Tuesday, December 8, 2020

WIOX Tonight, December 8: Archives and Catskills Folk Lyceum

In a special two-hour Catskills Folk radio program at 6 p.m. tonight, Ginny Scheer, folklorist, will present a report on the folklore archiving forum she attended last month and a report about last Sunday's talk by Kathy Shimberg for the Catskills Folk Lyceum, "Traditonal Music and Dance in the Catskills: Delaware and Otsego Counties."  While there are no illustrations for the archiving report, the photos and video link for the recordings from the Catskills Folk Lyceum are included below, for you to follow during the second hour of Catskills Folk.

Folklore Archive Forum

The archival forum was organized for New York Folklore Society's series "Critical Folklife Forum" and featured presenters from among New York State's distinguished folklorists.  After their presentations it became a wide-ranging exchange with attending New York folklorists as well as several from other locations, totalling about 40.  Presenters were Varick Chittenden, founder of Traditional Arts in Upstate New York and SUNY professor in Canton; Simon Bronner, founder of the Pennsylvania Center for Folklore and professor at Penn State Harrisburg; and Elizabeth Tucker, specialist in children's folklore, folklore of the supernatural, and digital folklore, and also a professor at Binghamton U.  They spoke about their experiences with archives and archiving, the kinds of archiving challenges they encountered, and the prospect of a national archiving initiative.  All said that in their areas (geographical and academic) there was a great need for archive capacity - folklorists keep producing files! - but also for tending existing archives to ensure continued access and even continued existence of archived materials.  The conversation ranged widely with each folklorist's experiences with their own materials and with informal collections (made by musicians, artists, and tradition bearers as well as local historians) that are un-archived at present. 

I encouraged folklorists waiting for the national initiative to consider the example of grassroots archiving here in Delaware County: the Grant Rogers Project initiated by the Ogden Free Library in partnership with Music on the Delaware in Walton, NY.  Neither group could house and make accessible the collection of materials about Grant Rogers, the legendary Delaware County singer, fiddler and square dance caller, so they decided to create an on-line archive of the materials, and then went on to collect more material about Rogers, his musical activities and his musical cohorts.  I recommend you visit the on-line archive www.grantrogers.org.

The bottleneck for most folklore arechiving seems to be digitization, which is now expected for archiving.  But digitization is the most time-consuming (and therefore expensive) aspect of archiving.  And there is little funding, as far as we know, for digitization.  New York Folklore Society has taken on the task of applying to foundations and other funders for a state-wide digitization project.  In the meantime all we have is our scanners and a Walkman-sized cassette player that will store a digital file of the cassette tape on a flash drive.  Digitization allows greater access to materials and reduces the wear and tear on the original recordings and paper.  But even so, there needs to be a repository for the physical originals.  Perhaps the next funding drive will focus on support for the construction of archive rooms and buildings - as are underway at the Historical Society of Middletown and Delaware County Historical Association. 

Catskills Folk Lyceum: Kathy Shimberg, speaker, "Traditional music and Dance in the Catskills: Delaware and Otsego Counties."

On Sunday, December 6, Kathy Shimberg gave an on-line talk for the Catskills Folk Lyceum based on her extensive experience with traditional music, traditional musicians, traditional dances and dance figures, and traditional dance calls in our area.  Before gaining a master's degree from the Cooperstown Graduate Program in 1980 Kathy and her husband/musician partner, Joel Shimberg, began learning from traditional dance musicians and callers, and afterward began a project that would feature traditional dance callers and the older tunes that were Kathy's and Joel's specialty.  They hoped to bring together the local community's veteran callers and dancers with enthusiastic dancers from the colleges and community; so Joel and Kathy joined others in founding the Oneonta Contra and Square Dance that lasted for 11 years.  Joel played fiddle and Kathy played rhythm and harmony on the piano, and - lacking local callers - called and taught the dances.  The dance might have lasted longer, but finding suitable space became impossible.  The Oneonta dance ended, but another sprung up in Cooperstown - the Otsego Dance Society - which holds monthly dances - primarily contra dances - to this very day.

Below are photos that were shown during Kathy's talk.  If you listen to WIOX (91.3 FM or on your ocmputer at www.wioxradio.org) you will hear the tunes and calls that Kathy described while you are viewing the photos.  Three of the recordings are videos, with links available here in much longer form.  Where they would be in the sequence of illustrations you will find links to the YouTube site.  On the air, I may play only a fraction of each piece, if time is getting short.  

Catskills Folk Lyceum: Traditional Music and Dance in the Catskills: Delaware and Otsego Counties.


Old Time Music in Old-Time Styles: Joel and Kathy Shimberg


Hilt Kelly playing "Soldier's Joy" from a video by Bob Nisbet

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Randy Hulse Sr. singing "Lay Down Sally"



Don Irwin, one of Hilt Kelly's Sidekicks, calling "Walking the Floor Over You"



Hilt Kelly calling "Quadrille in D & A" from Bob Nisbet's Video

For Quadrille in D & A use from the beginning to 2:10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDljUVLac7w&feature=youtu.be




Hilt and Stella Kelly playing "'Golden Slippers"
photo by Jim Kimball


Don Strausser, Lead Guitar & Don Irwin, Rhythm Guitar in Hilt Kelly's Sidekicks
Both are prize winning square dance callers. Here they speak at Hilt's memorial. 
 On the audio clip they are calling "Climbing Up The Golden Stair"


A poster for a benefit at Hanford Mills Museum featuring the Shimbergs 
and a flyer (blue) for Klipnockie, a band that played for the Oneonta Square and Contra Dance.


Joel playing fiddle and Kathy playing piano 
while calling the dances at the Oneonta Square and Contra Dance




Joel playing fiddle for the Oneonta Square and Contra Dance
 at the YAM coffeehouse in Oneonta.


    Kathy playing piano for the Otsego Dance Society,    
regular monthly dance in Cooperstown.


Catskills Folk Connection hopes to publish Kathy's talk,
 most likely on our YouTube Channel, sometime next year. 
Watch this blog for an announcement.  

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

On WIOX Tonight: Catskills Traditional Foods

 Kelli Huggins is Guest on Catskills Folk

At 7 p.m. tonight, Tuesday, November 24, Kelli Huggins, Catskills native and Visitor Experience Coordinator at the Catskills Visitor Center, will join Ginny Scheer, folklorist, in a radio program on WIOX 91.3 FM and wioxradio.org.  The program will focus on Kelli's work with traditional Catskills foods, from both family sources and "historic print culture" such as newspaper recipes and community cookbooks.  You may have seen photos of some of these foods and articles about them in the Catskill Center's magazine, sent to its members.  Tonight, Kelli will delight us with family recipes such as her grandmother's blackberry pudding and, from a local cookbook, "Dot's Apple Cake."  Please join us.

Kelli's paternal grandmother, Ruth Huggins, holding Kelli.

Links to recipes in Kelli's articles

 and to the Catskill Center's magazine in general:

Dot's Apple Cake:

https://issuu.com/catskillcenter/docs/2019_issue3_fall_magazine_hdpl

 Steamed pudding:


   All of the other magazines: https://issuu.com/catskillcenter







Monday, November 23, 2020

Catskill Folk Lyceum:

Live On-Line 

Sunday December 6,  2 p.m.


Traditional Music and Dance 

of the Catskills: Otsego & Delaware Counties

A talk by

Kathy Shimberg


        Go to: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4140851861

Up to 100 participants will be admitted through Waiting Room

Meeting ID: 414 085 1861

One tap mobile
+16465588656,,4140851861# US (New York)

Dial by your location
        +1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
        
Meeting ID: 414 085 1861

In her on-line talk Kathy will draw on her long experience working with traditional music and dance in the eastern states of the U.S.  Since the early 1970s she has lived in Otsego County and has absorbed an exceptional amount of the area's traditional dance tunes, dances and square dance calls.  With some surprising grounding from luminaries in American folk song and folk music, and a degree in American Folklife Studies from the Cooperwtown Graduate Program in 1980, she and her then partner, husband Joel Shimberg, immersed themselves in local music, hoping to find in the area the survival of dances to old fiddle tunes.  In the process they co-founded, with four friends, the Oneonta Square and Contra Dance which brought together multi-generational dancers for many years.  

Kathy will discuss dance forms, unique and in variations, old traditional forms and newer iterations, dance calls and callers, tunes both ancient and popular, and her own philosophy of the relationship among the words, the music, and the physical movement of the body that coalesce in a square dance.

Join Kathy, with Ginny Scheer, folklorist for Catskills Folk Connection, to tap Kathy's decades of experience and take part in a lively Q&A afterwards.  

For more information, including phone links for other locations, contact Ginny at 607-326-4206 or gscheer.mcs@gmail.com.

Catskills Folk Connection is supported by the Roxbury Arts Group and is funded iin part by the NYS Council on the Arts Folk Arts Program, by Gov. Cuomo and the NYS Legislature, by Action & Vision Grants from Humanities NY, and by the O'Connor Foundation.

 

 

    


Sunday, October 4, 2020

Exhibit "Folk Art in Wood" Closing Soon


Carved Decoys by Joe Dibble, Bovina Center, NY

Catskills Folk Connection's current exhibit featuring folk artists who work in wood will close on October 15.  We hope you have had a chance to see in person the amazingly diverse creative expressions offered by the artists in the exhibit.  To obtain a free reservation, call Hanford Mills Museum 607-278-5744.  The Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday 10 to 4 pm and on Columbus Day October 12.   

It is not surprising for works of art to reflect the artists' lives.  In the 20th century and before, when most families lived on farms, folk art in wood reflected rural life and agricultural pursuits.  To show you this type of historical folk art, carvings by of two past folk artists are part of this exhibit, along with works of seven current folk artists.  Lavern Kelley and Homer Benedict, both 20th century artists, carved agricultural implements and vehicles, as well as people engaged in farm processes like plowing, and hauling logs.  

The contemporary folk artists use wood for their creations of furniture, carved decoys and carved wildlife, wooden toys, musical instruments, and wooden pictures.  Gary Mead offers one-of-a-kind innovative tables, and the story of a pantry too large for the exhibit.  Joe Dibble shows not only his classic decoys but also bird and fish carvings and a unique turkey blind.  Ken Etts and Joe Hewitt, noted Catskills tradiiton bearers, share a traditional toy called a "Whistle Stick."  Chris Carey lends his wooden banjo he made from local wood early in his musical career.   And Dane Scudder, also a banjo player, shares his home-crafted banjos and a fiddle made with wood from his family's farm in Halcott, NY along with southern gourds.  Drawing with a wood burner, Kira Lendo creates dynamic pictures on wood of local domestic and wild animals.

Homer Benedict, Hauling Logs
Collection Delaware County Historical Association.

The exhibit began on September 2 with an opening reception on September 5. It was highlighted by a talk about one of the historical folk artists in wood, in a lecture from the Catskills Folk Lyceum. Sydney L. Waller spoke about Lavern Kelley, a Catskills wood carver who is well-known nationally.  Six of his works are in this exhibit, thanks to Ms. Waller.  Delaware County Historical Association lent three of the Homer Benedict carvings from their collection, and Hanford Mills lent one.  Catskills Folk Connection is very grateful for the generosity of the artists, the speaker, and the organizaitons for their support of this exhibit.

"Folk Art in Wood" is made possible by Catskills Folk Connection's sponsor, Roxbury Arts Group, and is supported by generous in-kind services from the exhibit's host, Hanford Mills Museum.  The exhibit was funded in part by the New York State Council on the Arts Folk Arts Program, by Gov. Cuomo and the NYS Legislature, by a Vision Grant from Humanities NY, and by the O'Connor Foundation.


Friday, August 21, 2020

Meet the Folk Artists: 1. Gary Mead


 In its continuing series featuring the folk artists from the exhibit "Folk Art in Wood,"  Catskills Folk Connection presents Meet the Folk Artists: Gary Mead, Furniture.  It can be found on Catskills Folk Connection's YouTube channel or at the link below.  Gary composes his works in wood to create one-of-a-kind tables, shelves, stools, and sculptures.  In this video he describes the vision he had for a free-standing pantry - too large for the exhibit - that he made from a hollow log.  Called "Mother & Child" it contains a unique solution that balances the natural aesthetic of the wood with the practical purpose of the pantry.  Gary's presentation includes reciting two poems he composed while completing the Mother & Child Pantry that give insight into his creative process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnWl-th6Y9o

For more information about the exhibit, "Folk Art in Wood", visit Catskills Folk Connection's FaceBook page and for free reservations (required) call Hanford Mills Museum 607-2785744.


Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Meet the Folk Musicians: 2. Amy Lieberman, Bass



Amy Lieberman and her bass, with fellow Tremperskillian, Chris Carey, banjo.

In this folklore field interview, done through Zoom, Amy Lieberman discusses her musical journey, from elementary band through nearly a decade with the Tremperskill Boys, playing for square dances, weddings and concerts.  Along the way she has learned to play a variety of instruments, some of which she plays in other local music groups.  The link below will take you to Amy's interview on YouTube: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aA8z_nkG2E

If clicking the link does not work, try selecting it and copying it into a new search window for your browser - where URLs usually go.  Hit enter and you should go to Youtube directly to the video.   

If you still can't see it or encounter any other problems, please notify Ginny Scheer, at vscheer@juno.com or 607-326-4206.  Also, let us know what you think of folklore interviews like this one.








 I

Thursday, August 6, 2020

CFC on WIOX Thursday August 6: Racism 2

Tonight CFC folklorist Ginny Scheer joins WIOX host Harry Anifantakis at  6 p.m. on his regular program, "Winging It" on 91.3 FM or wioxradio.org, for a special show devoted to the history of white race riots in the United States, especially the one in Tulsa Oklahoma in 1921, when an entire black neighborhood was leveled, many residents murdered, and thousands displaced.  Surprisingly, little or nothing was known among whites about the Tulsa riot until close to the end of the 20th century.  We hope you can join us tonight to hear the story of  Greenwood, as the neighborhood in Tulsa was called, and what it was like for Ginny and Harry to discover its history. .  

For additional information, here are some suggested resources. 

RESOURCES ABOUT THE 1921 GREENWOOD MASSACRE IN TULSA


WEBSITES AND LINKS:


1.Greenwood Cultural Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma

https://greenwoodculturalcenter.com/


2. John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation, Tulsa, Oklahoma

https://www.jhfcenter.org/


3. June, 2020, 60 Minutes Program about the Greenwood Massacre

Article and link to video

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/greenwood-massacre-tulsa-oklahoma-1921-race-riot-60-minutes-2 020-06-14/ 60 minutes episode

Video only

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA8t8PW-OkA 60 minutes episode


4. What a White-Supremacist Coup Looks Like by Caleb Crain

April 27 2020 New Yorker Article about 1898 Wilmington, NC race riot:


PRINT:

5. "Tulsa Race Riot: A Report by the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921”

The report on the Tulsa race riot to the Oklahoma legislature, ordered in 1997. 200 pages with photos.  Can be obtained from Wikipedia, in footnote 2 under Tulsa Reparations Coalition


6. Oral History accounts by survivors and their descendants.  

Easiest access to examples can be found at the John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation (jhfcenter.org) under Curriculum Resources.


7. Scott Ellsworth, 1982, Death in a Promised Land: The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.

Basic history.











 

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Meet the Folk Musicians: 1. Chris Carey, Banjo


In his own words, Chris Carey describes his life in music, how he got started, his development as a musician, and what it is like to play for Catskills square dances.  Click the link below.  It will go to DropBox then without further clicking to the video until you see and click the "play" arrow in the center of the screen.. 

https://www.dropbox.com/home?preview=1.+Chris+Carey%2C+Banjo+MTFM+Final.mp4
[note: link has ceased to function.  Correction underway.]

If the link does not work after a few tries, please inform Catskills Folk Connection by e-mail at vscheer@juno.com or gscheer.mcs@gmail.com, or call Ginny Scheer at 607-3326-4206.

Enjoy getting to know Chris Carey.  Later there will be an on-line demonstration of Chris and his banjos.


Sunday, June 21, 2020

Catskills Folk Connection on Racism


Catskills Folk Connection’s mission is to conserve and celebrate the expressions of everyday life of all people in the Catskill Mountain region. The mission is founded on an underlying belief in cultural equity. Our focus on folklore, folk art, and folklife provides a way toward an inclusive society made up of diverse groups, communities and individuals, whose ways of life are significant and are deserving of equal support and respect.

Therefore Catskills Folk Connection, in solidarity with communities of color throughout the United States, and with other folklorists and their organizations in New York State and beyond, offers our support of the Black Lives Matter movement in its quest for justice for people of color and for the eradication of institutional racism. We deplore the nationwide ongoing violence against communities of color and recognize that now is the time for us, all of us, to engage in difficult conversations with family, friends, colleagues, and others within our communities.

Catskills Folk Connection affirms its commitment to be part of the societal change that will alleviate racism in all its forms, that will counter stereotyping and scapegoating among our region’s residents, and that will promote equal rights and equal access to cultural and economic prosperity for all. We pledge to seek diverse leadership for Catskills Folk Connection, to continue efforts to expand our programs with marginalized groups in the Catskills, and to increase our support for local and community scholars.

--- Ginny Scheer, Folklorist

Tuesday, June 2, 2020

_____ Meet the Folk Artists 4 _____

A new bi-weekly feature

Ken Etts and Joe Hewitt
Whistle Stick

Ken Etts lives on the acreage his grandfather farmed in Montgomery Hollow, Roxbury NY.  He and his wife Toni run a successful dog kennel and grooming service as a retirement business.   Ken, known locally as "Chub",  made a living in car body repair and had a reputation for being able to shape metal and bondo so sensitively that his work was commonly called "artistic."

Ken's contribution to the exhibit "Folk Art in Wood", to take place in September, is neither metal nor bondo.  By chance, I had my cell phone when I encountered Chub at the convenience store and somehow the conversation came around to the whistle stick.  He quickly retrieved one from his truck and demonstrated it for me. [Please forgive my un-huhs and clucks during the recording!]  The wood carving - notches taken out of edges of a square "dowel"- is a technique that characterizes some folk creations called "tramp art" that are often included in exhibitions of Outsider Art.  In the whistle stick the notches are more functional than artistic.  Watch the video and see if you can detect what makes the propeller turn.  Then watch again to see what makes it reverse direction.  Can you hear the whistle that happens at the same time?


Ken Etts demonstrating the whistle stick, December, 2019

Ken has made several whistle sticks.  He says he learned to make them and to operate them from Joe Hewitt, the legendary state trooper and tradition bearer originally from Denver NY and now living in  New Kingston.  Joe is well-known as a keeper of bees, a student of Native American traditions, and a deep well of local knowledege and skills.  He remembers teaching Chub to make whistle sticks, but said he hadn't made one in a long time, until now.  Joe learned to make whistle sticks from Freddy Hammond, a fellow state trooper who was from Ithaca, "the best friend I ever had in the state police," Joe says.


Joe Hewitt demonstrating his newly made whistle stick, January 2020.

The folk process is usually assumed to be oral transmission from one generation to the next.  But in the case of the whistle stick it seems to be from one adult male to another.  Perhaps this is just a happen-so, because another wood skill Freddy Hammond knew - making a whistle from striped maple bark - Joe had already learned as a child from Ralph Felter Sr., a carpenter who was working at Joe's Dad's farm.  And still in the generational pattern, Joe remembers showing his kids how to make striped maple whistles.  He realizes now that he needs to show his grandchildren how to make and use whistle sticks, passing on both the creation and mystery. 

You will be able to view a whistle stick, and perhaps a demonstration, this September at Catskills Folk Connection's exhibit, "Folk Art in Wood" at Hanford Mills Museum.  It will run through September and end with the Museum's Woodsmen's Festival in early October.  Should we not be able to present the exhibit for in-person viewing, there will be an on-line exhibit at Catskills Folk Connection's new website, now being designed.

Ginny Scheer, Folklorist, Catskills Folk Connection




Monday, June 1, 2020

______Meet the Folklorists 3 _____

A new  bi-weekly feature 

Kira Lendo

Creator of Pictures in Wood


Kira makes pictures in wood using a woodburner.  The varying textures and wood tones look like layers of different wood, but instead come from choices of tips for the woodburner.  “There is no layering... if you touch one of the pictures you will feel the indentations – some of them deeper than others -  [of] the pen – it’s not really a pen but the woodburner – burning itself into the wood.”



She uses color on a few of her works, but most of them are in the colors of the wood itself.  For the natural colored ones she uses  "... different tips ... it looks almost like a pen, and the tip is different.   And the one I use has different wires on it and some of them make better .. curves, some may shade better.  … I have a tendency to use the same one that I like over and over again ..."



Kira is inspired by her mother who was an accomplished artist in pencil and watercolor.  As she found her creative spirit grow Kira tried many different media, settling on wood-burned pictures, supported by her husband who clear coats the pictures, builds frames and encourages her with select tools.  Kira is clear that doing art is her time for herself, for her self-expression.  Nevertheless, she participates in a few craft shows each year where she sells her work.

You will be able to view some of Kira's creations this September at Catskills Folk Connection's exhibit, "Folk Art in Wood" at Hanford Mills Museum.  It will run through September and end with the Museum's Woodsmen's Festival in early October.  Should we not be able to present the exhibit for in-person viewing, there will be an on-line exhibit at Catskills Folk Connection's new website, now being designed.


Sunday, May 17, 2020

____Meet the Folk Artists 2____

A new bi-weekly feature 

Gary Mead, Unique Wood Furniture



Gary Mead, a resident of Arkville has until recently produced the wood for his one-of-a kind furniture at his own sawmill. He comes from a creative family who made their living on a New Kingston dairy farm. But Gary taught himself to carve and shape wood into imaginative pieces that have attracted buyers from near and far.

.

Gary's creativity doesn't stop with wood furnishings.  He also writes books for children and composes poetry that is featured regularly on WIOX's "From the Forest," the radio program of the Catskills Forest Association.

Listen to about six minutes from Gary's interview in which.he describes his creative process. It begins with finding the right wood or tree, his work recorded in a shop diary, and then in drawings and poetry about the piece.  This excerpt ends with Gary describing his realization that the tree had been showing him all along ("a child is born") how to design the interior of one of his works.


You will be able to view Gary's newer creations, see his shop diaries - some written in the woods with "plant juices"- and read his poems this September at Catskills Folk Connection's exhibit, "Folk Art in Wood" at Hanford Mills Museum.  It will run through September and end with the Mill's Woodsmen's Festival in early October.  Should we not be able to present the exhibit for in-person viewing, there will be an on-line exhibit at Catskills Folk Connection's new website, now being designed.










Sunday, April 26, 2020

______Meet the Folk Artists______

A new bi-weekly feature:


This is the first in a series of articles about folk artists
who will be presented by Catskills Folk Connection this year.

  





Joseph Dibble, Bovina Center, NY


Decoy Carver




Folk Art in Wood

Joe Dibble has always been artistic.  When he saw a collection of antique decoys, he determined to learn how to make them.  He has carved Canada geese, ducks and this swan.  To hear him describe his creative process click this link and then click on the file called "Copy of 2020 Jan Joe Dibble".


Birds are not the only decoys carved by folk artists.  Joe has turned his hand to making fish decoys for ice fishing (see correction note below).  But in this photo he holds not a decoy but a finely sculpted carving of a trout he caught, even replicating the fish's spots as well as its colors.     

    
Joe is also an avid wild turkey hunter and an equally avid student of their behavior.  He has recorded them a number of times in detailed pen and ink drawings (no photo available at this time).

Joe Dibble's work will be featured in an exhibit of folk art made from wood planned for September at Hanford Mills Museum.  At present "Folk Art In Wood" is still intended to be an in-person exhibit.  It will open in early September and be on view until early October, ending with Hanford Mills' Woodsmen's Festival.  

There will be several folk artists' works for you to examine, each unique in their own way, and each notable for the artist's creative approach.  In addiiton to works of contemporary artists, there will be a few examples of carved wooden works by past folk artists, one of which will be the well-known Lavern Kelley.  As part of the exhibit there will be a lecture by Sydney Waller, a Cooperstown gallery owner who is the curator of the Kelley estate and acknowldged expert on his carvings of farm vehicles and farm equipment.

Dates and times will be announced here on Catskills Folk Connection's blog, and through our usual advertising by post card, e-mail, radio, and newspapers.  If you would like to be on Catskills Folk Connection's mailing list call Ginny Scheer at 607-326-4206 or e-mail at vscheer@juno.com.  

If gathering restrictions prevent an in-person exhibit, Catskills Folk Connection will present exhibit materials here on the blog and in other media if possible.  This installment of Meet the Folk Artists is  the beginning of our effort to expand our capacity to use electronic media to communicate with our audience - people like you who care about folklore, folk art, folk music and dance, and folk stories.  Either in person or on line, we'll make sure that you'll encounter many expressions - both old and new - of the everyday experiences of ordinary folks in the Catskills.
  
(Correction note:  the author is responsible for the incorrect statement that appeared here about decoy fishing for trout.  Decoy fishing and ice fishing for trout are not legal anywhere in New York State.)
      

Thursday, April 9, 2020

Catskills Folk Connection's 2019 Folklife and Folk Art Programs

Catskills Folk Connection's 2019 programs were successful in spite of funding delays caused by the federal government shut-down in early spring.  Once substitute funding was secured, CFC went on to complete it's usual offerings, with a couple of adjustments.  Presentations totaled seven square dances, two festival foodways programs and one Catskills Folk Lyceum lecture plus field work for a 2020 folk art exhibit.  Scheduling constraints postponed work on the vernacular architecture project (Roxbury's Six Stone Houses) and a second Lyceum lecture on historic preservation, both of which will be pursued later.

2019 Square Dances

Several square dances were in venues CFC has used before: at the Pine Hill  Community Center with its excellent dance floor, at the Bovina Community Hall - a well-known square dance venue, at the Walton Grange which is favored by a cluster of dedicated dancers, and of course at Roxbury Arts Group's Fiddlers! event.  Other dances took place at new venues with access to new and differennt audiences:  at the regional Catskills Visitors Center, as part of the street festival Celebrate Roxbury!, and in collaboration with an agri-tourism project at a goat dairy farm in Andes, NY.

The community halls and grange were well attended, attracting the usual local enthusiasts plus some visitors to the region.  The visitors' center and the Roxbury celebration were festival settings in which the audience strolled in and out.  That was fine for listening to live music but made it hard to maintain a square dance.  The highlights of the season were at the goat farm in Andes and at Fiddlers!  The goat farm owners had worked hard to provide a good dance floor on the hay mow level of their barn.  Support and advertising from a regional economic development group, plus the good food the farmers' offered, attracted many new potential dancers, resulting in the largest dance of the season: four squares dancing simultaneously all evening.


Members of Fiddlin' Future play at Roxbury Arts Group's Fiddlers! 

Fiddlers!, an annual concert and dance highlighting a popular Catskills instrument, attracted enough dancers for one or two squares during the time devoted to dancing.  The greatest success at Fiddlers was the participation of a youth fiddle group, called Fiddlin' Future.  They are from the Adirondacks and are associated with Jackie Hobbs and the Old-Tyme Fiddlers Association there.  The youthful fiddlers took part in the dancing, joined the Tremperskill Boys on stage to play for dances, and at the end of the entire event were the stars of the jam organized with the event's professional concert performers.  In the Adirondacks, at least, we can say that the future of square dancing and traditional fiddle music is in good hands.

2019 Festivals: Focus on Foodways

Outdoor festivals are excellent for reaching large numbers of people, many of whom may be new to Catskills Folk Connection. They offer opportunities to engage the audience in displays and demonstrations of Catskills Folk Connection programs and to offerfcommunicaition about future events.  Because at festivals the audience is in motion, strolling by in shopping mode, some of our programs work better than others.

Meridale Dairy Fest

Mary Ann Warren shares wild leeksoup made from leeks she harvested in the Catskills forest.
Food traditions catch the eye, and tastings offer time for the tradition bearer to describe the tradition or for the folklorist to describe other CFC programs.  In 2018 and 2019 at the two-day Meridale Dairy Fest tradition bearer Mary Ann Warren, taught by her family to dig wild leeks, was able to share tastings of potato - wild leek soup at CFC's booth.  She is also a caterer and so is qualified to serve food tothe public.  With the advent of certified community kitchens in our regionsCatskills Folk Connection may in the future be able to help tradition bearers from other cultures to serve samples of their traditional foods.  How about sauerkraut?

Cauliflower Festival

At the Cauliflower Festival folklorist Ginny Scheer reported on food traditions she learned from her late husband, Walter Meade, a native of the Catskills who was an outdoorsman and nature photographer.  Walt's family was poor when he was a youth and especially during the Great Depression adapted many foods in response to the scarcity of meat. 

Ginny shared Walt's recipe for "fall soup" that made use of less-important parts of beef left over from fall slaughtering, "johnny cake and milk" that was Walt's family's Sunday supper, baked custard made from locally-sourced eggs and milk, and what Ginny called "Hunter's Bisquick."  A good student, Walt used to skip school - with his mother's approval.  He hunted small game, especially grey squirrels, that would add protein for the family's diet.  Sometimes he would be away at dinner time or even overnight.  So Katherine, his Mom, would pack for him some flour with salt and baking powder and some butter to carry in his pocket so he could make a supper of wild game and biscuits baked on a hot rock.  Fall soup, custard and johnny cake and milk were some of Walt's favorite foods as an adult.  As so often happens, the hardship diet of the past becomes the comfort food of the present. 

Catskills Folk Lyceum

A "lyceum" was the 19th century's equivalent of "adult educatiion."  Traveling speakers, like itinerant painters and dancing masters, moved from village to village to share their messages.  Sometimes they were religious, sometimes political or scientific, but all sought the attention and sometimes allegiance of the adult listeners.  So "lyceum" seemed a good word to choose for Catskills Folk Connection's lecture series. Our events are held in a range of locations  around the region - like the traveling speakers of over a century ago and they seek to draw attention to the important traditional expressions and practicesof the diverse cultures of the Catskill Mountains.


Ryan Trapani harvesting bark.


 2019's Lyceum featured a dynamic speaker from the Catskill Forest Association, its Executive Director, Ryan Trapani.  He spoke knowledgeably from his own experience about foods that can be gleaned from the Catskills forest.  Most commonly thought of as food from the forest are berries and other fruit.  Ryan discussed many of these, including blueberries, raspberries and blackberries, but also the less commonly known thimbleberry.  He gave similarly detailed attention to nuts, roots, tree bark and products from the trunk used for food and medicine, a wide variety of "greens," plus mushrooms and finally fauna.  Everyone in the audience left with a sense that food from the forest was plentiful and various, not rare or exotic.  Catskills Folk Connection's foodways presentations at festivals have focused on one of the wild edibles - wild leeks - featured in Ryan's talk.  Perhaps with Ryan's assisstance and knowledge of local tradition bearers we can present more wild foods in the future.  

Additional 2019 folklife activities will be presented in upcoming posts.