I just did my first (there will be more) Whistle workshop at the Adams House Museum in Deadwood! There were five folks registered, two of them were music teachers, two kids, a friend of mine I bullied into being there, and a couple of young crashers, and a few staff members that showed up after work! Better yet, there was this fabulous seventh grader that pays whistle and Boehm flute that taught me some tricks and can play jigs and reels at warp speed. Thomas, the fabluous kid, helped bail me out on music theeory stuff I’ve long forgotten, and we had lemonade and brownies in a great little gazebo. Now the best thing is this: An Irish mando player showed up to meet me, because he heard I played whistle. He used to do sessions in Seattle, and relocated in Spearfish. So the long cultural drought may be over here in Deadwood! He wants to start some sessions here! YES! Yes! Yes! This was the first time I wasn’t using energy defying the Deadwood authorities, or banging my head on the wall and arm twisting! We’re headed for Pine Ridge next, and it was just plain fun, and we’re gonna do more! I was practically in tears, it was the first time I ever ever played Irish trad with other people here in the Black Hills, and things are looking very possible today!
Mmmh, lemonade and brownies.
Oh, congrats on all the musicky stuff too!
Seriously, for those not in the know, Anna has been on a collision course with the Deadwood powers-that-be regarding the playing of music in the city, especially in public for a while and a half. They seem to be a combination of the Oliver Cromwell puritanical mentality and Ebenezer Scrooge.
The Chiffsters never had any doubt who would call chicken first!
That’s a fact.
Actually, from the title of this thread I was hoping to find that you can fight city hall, after all, with a good blow-by-blow from Anna. Still and all, Anna, great stuff! Its smacks of destiny to me.
Keep swingin’ at the little tin gods in the meantime.
N
Congratulations Anna, that’s great news. So what have you got lined up to shock the natives next? Dancing? 
whistle and mando – you can’t beat the combination! yet another reason to head to the black hills.
- tom
Actually. Sh*tty Hall 
decided to leave me alone, after I talked with the new Police Chief, guess he decided not to mess with me. However, they can still use those damn laws to hassle people they don’t like the looks of, or worse, noisy kids whose music they don’t like! I’m just too much of an obnoxious pain in the…to leave it alone, but it feels so good to have a place to stand and do my thing! Anyhow, couldn’t have done it without the support of my Chiffy family! Big war dance and Black and Tans all around! Now who here can build bombs? I need to kill a few big !#%@!! speakers that blast country western music from every casino in town, so a girl can busk around here!
Congratulations Anna! Sessions in Deadwood will be great! It also sounds like you’ve got some budding ITrad players, with potentially more if you get the Music teachers on board with how easy whistle is.
Sounds like things are looking up, giving you more opportunities to …
Alright, Anna! Congratulations–it’s about time!
TW
Congratulations Anna, you have struggled hard and alone in Deadwood to get whistle playing recognized. Good Luck to you.
MarkB
Very cool.
Can I come stay at your house? 
Happy trails Anna!
Will there soon be a market for deadwood whistles? I would like to get in on the ground floor. Send me some 45 calibler sticks to work with.
I haven’t heard anything about your fall festival. By the way there will be no conflict with ours because it isn’t.
Farther west,
Mack
Any time, Sam, I’d be proud to have you! 
Mack, my festival hit the wall the second I contacted the Chamber of Commerce, and the Arts Council blew me off, too! (or visa versa, not sure which!) Guess I don’t fit in with their clique! I’ll be doing these little workshops whenever I can. We’ve got two Celtic societies here at each other’s throats, and I walked away from both of them. The Adams Museum is a great place to do volunteer community service, and I’m lined up for a few more and we’ll be doing more on the Pine Ridge Reservation. besides, they like me at the Adams House and I didn’t have to go through any headbanging bull$h*t to get it done! The Black Hills is still in a time warp and until the River Dance touring company hits Rapid City at the same time as re-runs of “Titanic,” Deadwood will still import it’s Scots pipebands from where ever! Anyhow, everybody I was working with basically quit working for the civic organization they were working for! Amazing, huh? Can you make whistles of out .45 gun barrels? We got plenty of those!
Congratulations, Anna. Having a like-minded person in the form of the mando player who is keen to get sessions going should be a great help.
Where I currently live, we manage to combine teaching, learning and just playing for enjoyment by having a workshop every week except once a month when we decamp to a local pub for a session. This mix is great for motivating the musicians, while having a regular open pub session gives people who otherwise wouldn’t encounter the music a chance to connect with it, and brings in new recruits.
Maybe you should work on the tweaked .45 concept. After all, they have a barrel and six holes, so half the work is already done.
BTW, I can’t remember, did we congratulate you on achieving C&F kiloposter status?
Congratulations on your victory! This should only be the beginning of more to come. It takes a lot of bravery to challenge a Mid-Western town, especially one with a commercial/tourist economy. But when you stick to your guns and speak clearly, calmly, and with intent, eventually they will start listening.
It’s the same deal in my locale though not as difficult since the government isn’t fighting but there’s still a lot of work to be done. It’s a largely German and Scandinavian town where I am plus as the generation gap yawned wider MTV and Clear Channel Radio stepped in and robbed anybody’s interest in their heritage. Indeed one of the World’s biggest Scandinavian heritage festivals doesn’t even headline Scandinavian artists. Headliners in recent years include Wayne Newton, Mel Tillis, and Bill Cosby. I’ve had some long discussions with one of the events main organizers and she has been very open to introducing more Scandinavian folk music though the precedent for famous non-Scandinavian performers is going to take years to reverse.
Needless to say, introducing Celtic culture to this area hasn’t been easy. Between trivialized cultural stereotypes, Michael Flatley, and low base of heritage/interest, it’s been hard. Luckily there are some music teachers that have put together a good Irish folk band and some folks involved in the local arts councils that are interested in the culture. A group has started and organizes cultural events. This spring we brought down a realy good pipe band from Canada that I happen to play with and the Irish band made up of music teachers played a set as well. Next month they are putting together a festival featuring music by the pipe band, the Irish band, as well as folk singer from Scotland and a local musician who plays harp and sings Gaelic songs. Things are slowly taking shape. I’m sure it’ll pick up for you, Anna.
By the way the festival I mentioned is in Minot, ND on September 13th. I’ll post an announcement closer to the festival. If you have any questions feel free to send me a private message.
Cheers,
Aaron
Brava, Anna, brava!!
Best,
Andrea
You go, Anna!!! Good on you!!! 
~Larry