and arrangements were quickly made. As Vancouver is the place where Randy first invented The New Christy Minstrels (and, by the way, where he first heard the song This Land Is Your Land), the Vancouver event was dubbed the �Ramblin� Back Home� Concert. Most of the Florence lineup were able to arrange their schedules to fit in this additional concert. Jackie rearranged her schedule to allow her to make the trip, but unfortunately last minute travel plans fell through, and she could not make it. Gayle and Art had to return home due to other commitments, and did not make the Vancouver trip.
As Randy mentioned in an earlier post, the drive from Florence to Vancouver included a stopover at John Doan�s home in Salem. There Randy and John performed Faretheewell to the most appreciative audience � Dorothy (Mrs. Burl) Ives, along with guitar legend Mason Williams.
On Wednesday, January 25, Barry, Clarence, Becky Jo, Linda and Ron went to dinner at a small caf� in northwest Portland, Oregon, where the evening�s entertainment was folksinger Harris Blackwell, who had opened for The New Christy Minstrels at their recent performance in Prescott, Arizona. As you might expect, there were Minstrels on the stage before the evening was over!
Though the Vancouver concert had only seven days of publicity (Randy first announced it publicly at the close of the Florence concert), a wildly enthusiastic crowd of about 250 flocked to Peoples Church for the concert. Mason Williams was among those in attendance. We were glad to see Paul and Diane Grudis, who drove down from Centralia, Washington, and several folks came from as far south as Salem, Oregon.
In the Vancouver lineup were Randy, Barry, Clarence, Becky Jo, Ron, Chuck, John and Linda, joined by the lovely and talented Jennifer Smith (of Randy�s Western group �The Bear Back Riders of America�), plus a solo by Deirdre (Mrs. John) Doan. In addition to the usual NCM concert numbers, the set list included Ramblin', Here Comes Grimes, A Little Bit of Happiness, Faretheewell, The Dying Convict, Love Song to The Moon and Freedom. I have to tell you, the rehearsal hall for the week (a.k.a. the Jacobs� living room) was a rockin� place!
The morning after the Vancouver concert, Sunday, January 29, Barry McGuire was the guest speaker at the 11:00 AM worship service at Peoples Church. Wow!
It was an unforgettable, two-week thrill ride in the Northwest with The New Christy Minstrels. The group has never sounded better!