Day Four of the Miramichi Festival

Rosalee Peppard from Nova Scotia (performer)

Ivan Hicks, a great fiddle player from central New Brunswick, always draws a full house on the Thursday night of the Festival.

Liam Mather singing at the Black Horse.

Followed by Gerry Roberts from Belfast, Ireland, comes every year for the past 4 years to sing at the festival.

The Gillis Family from Redbank, NB, just outside Miramichi.

Melanie Ross Breen playing the bodhran, very musical and loads of fun. I was there till 1:30am, had to get up early this morning to go to work....wish I could have stayed later, maybe next year, I will take the next day as a vacation day!

Day Three at the Miramichi Folksong Festival

Menu for Thursday's luncheon

Line up of musicians

Melanie Ross Breen sang again, always a crowd pleaser!

Colleen Estey who volunteers for Susan Butler for various events was "discovered" as she was singing in the kitchen one day, she has been singing at the Festival ever since, takes off her apron and goes on stage, what a magnifient voice!!!

Liam Mather pictured here with Susan Butler behind stage. He is an up and coming performer, he will go places this young man with such a booming voice.  One more night, then it is the Nathan Rogers Concert at the James M. Hill auditorium tomorrow night, Friday, August 5th.  Nathan is the son of the late and great Stan Rogers from Nova Scotia, making a place of his own though, great singer!!

Statue in middle of the street

This statue stood in the middle of the street in Chatham, New Brunswick, Canada around the turn of the century.  It was there mainly to water the horses as they went by with their masters.  The building on the extreme left of the picture now houses O'Donaghue's, a popular Irish Pub where I have been known to lift a glass or two...........fun place to be, lots of entertainment and good food.

Day Two at the Miramichi Folksong Festival

The line up for the evening's show.

Menu for the following day's luncheon.

Melanie Ross Breen, a beautiful singer, comes from here, now makes her home in Nova Scotia.  I remember her singing in the children's choir at St. Mary's and now she sings all over the world!!

Melanie Ross Breen.

The Heritage Players, a group from here, sang a few rollicking tunes with a lot of energy.  They clowned around too, went and picked up someone from the audience, threw a plaid short and hat and had him singing too, too funny....

Roger LeBlanc, quite an accomplished accordian player from Moncton area.  He could really play that thing!!!

The Director of the Festival, Susan Butler seen here with me.  We went to school together, she also has received the Order of Canada, she is a phenonmenal lady, we love her and all she does for this community!

Dates for next year's Festival, hope you can all make it!!  People from all over come here for this event.

Day One at the Festival

Here is a very short history of the Miramichi Folksong Festival.  Dr. Louise Manny started the festival back in 1958.  She was an avid historian and much interested in the forklore of the Miramichi area.  With the gift of a tape recorder in 1946 from Lord Beaverbrook (who spent a lot of his time in England being friends with Sir Winston Churchill during the war), she proceeded to record the lumbermen and other old souls.   Here is an a bit taken from the internet:

Manny was also responsible for establishing the Miramichi Folksong Festival, which was founded in 1958. At its inception, this was a three-day event in which folk singers and storytellers had a chance to perform and share stories. In the early years of the festival, performers were not allowed to use instruments. In the interest of maintaining the purity of the folk tradition, it was expected that the songs be performed a capella. The festival continues to be a yearly event and has since grown in size and scope, featuring local and national acts. In addition to her other pursuits, Manny was director of the festival from 1958 until 1969. Today, it is the longest-running festival of its kind in Canada.
A published author, she completed a series of three volumes chronicling New Brunswick’s shipbuilding history. Her other book, Songs of the Miramichi, is a comprehensive collection of the region’s folksongs.
In 1966, she was honoured by the American Association for State and Local History for her work as a historian and folklorist. She received the “Woman of the Century” medal from the National Council of Jewish Women of Canada in 1967. Additionally, the province of New Brunswick named a mountain in Northumberland County “Manny Mountain” after her.

One of her last request was:  Keep the Festival Alive!  I wonder if she realized that it would still be going strong after 54 years, and it would go on for a week, complete with luncheons!!  I appeared on stage with a little friend of mine in 1959.Here are some pics from last night, the first night.

David Adam Richards officially opened the Festival.  He is one of our own who has become quite an accomplished author.  You can google him to find out more.  On top of that, he received the Order of Canada also, here he is pictured with his wife Peggy, I went to school with both.

Toe tapping music from the Miramichi Fiddlers, they held a Fiddler's weekend this past week, served delicious breakfast, yum yum!

BeLow the Mast, a fantastic group from Saint John, acappella, great combination of voices!!

Laura Smith from Nova Scotia, very haunting voice.....

Here I am pictured with some nice ladies I met at the Festival years ago.  The one on the far right comes home from West Canada to be at the Festival.

Folksong Festival, Miramichi, NB

This morning, I am off to work at the Folksong Festival here in Miramichi.  It is the longest running Folksong Festival in on this side of the Atlantic.  I do this every year and really enjoy it.  Many performers have been on this stage in the last 50 years or so.  It starts off with a breakfast complete with entertainment and every day luncheons and concerts at nights, all with entertainment!

Then, on Thursday evening, after the concert, we all head down to the Black Horse Tavern to raise a glass (or two--or more) to Perley Hare, an elderly gentleman who, immediately following his perfermance 8-9 years ago, walked over to the Black Horse Tavern, sat down and ordered a drink and was dead before it even got to him. (No, the service wasn't that bad)!!  We have a great Jam Session with all the performers of the concerts and others and have a grand time!  This goes on till the wee hours of the morning although I have to leave early as I have to go to work, tired or not.

Will post pictures later as the week progresses.

My new to me car

This is a 2005 Buick Allure that I purchased yesterday.  Surely this will carry me into my retirement!!  It is a smooth and comfortable car.  I will try it out on my trip to Grand Manan Island just south off New Brunswick near the end of August with my daughter and step daughter.