Today I attended my first (and almost certainly not my last) Chiff & Fipple Northeast Whistle Gathering, held at the Sweet’s place on the banks of the Scantic River in Enfield, CT.
I had a very fine time, and I hope no one took my quiet as an indication that I wasn’t enjoying myself. That’s just the way I tend to be around a new group of people. I’d like to thank everyone who offered encouragement or advice to this beginner, and to those who gave me a chance to hear and try a variety of great whistles.
Glad to see the first batch of photos from this year’s Northeast Whistle Gathering, and I hope to see lots more.
One little correction you might want to make, though… the ‘Blue Silkstone’ is actually an Overton.
Nope, definitely an Overton anodized by Colin to match my PT Cruiser
Nice to meet you, and hope we see you there again!
Nice pics! BTW-- my wife is Charlene, not Cheryl (common mistake)
As you can see, the gathering was not large but the company was without exception wonderful. Several of us extended the day by having dinner after we broke up. Made some real, lasting friends here.
It would be a shame if more people didn’t take advantage of this wonderful opportunity next summer. Slowair and I and several others discussed this a bit and we feel that we should start planning WELL in advance so people have the chance to put this in their planners before everything fills up. Sweets’ place is a fabulous location, but on the chance that the location is a hindrance to some, we’d consider moving the event to a more mutually satisfactory location. Think about it…
Thanks to Michael for posting the photos. I took a few dozen but have not looked at them yet. Once I sort out a few good ones, I will find a way to host them.
Special thanks to Slow Air and Paul for the work they did in preparation for and during the event. Likewise to the Sweets for their kind donation of time, space and expertise. Walt’s demo on the ins and outs of tuning–how sanding off a few thousandths of an inch can impact the sound and/or performance of a whistle, for example–was pretty impressive.
Our numbers were small, but we filled the barn with music!! The presence of three fine ‘pickers’–at least two of whom also played fine whistle and one of whom is a proud and avowed guitarist–added a lot to the music, and I think that more folks knew more tunes in common than last year.
It was especially refreshing–and most welcome–to visit ‘ye olde’ swimming hole’. Yes, a cool, crisp and clean running stream that you can just walk to and just jump in!! No health club membership, no parking permit, no residence requirement–just this nice cool stream 50 yards from the Sweets historic site.
I had a great time. (add-on/edit starts here). I just reviewed the photos and there are some good shots in the lot, for sure. I will send the subjects ‘their’ jpegs for approval. The last four photos I took were taken about five minutes after I left the Sweets. In search of a Starbucks, I turned off the route and happened to see a rainbow, which I photographed and which actually shows up on the jpeg, If my sense of direction is right it is more or less over where we had just spent a pleasant day. If someone can host the photo, let me know by e-mail and I will send you four jpegs to select from.
Greetings from Dingle, gang. Looks like the second NE Gathering was a hit! Paul - the little green man drew a round of solid applause at Ballyduff House in Thomastown, Kilkenny, and he’s still travelling with me.
A full report upon my return.
Sounds like I missed something memorable, stayed home sick in bed but am feeling much better today. It would have been my 1st & my wife was even looking forward to it and Conneticut is close by.
Tom, consider signing up for a Flickr account (www.flickr.com) it’s free, virtually no hassle, uploads are easy (no software downloads necessary), and has more tools for organizing your photos than any other free hosting site I know of.
I will send you a PM about our fortunate meeting with Colin and Brigitte in Amsterdam recently. I am sure their warm regards go out to you from across the pond!
Just wanted to add this since I didn’t get to stay for the part about playing other than IrTrad. I got interested in folk hymns and spirituals after being asked to accompany a vocalist in my mother’s church last Christmas (I’m really a piano player)… anyway… I decided to try some on whistle and here is the result as a pdf file if anyone is interested:
