Augusta Heritage Irish Week 2007

ImNotIrish · Post by **ImNotIrish** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 10:48 am

Thanks Cathy.
I thinks I remember a conversation here about tune selection for the ceili? Do you have any idea of some of the tunes that might be considered? I have a week and a half to work on tunes, so put those suggestions forward.

Arbo

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 3:28 pm

Last year they did all the tune selection on the fly. Matt Northridge would say "OK, we need a single reel for this part," and everybody'd shout out stuff. When there seemed to be one title most people knew and could play, we'd add it to the list. Like I said, it was very democratic. Mick Mulcahy was pretty helpful in that department, too -- he'd noodle something and we'd all go "oh yeah, that one!" -- so we wound up with a lot of tunes that way, too. It was great fun, and I know I came away with three or four new tunes from it .... and it was amazing how it all came together. By the night of the dance, we almost sounded like we knew what we were doing!

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 3:39 pm

OK, Augusta looms, so here's my stab at a C&F MGMT (Meet & Greet & Maybe Toot).

I'm thinking let's do Monday night after ceili band/mini-classes on the porch of the admin building (the Victorian house where you register for classes on Sunday). So I'll park my bum there between 8 & 8:15 p.m. Just so you know, the porch wraps almost all the way around the building so if you DON'T see a chubby gal with a warped boxwood flute right by the door, keep wandering -- I could be around the side or even at the back of the house depending on whether another session's already snagged the spot at the front.

The Augusta site says the mini-classes end at 7:45 p.m., so that's why the 8/8:15 time. I'm picking Monday based on the fact that last year the ceili was on Sunday night with the contra dance being on Monday ..... I *think.* Anyone who recalls otherwise, please pipe up (pardon the pun) now!

If we decide to go somewhere else (like the Ice House where they serve beer), we'll discuss it when we gather and wait a few minutes for any stragglers.

Sound like a plan?

If so, hope to see you Monday night around 8 on the porch! I'll be the one with the crooked amber-colored flute and the come-hither grin.

dow · Post by **dow** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:56 am

Sounds like a doofer, Cat. See ya then if not before.

Nelson · Post by **Nelson** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:54 pm

30 years ago, or so, I did a youth soccer camp at Davis and Elkins College. It was a joint venture between the D&E college coach, the Howard Univ. coach and me. On Monday night the camp instructors walked into the Ice House and, low and behold, there were wall-to-wall "flower girls". I had never heard of Augusta Heritage Festival. It was probably their first or second year. All day long we were out in the sun sweating out the beer that we drank at the Ice House. I had a 4-octave harmonica and a recorder. By Friday evening I was so exhausted that when I left, I stopped my car down by the Iron Horse statue at the bottom of the campus and slept for two hours with the motor running. I have not been to the Ice House since.

Nelson

SteveK · Post by **SteveK** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 5:19 am

Nelson, If you were at soccer camp, weren't you in high school? How were you old enough to drink beer? I realize the beer at that time was 3.2 but still... The soccer and basketball players at D&E used to come in the cafeteria in the morning and take all the little boxes of cereal that were set out on a rack. Were you one of them? Well, anyway, the soccer players weren't as bad as the Presbyterian ladies who showed up one summer.

Nelson · Post by **Nelson** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 8:09 am

Hi Steve, you must of gone to D&E college. Fred Schmoltz was the soccer coach there. I ran a youth club of a few thousand kids in Fairfax VA. I wrote books on how to teach kids to play soccer (google me). For that camp, some of the kids bicycled to Elkins from DC. They road bikes along the C&O Canal to Cumberland, MD, thence on the train to Grafton WV, thence up the Tagert River to Elkins.

SteveK · Post by **SteveK** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 1:02 pm

I didn't go to D&E. I went to Augusta for the first time in 1977. There was no Irish music and no flute at that time. The music program was all old-time and the whole Augusta scene was quite small compared to what it became later. When they first started having Irish music I took flute with Jerry O'Sullivan. He taught all levels of flute and pipes-one class. He tried hard but that was just too much even though the number of students wasn't very high.

ImNotIrish · Post by **ImNotIrish** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 7:21 am

Can someone fill me in on how the classes are scheduled/run? I checked the Augusta website but couldn't find the info I wanted. How long are the classes? Are they schedule for mornings, afternoon, or both? Are you allowed to sit in on a clas you are not registered for?

Thanks, Arbo.

Looking forward to meeting some of you Monday evening.

Tweeto · Post by **Tweeto** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 2:18 pm

ImNotIrish wrote:Can someone fill me in on how the classes are scheduled/run? I checked the Augusta website but couldn't find the info I wanted. How long are the classes? Are they schedule for mornings, afternoon, or both? Are you allowed to sit in on a clas you are not registered for?

Your main class (as opposed to mini class, if you signed up for one) will meet for one session before lunch and one session after. Each main class session might be anywhere from 1.5 hour to 2.5 hours long. I too wish they would offer a schedule. Maybe they have and I just need to slog the website to find it.

I don't know about sitting in for a session of a different class (probably not). I do think that they will allow you to change classes, though, if the one you registered for doesn't suit you.

ImNotIrish · Post by **ImNotIrish** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 3:18 pm

Tweeto,

Are you saying that there are afternoon and morning sessions for the same class, or that some classes are scheduled for the AM and some for the PM?
Arbo

Tweeto · Post by **Tweeto** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 4:25 pm

ImNotIrish wrote:Are you saying that there are afternoon and morning sessions for the same class, or that some classes are scheduled for the AM and some for the PM?
Arbo

The main class you signed up for meets a total of twice per day: once before lunch and once after.

BTW, If you were wondering about having your spouse or a friend sit in on YOUR class, the Augusta info says no, not allowed.

ImNotIrish · Post by **ImNotIrish** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 11:44 pm

BTW, If you were wondering about having your spouse or a friend sit in on YOUR class, the Augusta info says no, not allowed.[/quote]

no, I was hoping to drop in on Kevin's class. I took classes with him last summer at Boxwood. I'm actually taking banjo this time around.

Whistlin'Dixie · Post by **Whistlin'Dixie** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 5:21 am

Well, I'll be waiting for someone to post a few pictures after it's all over...

M

seisflutes · Post by **seisflutes** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 1:25 pm

Well, I had fun. Meeting all the chiff & fipplers and all that, it was cool. This was a more successful gathering of board members than the one we tried to have in East Durham a couple years back. It was my first time at Augusta, and I must say I like East Durham and Swannanoa better, but still it was great. My friends Keith and John were there, which was nice. We had some good sessions.

Cathy, I wish we could have played more in Bb, that was nice. Maybe next time, huh?

Kelly