Wow folks, where to begin. I know there are other threads about Stratford and the weekend experience, but I really felt the need to start my (our) own. Patty and I have been mentioned in so many other threads and thanked for all the hard work we did. We really do appreciate that because the weekend is a ton of work for both of us. Your kind words and thoughts mean a lot. It took me so long to post about the weekend because as soon as I got home, I unfortunately had to catch the 6:30 flight Monday morning to Ottawa for business. I say “unfortunately” because I could have used a day or two of down time after Stratford to recuperate a little bit. It has been non stop chaotic work since then! I finally have a few minutes to sit down and compose my thoughts. That said, allow me to ramble on in what will no doubt be a long post of my thoughts and recollections from the weekend.
To the band, as always, thanks! I especially have to say a million thanks to Bruce and Ed for sitting behind us and playing all 25 songs. Not only did they do that, they also practiced most of them before the meet and greet started with the various musicians. They basically started at 11:00ish, practiced till 2:30 or so, then were back at it from the start of the Meet jam around 4:00. To say those two played their hearts out for us would be an understatement. Ed, as our newest addition, I cannot thank you enough for the help you provided with the sound and technical aspects of things. From the second I opened the doors for you at 9:00 on Saturday, I knew we would get along just fine! You are one cool dude!! Thanks Bruce, Thanks Ed!
I also have to say how thrilled I was to see so many new faces performing at the Meet and Greet jam this year. It was so refreshing to see all the new blood and hear all those new voices. And what voices they were! I don’t think anyone will disagree with me that Kelly and Warren can harmonize like nobody’s business! Derek and Tara also left us in awe of their musical abilities. Rob, thanks for making the effort to come all the way back out on Saturday to join us!! Ray, well, it takes a fair amount of guts to get up and do “After the Rain” my friend. Craig, good to see you up there again doing some songs! Ryan and Joe, thanks for treating us to the originals at the after show! It’s one thing to play someone else’s tunes, quite another to play your own! And of course Art, as always playing with so many people on so many songs.
I definitely have a few favourate moments from the Jam. A highlight was doing “Stratford Blues”, Adele’s new song, and having Paul up there playing Bass with us on the song. His first public performance and although seemingly nervous, he was solid! And how about having Lori, Ann and Adele sing back up for me on Moon and Tree? To me, that moment was what the weekend was all about. I can honestly say, looking out into the audience during that song, I saw the most smiling faces looking back at us!
Perhaps the absolute biggest highlight of the live jam music for both Patty and I was when a certain Eastern Ontario farmer took the stage to entertain us with his versions of old time Rock and Roll and Country. As Lori has mentioned elsewhere, farmer Dan may not have been too thrilled with Stratford the first time, but I don’t think she’ll ever have a problem getting him back. Dan got up a couple of times to play a few tunes and I have to tell you, each time he did, we couldn’t wipe the smile of our faces! We were literally giddy watching him! At the end of Saturday night, we were both so tired and just about ready to call it a night when Dan got up and did some songs! All of a sudden, we were both bopping in our seats and grinning from ear to ear!!! Cripes, I’m still singing T for Texas!!!! I leaned over to Lori at one point and said to her “I could listen to him play all night”. I know a little about guitar and a little about music, and I know when someone has “game”. Let me tell you, Farmer Dan has game! He picked up that guitar and what he played came straight from the heart. I figure I can always tell when someone is playing because they have practiced a song, and I can tell when someone is playing because the music is flowing from within. Dan, don’t ever stop playing. You are so refreshing and a true joy to watch! When we retired for the evening on Saturday, all Patty and I could talk about was how much you made us smile! Patty said to me, “It was like watching a young Elvis”. She specifically said to me, “when you post about this weekend, make sure you tell Dan how much he made me smile”! I also thoroughly enjoyed our conversations about guitars and life in general! Lori’s right, you are one of the most easy going guys one could hope to meet! Oh yeah – your girlfriend, she’s ok too (other than being a really bad influence on me making me smoke all those cigarettes)!!!! Seriously though, take us up on our invite, you guys rock!!!
Of course I have to echo the other thanks sent the way of the “Schwa’s”. Paul and Adele are people we call friends now. Between planning aspects of the meet, and working on music together, I can assure you they are outstanding people. On Saturday night as the jam was ending, Adele presented me with a plaque that Paul had made. It was engraved with “Stratford 2007” and signed by Greg and the Sadie’s. A really cool memento of the weekend. But what was more touching was the card that accompanied it. It was addressed to Patty and I, and it was full of comments and signatures from so many people. I never had a chance to read it at the Meet, but when I returned to our room later, I had tears in my eyes reading it.
The Card:
The Plaque:
I saw Sonja’s name mentioned in another thread, but again, I have to echo the thanks sent her way. You folks had to see what she did for quite a few hours. Quietly sitting there working on the name tags, making sure they were just perfect, and then spending a lot more time with Cathy handing them out at the door during the meet. I think Jenn helped with that too! These people are quite literally the unsung hero’s of the weekend.
Ann, thanks for the rides to and from the theatre! Who knew you were Brendan’s little sister??? Small world! Sorry for the singing in your ears all the way through Love and Understanding, but I just couldn’t keep it in!!!!
Like everyone else, I met a ton of new people this weekend. You were all great, and I should say thanks to each and every one of you, but this post will be annoyingly long as it is.
Dar and Randy, as always, a great pleasure! Thanks for sharing that blown speaker with us on Saturday night!!
Cathy, thanks for the beers! You are truly a genuine person. When you gave me that hug at the end of the weekend, I could tell it was from the heart!!
Jenn, so nice to finally meet you! Great to see you having such a good time and I hope you’ll come back!! You have to be the only person that leaves Florida to come to Canada in January!!!!
Ray, what can I say, anyone that buys a souvenir like that is my kinda guy!!!
Linda, I never had much contact with you one the board previously, and we never discussed a lot of things at all, but from the second you said “Hi Dizzy” at the reception desk, you struck me as a very warm person. Then you gave me those few little “gifts” over the course of the weekend. I just want you to know I was truly touched by your actions! You are a real sweetheart. As of this afternoon, your disc is in the mail!
Therese, always a treat to see you. Do you ever stop smiling? I swear, if I had one quarter of your positive energy, I’d be a happy camper.
I’m sure I’ve forgotten to mention a bunch of people, but you get the idea. It’s not about the concerts, it’s not about the Meet, and it’s not about the jam. It’s about the people!
Speaking of the people, Patty mentioned to me how bad she felt that she didn’t know everyone by name, or perhaps didn’t recognize people immediately and wanted to apologize to those whose names she had forgotten. I sometimes forget that I know so many of you because we chat all year long. Patty on the other hand almost never reads the board, and for the most part, has no idea about most of the people here. So for her, your faces are ones she sees once a year. Unlike me, she doesn’t associate them with all the stories and goings on from the board. She constantly says to me over the course of the weekend “who’s that again”! It’s really quite funny as I tend to forget she doesn’t know you as well as I do. She often feels odd that people know so much about us, and yet, she has little idea who they are!
Sorry for the incredibly long post, but the weekend left both Patty and I emotionally and physically drained. Part of writing all this down for me, is a little therapy to help me remember all the good parts of the weekend. They certainly out number the “bad parts”. However, it is those “bad parts” that I am simply choosing not to deal with anymore. I did mention before that this would probably be our last year being this heavily involved in the music part of the Meet. This weekend only affirmed that, mostly for reasons I will choose to keep private.
One thing I will say I was disappointed with was when Randy from the Old English Parlour contacted me (after we had all left) to inform me of smoking in one of the guest rooms. I won’t say who it was, although I do know (and you know who you are too). Those kind of things reflect poorly on our group as a whole and are disappointing. Randy has expressed that those particular room guests will not be welcome back at the Old English Parlour.
So now that my “reflections” are done, I’ll close the book on another great year in Stratford. Dare I say it was the best one for us yet? I am sure we’ll be at the Meet next year (please don’t let the concerts be the weekend of January 13 – we already have plans for that weekend), and I’ll probably bring a guitar to sing a song or two. But until then, thank you so much for allowing us to be part of such a special event for the last 3 years! Thank you for making us feel like we were “stars”. Thanks for all the great compliments! But most of all, thanks for being friends!!! You people are AWESOME!!!!!
Peter and Patty
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Talk Is Cheap - Well I Outta Know!!!!!!
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