The Music Fest….

   I lost my dad back in 1993 and my mom in 1998. I miss them every day but by 2001, I was really missing them and their wonderful music. I was talking it over one day with my mother in law Alice Mary. Between the two of us, we came up with a plan. We decided to have a big party in memory of my folks and their music. I can’t exactly remember when that was but the results I do remember. It would be in August of 2001 and it would be held at Alice’s farm because she had a huge back yard. We sent out invitations to everyone we could think of to include both sides of my family and many of hers. I don’t remember the exact number of people that came but it was very well attended. I had some of my dads old sheet music that he so lovingly collected over the years. Some were stained and torn and should have been thrown out, but instead, I salvaged pieces of them. These pieces ended up going into a poster made by Alice for the party. The party was called The Music Fest.  Alice took old photos of my folks, some of my fathers musician friends, information I had given her about their lives and more, and made 2 wonderful posters that hung outside at the event. Here are some pictures of them…. Here’s the poster in full. Here are some close ups.. That’s me playing guitar with my folks on the couch to the right. My brother is top left at another celebration some years earlier. These are all photos from the past so we could feel as if they were there with us. Alice added many pictures of old instruments and typed in sayings she thought someone in the photo may have been saying…really cute. This is a family friend named Edgar who played an unbelievable piano. He played like Scott Joplin…..many rag time tunes. The blue piano is him playing at my wedding reception. My dad had passed but my mom was there. This man is Edgar’s brother Kenny and in this photo he was tap dancing to an old tune. That man was one of the funniest men I have ever met. He also played a mean mandolin. I have great memories of him from my childhood and of Edgar too. This poster is a treasure. This is my fathers band he played with at his 60 plus club once a month in Portland. Alice also dropped in info regarding my dad’s being in the Army. More….with the same idea in mind about my mom being a nurse. My mom performing one New Year’s Eve at a local club. They truly loved one another. The dedication section of the poster. An old sheet music cutout about unlocking a door she put in. It was a wonderful, wonderful celebration. There were many old musicians that were there that played in remembrance of Paul and Lydia that day. Two trumpet players, two drummers, several guitar players, banjo, tambourine, an electric piano, a saxophone and more entertained us all. I played a little guitar and sang one of my favorite Lydia tunes…..yup….you guessed it….Bill Bailey!! In my next post, I will show you some of the actual photographs of the gathering. It was awesome and I hope, someday to have a Music Fest II. :)