North East Whistle Gathering 2008

Whistle
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******N.E.W.G. has its Fifth Anniversary ?? ******

It’s probably about time to open discussions on the Subject’s prospects. I have the feeling that there will be such an event, although I’m never sure how things will unfold. Will four dollar petrol diminish the interest this year ?
LOCATION, LOCATION-----
Past gatherings have always been situated in the lower Connecticut River valley which has worked well enough for some, maybe not quite so well for others. Where should it be held this year: Same old locations, or someplace different, say nearer to the Hudson River valley/ NYC area ??
Last year, I came from the So. Maine coast, while Avery (Unseen122) travelled from greater Phila. Quite a distance between the extremes, for a summer’s Sunday day trip.

So, let’s get those calendars out and suggest a date.

Summer’s coming, Lloyd

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I know I’m on OR call for Fourth of July weekend, but apart from that I’m pretty free. Location wise, anywhere 2-3 hr from Albany would be fine, maybe a tad further and we’d make an overnight of it.

3

I’m free most weekends of July/Aug. All of June is mostly booked for me though with family events and whatnot. Last year’s trip was OK (+3 hrs for me, even more for Avery if you include the train). Though this year as I’d likely be traveling alone I’d rather not go too much further than that because the ride might be terribly boring.

4

July would be better for me, but the weekend of the fourth (first weekend) would naturally be out. I’m still bummed I missed last year, will try harder to make it this year.

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ALL–CALL for Expressions of Interest

Well, we’ve got four parties interested, so far. A good start.

Because time is getting somewhat short, how about an all-call for potential attenders. WHAT TO DO . . . . .

  1. Post a reply expressing your level of interest in attending.

  2. Indicate First Choice Preference of date. Even if it’s different from July Sundays after the Fourth weekend. Early August is possible, I guess.

  3. Indicate other dates agreeable to you, if possible. 2nd, 3rd choices.

  4. Indicate the approximate geographical location from which you will be traveling, e.g., Brooklyn NY, seacoast NH, Garden State Parkway Exit___, and so on.

  5. Indicate your preferences for location(s) of the gathering, including:
    a. the maximum distance OR travel time you will consider.
    b; If Connecticut valley is acceptable or not.

And any other information that might be helpful. Like if the Sloatsburg Rest Area ( NY Thruway) requires reservations. Half kidding. Don’t laugh, it might turn out to be a very cool place to hold it !

Does everybody understand all the good reasons to come to one of these whistlefests ?

RamblDoc declares:

  1. I’m interested in coming. Miss the Fifth Anniversary ? Are you kidding?
  2. J U L Y ---- 20 , 2 0 0 8. Sunday. My first choice.
  3. July 13 --Second choice. July 27 – Third choice.
  4. From the south coast of Maine, Half hour from NH.
  5. Connecticut Valley is acceptable. But I’ll go further west if I have to. Say, western Mass. or western Conn. NYC is probably too far for a day trip, unfortunately. If a turnpike rest area is chosen, I’ll go along cheerfully !! I’ll not rule out just yet the Hudson Valley north of the city.


    There’s my 2 cents for today. Lloyd

After Thought – Sundays have been our traditional day of choice. Should Saturdays be given a fresh look ??

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I’m a little bit interested. I would be more interested, except, timing is a little tricky for me. (I think that adding another musical outing to my summer schedule would be, ah, pushing my luck. My son might come to think that I’d rather be playing music than playing Pokemon games with him. Ahem.)

Anyway… I don’t know if this helps or hurts, but, folks in the northeast might be interested to know that the Catskills Irish Arts Week (CIAW), in East Durham NY, runs Sunday, July 13 - Sat. July 19. I don’t know how much is actually happening on Sunday the 13th, as the classes don’t start till Monday. I don’t know if the concerts start before Monday. I’m guessing that sessions start Sunday.

But, if a bunch of C&F folks will already be at East Durham on Sunday the 13th, then would that be a good opportunity for a NEWG?

The CIAW is a pretty big event for ITM in the northeast. Mary Bergin is one of the whistle instructors this year, for example. A lot of the instructors are names you’ll recognize – Kevin Burke, Mike Rafferty, Alec Finn, Michael Rooney, the Kane sisters, etc etc. They teach classes during the week, then on Saturday they give a concert from noon to 8 pm.

So. Sunday the 13th MIGHT be the perfect date for a NEWG somewhere near East Durham, as some Chiff and Fipplers might already be at Arts Week.

Or, perhaps some Chiff and Fipplers would be interested in attending the day-long concert on Saturday the 19th that wraps up the arts week – ticket’s only $20 – stay overnight somewhere, and do the NEWG on Sunday the 20th? I’m just throwing out ideas.

Details on Catskills Irish Arts Week are at http://www.east-durham.org/irishartsweek/index.htm


But, as for me, I guess my time constraints are such that I probably can’t attend a NEWG this year. Unless it’s in East Durham on Sunday July 13th, or, unless it’s some other Sunday, within an hour of Albany NY. But even then, Sunday Aug 3 is out.

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  1. Very interested. Can’t wait to try new whistles. Plan on buying a flute soon too and I would really appreciate the opportunity for some hands-on.

  2. As I said before, I’m quite flexible in the months of July and August (barring the 4th of course) No preference really although I would prefer a Saturday over a Sunday gathering. If for some reason I feel that I need to call out of work it’s easier for me to do so on Sunday than a Monday.

  3. . . .

  4. Newark, NJ or arounds there.

5a. max 3 hrs or so
5b. Connecticut Valley would be OK.


Question. Where exactly was the Sweet’s place that we used last year? I’m trying to judge distance and traveling time by using that as a sort of measurement since I’ve only been to one NEWG.

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Thanks for the heads-up on the Catskills Irish Arts Week, MusicalADD. Fascinating possibilities. Everybody I’ve met who’s attended those East Durham shindigs raves about the great times they had. Music, music, music. Day and night.

Andy, The Sweets place is in Hazardville, Conn, just east of Enfield, not far from the Mass. border.

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*bump

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Would love to attend this year, (would have liked to attend in years past too), however I can’t say for certain which dates might work for me as I have to try to schedule some surgery that will put me out of whistle playing commission for a few weeks.

Also not sure how my work schedule is going to shake out for the rest of the summer, but I’m fairly certain Saturdays are out for me, while most Sundays should be OK.


Right, so all of that is of absolutely no help, except to say that I’m interested and will attend if I can. :laughing: Would have to be within probably 3 hours or so driving distance of Boston though.

Loren

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By the way, has there ever been any discussion about the possibility of calling this “The Chiff” gathering or something and opening it up - posting about it - on the other forums here? Might generate a lot more response, and make for a more interesting gathering if there were a bit more cross pollination, so to speak…

I know it’s open to anyone, but it sort of sounds from the title and the fact that it’s only posted here (I think?) like it’s rather whistle centric, if you see what I mean.

Or perhaps that’s by intention?


Loren

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HeyLoren-- if you come, you’d have at least TWO nurses in attendance, one of them surgical… :smiley:

I agree-- open it up to the whole Chiff family!

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Perfect, you’ll be able to reduce my hernia and stop any bleeding should I blow out the surgical repair if toot anything too vigorously. Good to know I’ll be covered. :laughing:


Loren

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I’ll be in East Durham, so if any Chiff stuff happening there, I’ll jump in! :slight_smile: Loren, get your ass there, and let’s have our long awaited pint :smiley:

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Damn I just checked and East Durham is like about 3 hours from Boston, and what, an hour from Albany. No excuses guys.

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Not to give illegal medical advice, but hernia repairs are really quite stable and playing a whistle shouldn’t harm it one bit. Especially if they’re putting in a synthetic mesh reinforcement. We do those all the time.

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Waiting for the northeast to move closer to the Mason-Dixon line.

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We need one below the line- way below.

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Bump…

Is there any interest in holding this event, or have high gas prices pretty much eliminated it?
I’m still up for it. If we were in our new home, I’d even offer to host it, but maybe next year…

20

De-lurking

I’m interested. July 20 or 27 would work for me, or sometime after August 8. I prefer Saturday over Sunday, but I can rearrange my work schedule.

As a note of introduction: I’ve been playing the whistle for nearly two years (and following the board the whole time), and I live in upstate NY.

The past week has been particularly fun for me, since I was able to attend the Old Songs festival and two sessions (Fiddler’s Tour and the one at the Parting Glass in Saratoga) for the first time. :slight_smile:

Next week: East Durham!

  • David