Topic: an Special Moment
Thursday evening I performed in the Foothills Folk Society concert/fundraiser at OUC (Ohio University - Chillicothe campus). The Foothills Folk Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and preserving Appalachian arts and is made up of local musicians and artists who donate their time to raise money to provide free instruments and music lessons for local youth. We also collect donations for the local food bank. (We contributed over 4 tons of food in 2013).
The program theme this year was folk songs from the 50's and 60's and each performer was asked to play at least one song from that era. I played Donovan's "Catch the Wind" and "I Just Want to be a Folk Singer" (written by local singer/songwriter Jeff Hartley) and then 3 of my original tunes. The audience was real receptive and I really enjoyed playing. After I finished my set, I put my guitar away, stashed it in a small room behind the stage and then went out into the hall so I could enter the auditorium in the rear and sit in one of the back seats to hear the next act. As I was walking down the hall I heard footsteps behind me so I stopped and turned around. There was a chubby youngster about 10-12 years old following me and when I stopped he almost turned and ran but finally got his courage up to approach me. In a shy voice he said "Sir, I want to tell you how much I liked your songs." I immediately thanked him and asked him if he played an instrument. He told me he had been taking banjo lessons for 7 months. We talked about music for several moments and I invited him to attend our next FFS "Munch and Jam". (monthly get-together where we have a short business meeting then socialize and play for 3 hours). When we parted ways I'm not sure who had the biggest smile. For me, the praise of that youngster meant more than all the applause from the audience. It was really a special moment I'll always remember.
It was a pretty successful evening. We ended up making $500 for the group and also received $59 in cash and over 400 pounds of food for the food bank.
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