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August 2022
It’s
hard to believe that we are preparing for another Festival – our 47th
if you don’t count the two virtual ones (they turned out beautiful -
you can still see them at NJClearwater.org, under “Festival”).
This is the information:
47th Annual Festival NJF Clearwater
Saturday, August 6 (11am-7pm) and
Sunday, August 7 (11am-5pm)
at Red
Bank's Riverside Gardens Park
42 West Front Street, Red Bank
Please come and bring something to sit on (we have chairs, but there may
not be enough).
These have been strange times.
We did make it through the winter - having the Circle on the porch of
the Grover House. We
didn’t send invitations and, instead, just showed up – to sing with
whoever also happened to show up – to join us.
All winter, we were fortunate to enjoy warm Circle
Sundays. It felt like a
strange side effect of Global Warming.
But I have to say, I’d feel better if we had ‘normal’
winters like the ones we’ve been having, in our earlier lives.
Last year, when I updated my “Lyrics” page, I listed a brand-new
song called “Stop the Violence.”
Someone asked Isis to write it – in anticipation of a rally in
June.
That song has taken on a life of its own.
Our studio was closed, due to Covid, so Dale and I were working
on a “draft” version of the song.
I was busy with some last-minute corrections, when the phone rang.
It was Isis, “They killed my grandson.”It turns out that Alex
made the mistake of opening the door of his parents’ house in
Irvington, when someone rang the bell after midnight.
He was dying when the police found him there.
His mother moved to this country from Africa, so that her son
would have a better life, in safety.
Isis’ son Dion adopted him when he married his mother.
Alex worked in his parents’ beauty shop.
We’ve been singing the song at large rallies and small gatherings, and
we were getting ready to sing it on June 11 – in Asbury Park – at
the rally that it had been written for – when we received an e-mail
from Sharleen – to sing it with her – at a rally in Princeton.
We declined, but while we were packing the car, we received the news
that there was a problem with the city government in Asbury Park.
The organizers had to cancel the rally.
I immediately e-mailed Sharleen who was delighted to have us.
Ten minutes later, we were on our way to Princeton.
May 2021
These
have been strange times, but there is hope. Our band, The
Clarity Project, has been getting together to practice at the Grover
House. We’ve written a few new songs, and we’re so ready
to record or let you hear them live.
We also sang at an outside event organized by Musicians on a Mission,
and it felt so good. Now we are discussing whether we should
try to have an outside Circle of Song at the Grover House, in the not
too distant future.
We all miss a few people who haven’t survived the Pandemic. The
sweet couple who lived across the street from me in Newark died before
anyone realized that there was any danger. I will never
forget them - they always let me use their parking spot when I visited. She
caught the Virus in the factory where she worked.
He caught it from her.
Barbara Knight, one of my friends in Asbury Park, died in the rehab
place where she was – temporarily, we thought - to overcome a stroke. She
was my exercise teacher. I
always admired and tried to achieve her great physical condition.
NJ Clearwater lost our most enthusiastic Captain, Shannon Gilvary. It
is hard to believe. Shannon refused to buy a car, so that he
would remain motivated to ride his bike.
I took a photo of him during our first sail together - it is now
on our Website, www.NJClearwater.org -
under “Environmental Sail Program.” Dale suggested that
we re-write our song, “Pete’s Banjo,” in Shannon’s honor.
I took out the verse about Harris, the dog, and replaced it with
the one about Shannon.
But when we sang it to our friends of the Navesink Maritime Association,
they demanded that we put Harris back in.
I am sure that Shannon would approve.
He too loved Harris. You
can find this version of the song on my “Lyrics” page – under
“Pete’s Banjo.”.
We hope to launch Pete’s Banjo in June. The last time I
came to watch the men at the Grover House, they were hosing it down. It
is a beautiful boat, built as a collaboration between NJ Friends of
Clearwater and the Navesink Maritime Association. Tom Gibson
wrote a book about how it was built. Portions of it will be
used this year as part of the “Working Waterfront” of Clearwater’s
Great Hudson River Revival, which will again be a Virtual Festival. Please
see my October comments – you can still watch the Virtual Festival
video that we produced last year.
October 2020
I
believe that NJ
Friends of Clearwater’s Virtual Festival video is still online. Check
our Website https://www.njclearwater.org –
click on “Festival”
and then click on the pink and baby blue icon.
Our producer, Andrea Spinelli, did an unbelievable job in telling
our history, using bits and pieces of film material.
We hope to do another video, this year.
Thanks to those of you who contributed to us. If you
haven’t yet, please do consider to do so. I love our great
organization, and our message is so needed, these days. Our
expenses have kept being high, mostly because of insurance costs –
covering a boat that we haven’t been able to use and a Festival that
we haven’t been able to have. But we have hopes for
the future, so please do consider to help us keep afloat – there’s a
Paypal button on our website.
September 2020
It’s
almost time for our 45th NJ Friends of Clearwater Annual
Festival, which will be VIRTUAL, this year.
It was fun to work on this video. It taught me many new
skills, and I loved working with that medium.
The
video brings back beautiful memories that we’ve been gathering over
the years. I’ve participated in one of the interviews (Jack
and Barbara) and the introductions of our Circle performers, just as we
would have done it at a live Festival. I even helped with the
filming of some of our performers (Lydia, Jim and Isis).
I also discovered that a video is much easier to deal
with than ProTools sound recording (which is important, but hard to keep
up with). I recorded about 70 songs – of a backlogs of
about 100. Now I have to figure out how to work
“YouTube”. It’s an ongoing project. I will
keep you informed .- Please check the “Multimedia” tab for links.
Dale and I began working on videos of some songs, so that they can be
put on YouTube. Two of them are up, so far (“Come to the
Sea” and “We’re Living in Paradise”). Dale used my
photographs to make the songs into videos, and she is working on more
songs, so please keep checking under “Multimedia.”
The unusually quiet spring and summer have been a writer’s paradise
for me. We’ve written one new song inspired by the Pandemic
(what else?) . But what has been good for me is that I finally found the
time to complete my stepfather Herbert’s three-Volume World
War II Photo Biography.
The German Archives have expressed an interest in Herbert’s historic
photographs, promising me to store them properly and make them
accessible when they are needed. Of course, the photos will
make a lot more sense to future generations if they are accompanied by
his life story. It IS written now, thanks to the Pandemic.
I have also been going through crates full of papers that I have
collected for this project and various other s. It feels so
good every time I move another crates to storage.
But I miss our Song Circles and my Yoga classes, and so many other good
things.
April 2020
As I am writing this, I am kind-of stuck in my house, held hostage by
this terrible virus. Most of
the boardwalks and beaches are closed.
But I am grateful that I can still take my daily walks in town.
As I was checking my computer, I realized that I had forgotten to post
my July 2019 “NEWS” entry. Well,
here it is – a little late.
As you know, we had to cancel our Circle of Song.
It would have been today, and I miss it.
In two hours, I would have called Isis – to pick her up and
drive to the Grover House. It
would have been two hours of magic, as it always is.
Stuck here in the house, I spent two days making videos.
I realized that I had a backlog of 49 songs that weren’t
recorded in some shape or form. I
managed to finish 30. Now I
am waiting for my fingers to hurt a little less, so I can do the other
19 – and maybe more – as I am cleaning the house and finding more
notes
One bit of news: I have
fulfilled one of my childhood dreams – buying a Leica camera.
I’ve been having fun with it at the Jersey Shore Arts Center,
photographing the wonderful singer-songwriters who usually perform there
– I hope the Café Artiste will be “on” again soon. – It used to
be every Tuesday, at 7 pm.
Please stay well, so that we can meet again soon.
July 2019
Another busy year gone by. More
than a year.
I haven’t performed nearly enough.
And I still haven’t gotten back to the studio to catch up on
all the recordings. Dale and
I have been making some videos, using my songs and photographs, and I
will post them soon. The
last one she sent me turned out perfect – on first try.
My friend Lilo died – Dr. Lieselotte Brandes.
Forty-or-so years ago, she was my neighbor in NYC.
She helped me get my financial act together – that was her
specialty. She had a PhD in
Finance. It seemed
impossible for me to keep up with my student loans, with only part-time
jobs. She showed me how I
could do not only that, but also how to save some, so that I could buy a
house. She gave me the
tools, and I was eager to learn. Everyone
should have a mentor like Lilo. I’ve
often thought that every child should have adopted Grandparents – so
that much useful information isn’t lost.
Besides, it is good to have someone to talk to.One day in 2013,
Lilo called me and asked me to help her pay a few bills.
Of course, I drove to NYC to help her.
To
my surprise, the “bills” turned out to be checks.
That’s when I realized something wasn’t quite right with
Lilo. Her neighbor Kumiko
and I saw to it that she received care.
We hired two caregivers – and one of them – Cici – knew
much about nutrition and alternative medicine.
Lilo didn’t get worse for a long time.
Cici also saw to it that she had fun during the last four years
of her life.
I started taking photographs when I was about ten
because I wanted to remember things – to write about them later.
It became a passion. And
it was Lilo and my other NYC friends who would track to my house, down
at the Jersey Shore, for every one of my birthdays.
We’d have lunch at the ocean and then we’d have fun with my
“slide show” of the year – remember slides?
It wasn’t as much fun when I began using negatives and prints,
instead – remember prints? – and the whole thing lost steam all
together when I went digital.
After 9-11, I decided to make my first video using my photographs.
I went to a wedding photographer with prints of my World Trade
Center photos, and he followed my directions while filming these prints.
You can still see it now on this Website under “Multimedia”
- “Poetry in Stone.”
Dale managed to duplicate the process on the computer, and we also put
up the first video there that uses a song and photographs of mine (“Come
to the Sea”)..
I plan to inform my friends whenever I have new videos.
Let me have your e-mail address if you’re not on my mailing
list yet. I’ll send URLs
– not bulky video files.
As soon as Lilo’s affairs are finalized, I am planning to go back
into the studio. I have a
backlog of several dozen songs. I
hope to make videos for those also.
No wonder that there is so little time left for performing.
May 2018
Today it feels like summer, and it seems that I updated this page only a
month ago, but it was last fall.
I finally bought a new computer. Now
I am dealing with the changes. It’s
wonderful not to watch circles for hours each day, but it’s not so
easy to restore all the programs you thought you had.
I’m getting there … I think.
Last week, Isis and I handed out information at Ocean Fun Day –
organized by NJ Sea Grant Consortium on Sandy Hook.
Building 11 on Sandy Hook used to be the home of NJF Clearwater
– and we used to have our Festival right there.
It is amazing to find out how many people don’t know that
we’ve moved – a very long time ago.
I hope that you can come to our meeting – at 12 noon – before our
June 3 Circle of Song. We
would love to have everyone involved.
Protecting our Environment has become so much more important –
in recent months
November 2017
We had another beautiful event a month ago.
As a thank-you for volunteering, we were able to board the
magnificent 106 foot Hudson River Sloop Clearwater on the Hudson River
between the NJ Palisades and the skyscrapers of New York City, in the
shadow of the George Washington Bridge.
To quote Ed Dlugosz: “Three
hours of beauty, songs, and old and new friends on the craft that Pete
Seeger, our founder and mentor, built to save the Hudson from pollution
and blight … 45 years of tradition and comraderie … to not only
clean the Hudson, but also our states, our country and the world.”
Yes,
it was all of that. But what
excited me most were the young people who were staffing the boat.
I am sure that volunteering on the Clearwater has helped making
them who they were: Professionals
! I am so proud of them.
They give me hope for another generation and more after that to
come.
September 2017
Another
Festival is in the past. Two days to enjoy lots of music and
of friends, some of whom we don’t see very often. It is so
good to know that they all come out for us, again and again, when they
are needed. That they all do their best to make a statement
for the environment.
The photographs speak for themselves.
Please look for them on the “Circle
of Song” page – underneath the PDF programs of all our
Circles of Songs.
As usual, our Garvey, Pete’s Banjo, was on the scene, as well as
representatives of many other environmental organizations.
Isis painted a beautiful earth design for our T-shirts, and I heard that
they sold like hotcakes. If you haven’t done so already,
please make sure you put in your order with Sue at 732-912-0382. The
black ones are the most dramatic.
May 2017
We had lots of changes to the location(s) of our CIRCLE OF SONG.
After experiencing a few double bookings at the Community Center,
we’ve been offered a permanent home at the Eatontown Library.
We tried it out on April 2 and loved it.
In May, we tried out the beautiful Grover House that was built in the
1700s and is located in the middle of a park.
We thought we’d be sitting on the porch benches, but the
unusually cold weather forced us to go inside, where the house is still
under renovation.
Inside, we had a limited amount of chairs.
Many more people showed up than the 17 chairs that we had
available. There was
standing room only.
Still, it was a beautiful
experience. We want to thank
our friends of the Navesink
Maritime Heritage Association
for so graciously offering their building to us and even
providing us with hot dogs.
January 2017
I
have some good news and some very sad news today. The good news is that it seems as if Hudson River Clearwater will be able to have their Festival again, this
year. They’ve begun to sell tickets at www.clearwaterfestival.org.
As for the sad news: We’re
heartbroken that we are starting the New Year without three of our most
faithful Circle participants and Leader-Performers.
In June, I wrote about the loss of James Durst. What
I didn’t know about him and his wife Madhumita was that they met at
the Clearwater Walkabout Chorus – singing. I
met and sang with that Chorus once and would have loved to join them,
but Westchester County isn’t an easy commute from the Jersey Shore. James and Madhumita’s story reminded me so much
of Pete and Toshi Seeger’s who met at a square dance. Their passing within months of each other is
still the greatest loss for Clearwater and for the entire world. They’re leaving us behind to continue their
work, and that won’t be an easy task in these strange and troubled
times.
It also seems like yesterday that we lost Richard
Kaltz, who always delighted
our Circles with songs that covered a large spectrum. Not only did he have a beautiful, strong voice,
he also knew something about the history of each song he sang, and he
introduced us to some strange home-built instruments that were based on
those traditionally played by musicians in New Orleans. Richard loved our Circles so much that he
participated in our last Festival, even though he had to be brought
there in a wheelchair by a dear friend. His
voice remained strong as ever. But
when he couldn’t come to the next monthly Circle, we knew that
something was seriously wrong.
And
yesterday I drove to Bergen County for the funeral of another friend who
was too young to leave us: Carl Croce, Joe
Petraitis’ musical collaborator and friend. Yes,
Carl did tell me that he was the nephew of Jim and that he grew up in a
house filled with music. He was also a graduate of
the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY, where he received
his Bachelors Degree. Before retiring, he was a marine engineer for
C.M.C. Consulting in Pine Brook. Joe, Carl and I tried to form a trio, and we did
perform together but, again, physical distances prevented us from doing
more. But he came to for several of Pete’s Holiday
sings, where he sang his own songs, as well as harmony with me, on
“Silent Night.” And he kept participating in many of our Circle
activities. He sang holiday songs for
our December Circles, and he performed with us at most of our Festivals,
as well as The Saint in Asbury Park. His passing was unexpected. We cannot grasp it. Joe
said that there will be more memorials for Carl, and I will keep in
touch with him about that.
September
2016
Great News: NJ
Friend of Clearwater just completed its 41st Annual Festival
– and WE BROKE EVEN – for the first time in years.
Some of you – you know who you are – have come through for our
beloved organization in a big way, and we had two days of sun –
allowing us to do what we needed to do.
THANK YOU, all of you musicians who made for a wonderful program. And
thank you, Dale and Isis, for pitching in with everything we needed to
make it happen and to Bob Vinick who provided the sound – with very
little advance notice.
Four of Pete Seeger’s Sloop Singers joined our Circle of Song Stage:
Lydia Adams Davis did an incredible performance. I
am such a fan. She will also
be our monthly Circle Leader-Performer on November 6 in Eatontown.
I was delighted to see that Jan Christensen has successfully
dealt with his health problems. Two
years ago, he had to interrupt his 35-or-so continuous years of
continuous attendance. Hillary
Zaenchik and Eric Russell, who have scheduling problems in September,
were also able to join us – for the last few hours.
Our Festival and our boat are taken care of for another year.
We’ve already had our first meeting to plan what we can do better –
or the same – next year. We
hope to start our fundraising activities now – for next year – and
we also discussed how to revive our environmental teaching program.
We are open to ideas about that.
PLEASE NOTE THAT there are changes of location for OUR NEXT few
CIRCLES OF SONG
August
2016
Another
Festival is approaching fast – NJ Friends of Clearwater’s 41st.
We’ll be at Brookdale College again.
We loved it there, last year, even though we were dealing with
another rainy weekend. You
may remember: The year
before that, when we were in Long Branch, the rain forced us to continue
performing underneath the Shoprite Truck.
That was rather uncomfortable.
Out tents had blown away long before we got there.
Last year, all we had to do us was get under our tents.
They were well protected by the Brookdale buildings.
I believe the weather forecast is good but, no matter what it
turns out to be: The
Festival is “on.”
June
2016
Another great Circle with Rob
Lincoln. He
has written so many beautiful songs.
I am looking forward to doing his Songwriters Circle at the Phildadelphia Area
Songwriters Association (PASA) next Saturday.
Please check under “Performances” for more information.
Each of the three featured writers sings half a dozen songs and
there is one “open chair” for each round, where audience members can
do a song.
Last Wednesday, Dale
Lakata, Isis Ra and I we were part of a fun TV/radio taping for a show
called Live
From Dennis’ House.
It was dedicated to Simon & Garfunkel.
We sang “Sounds of Silence” and one of our collaborations
called “I am.”
Last weekend was our goodbye to James
Durst, a vivid reminder of how many beautiful songs
he has written over the years. It
involved the Clearwater Walkabout Chorus, a group that I tried to join
in the past and couldn’t – simply because their rehearsals are too
far away from where I live. I
didn’t realize that James met his wife Madhumita there, at the
rehearsals.
My collaboration with Dale and Isis is becoming known as “The Clarity
Project.” Our next
performance will be on June 19, at the Navesink Maritime Fest of the Navesink
Heritage Maritime Association.
More info is under “Performances.”
We also expect to do some songs together at the July 3 Circle of Song
and at the rescheduling of Dale’s event at Espresso
Joe’s. It
was cancelled because of a fire across the street.
I will update the information in the “Performances” page as
soon as I know more. We were
also asked to return to the Middletown Library sometime in October
April
1, 2016
I am heartbroken. One
of our wonderful Circle performers and supporters isn’t with us any
more.
I cannot recall when I became a fan of James
Durst's but it was a very long time ago, in the 1970s.
He passed by Chicago, during his many travels, and I instantly
fell in love with his wonderful personality and message.
I was so honored when he came to support us, not only at our Festivals,
but also at our Circles of Song. He
didn’t miss an opportunity to support Pete Seeger’s work.
He and Bob Killian were our bright “stars” at our last
Festival.
My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and singing partner Madhumita
who came with him and whose harmonies were so beautiful.
Life is so frail. I am
heartbroken.
March
2016
We
had wonderful Circles with Lorraine
Stone and Cliff Bloodgood.
Did you notice: There’s
a certain magic that happens at our Circles, every time we meet.
I am also noticing that some of us have begun to collaborate.
That was one of the things I hoped for when we started the
Circle.
One of the collaborations is that between
Dale
Lakata, Isis Ra and
myself, as songwriters, and now also as performers.
Thank you so much, all of you who ventured out to the Middeltown
Public Library to hear us. We
had a great time and will definitely keep doing things together.
As a matter of fact, on April 8, I will join Dale again as part of an
event at Espresso Joe’s in Keyport called Garden State Goddess.
February
2016
I
am excited to join Dale
Lakata
and Isis Ra at the Middeltown
Public Library on Thursday, March 10.
It’s a short event, so, if at all possible, please come early.
We’ve had a hard time choosing our material because we’ve co-written
so many songs, and we love them all.
I’ve also been doing some very extensive revising of this Website.
Please check under Photos, in particular.
I’ve been meeting many of my folk music idols and many other
people who you may be familiar with.
And then there is, of course, Spot, the cat, who demanded to be
included, but then fell asleep before I could catch up with him.
January
2016
Another
year has begun.
What a memorable event it was to be back in Pastor Sony Augustin’s
church in Asbury Park. That’s
where we started our Circle almost six years ago.
Joe Petraitis was
wonderful. He is beginning
to master his accordion. I
really admire that.
I was forced, as a child, to play what I call the “A instrument” –
for six years. I never
managed to play one single song right.
Joe has it down. He
also brought Carl Croce with him, and they did many Holiday sing-along’s and
also a Lithuanian Christmas song that had the most beautiful harmonies.
Last Sunday, we welcomed Cliff
Bloodgood and his wife who has almost completely recovered from a
very serious health condition. I
am so in awe of Cliff’s mastery of the guitar.
I know it isn’t easy. But
Cliff manages to make it appear that way.
I have spent the last few days updating my Website.
Please check the Photos Page, in particular. I’ve
met some of my idols during the past three years and Elliot Stephen
Cohen has made a photographic record of that.
November
2015
It’s been almost six years since our NJ Friends of
Clearwater Circle of Song has begun to meet – in Pastor Sony
Augustin’s church in Asbury Park.
We left that location after more than a year, but we were so
impressed with Pastor Sony’s work with the homeless, and also with his
congregation, that we’ve kept sending half of our monthly hat pass to
him.
Isis and I met with him today, and it was an emotional reunion.
Pastor Sony gives a passionate sermon, and the music at his
church is wonderful. I
remembered that. Some of his
performers joined us while we met in his cellar.
I’ve also known what wonderful work he does with people on a
one-to-one basis. Friends of
mine attended his church, in particular the author Aaron Powell who then
lived in my house. When
Aaron became sick, Pastor Sony’s Church members came to visit and shop
for him. When Aaron died,
Pastor Sony filled up a van and came to his Mom’s Church in Queens.
This month - this December – we’ve decided to have another (one) of
our Circles back at his Church, the First United Methodist Church of
Asbury Park. Don’t miss
it. Joe Petraitis will
accompany us in Holiday Songs and some of his own, like my all-time
favorite song of them all: “Where
is the Soul.” The
information is on the Circle of Song page.
October
2015
Time
is racing. I haven’t
updated this page for a while, not because there wasn’t any news –
it was because too many things were happening.
Our 40th Festival came and went, and we loved our new
location at Brookdale College. We
had some rain but, unlike in Long Branch, it didn’t uproot our tent.
We just moved in a bit closer and continued our program.
Our Finale was awesome, ending on a high note with Bob and Fifi Killian
doing a moving rendition of his song “There’ll Come a Day.”
And I loved singing for the Beacon Sloop Club Pumpkin Fest in the newly
named Pete and Toshi Seeger Park in Beacon, even though it was snowing
and my teeth were clanging because of the cold.
Thank you, Nancy Cahill, for inviting me.
At this point, I am dealing with the loss of a prominent member of my
hiking group. Barry Miller
did everything. He led the
friskiest group. I left this
group after almost 10 years because I became afraid of falls.
I had broken my wrist falling on my own porch.
But I still saw Barry because he was the “sweep” of most of
the other groups – that’s the person who makes sure everyone is
keeping up. He hiked almost
every day and was in fantastic shape.
None of us can grasp that he is not with us any more.
He also sent about 1/3 of my e-mailings for me, which made life
difficult for me this month – trying to come up with a list – where
to send Barry’s photos that I’d taken over the years and where to
send our Circle mailing.
I found out during his memorial service that he attended Illinois
Institute of Technology for 2 years before earning his PhD in Physics at
the U of Chicago. My
engineering degree is from Illinois Tech.
We could have talked about that, but I had such a hard time
keeping up with him that we didn’t talk much.
July
2015
It’s
hard to believe that it is almost time for our 40th Festival.
We’ve made a decision to move it to Brookdale College – to the
park-like area between parking lots 1, 2 and 3.
Sky Solar (who installed the wonderful Solar Panels at my house) is
going to be with us again, powering our Circle Stage.
We’ll be on the lawn, east of Larrison Hall.
After what we went through with the rain and storm last year (including
our continued performance underneath the Shoprite truck), it is nice to
know that we can go inside the buildings, should it rain again.
I am looking forward to meeting and greeting old friends, as usual, and
I’ve put up a very tentative flier up under “Circle of Song.”
May
2015
I
can’t believe that I haven’t updated my News since our last
Festival.
I hope soon to announce when and where our next Festival – our 40th
– will be.
Today I want to post information on Nepal
and how you can contribute to helping the victims.
Last weekend, I sang for a beautiful, large Peace Gathering at a
Buddhist Center in Princeton. In
view of recent events, it turned into a fundraiser for Nepal.
On Saturday, they will have another gathering which, unfortunately, I
can’t attend. But I will
send a contribution and would like to let others have the info.
Any amount is appreciated.
Checks can be made out to:
Nepal Earthquake Relief Fund and
sent to:
FONNJ (Friends of Nepal NJ), PO Box 5015. Somerville, NJ 08876
If you’d like to attend Saturday’s fundraiser event, please contact:
Nepal Disaster Relief Concert with Krishna Das and Guru Ganesha
Saturday, May 16, 7-11 pm
Nassau Presbyterian Church, 61 Nassau Street, Princeton
SPONSORED BY: Friends of Nepal-NJ, WWW.FONNJ.COM
As of May 14, there are LIMITED SPACES LEFT.
For tickets register here:
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September 2014 (part 2)
“Aha - Oh, no – Don’t Let the Rain Come Down” – remember that
song?
When Isis and I arrived at the Festival site, we looked at the ominous
clouds and could hardly find our stage.
I knew for sure that there had been a Circle of Song tent the
night before. I had visited
the site, together with friends from NYC.
When I arrived on Saturday, all that was left of our tent was a heap of
white cloth. The wind had
huffed and puffed and done what it does, taking down the entire stage. Not
a good sign.
The wind remained heavy, but that doesn’t discourage our hardy Circle
of Song performers – or audience.
We started and finished four sets with Isis Ra, Jim Crawford,
Sally Neal, Bob Mecklenburger, Rich Deans, Dale Lakata, Rob Lincoln,
Spook Handy, Cosby Gibson and Mara Levine.
Rod Krasnostein, Judith Bernz and Edy Toussaint also joined in
and did at least one number each. Bill
Doerge added his excellent accompaniment on bass, and Diane Doolittle on
flute.
James Durst and Madhumita were about to do their last song, when it came
down hard. I was convinced
that, even then, most of our performers and audience members would have
held out, but there are expensive instruments and sound equipment that
we need to protect. I want
to thank everyone who tried to tough it out, even then, especially Mark
Lamhut and Chick Romele, our sound people.
I was disappointed. The next
round was supposed to include Dennis MC Do No Ugh ! who, at least, had
gotten to do one song as Mara’s backup, but no one had gotten to hear
Cynthia Summers’ incredible voice.
Someone suggested that I put the bag with my equipment under the
Shoprite truck until I could retrieve my car.
Shoprite has been generously supporting our Festival with some of
our funds and with a truckload of supplies each year.
When I returned, I noticed that there was quite a gathering under that
truck. Dennis wasn’t going
to let the rain stop him from doing his set.
We added chairs, while humming “Under the Shoprite Truck.”
Even my 92-year-old NYC guest, Mike Taylor, stayed the entire
time.
I was sorry that I hadn’t asked Circle Round the Sun to join us also.
They were the only ones who didn’t get to play, but they’ve
been great supporters in the past, and I know they’ll be back.
It has to have been the strangest venue for any concert
or song circle ever – right then and there, huddled under the truck,
Dennis and Cynthia completed their sets.
Joe Petraitis managed to do a few numbers, one of them his beautiful
song “Where is the Soul.” I
love to sing backup for it. Judith
and I joined Cynthia on several numbers, including “The Water is
Wide.” In the background,
we heard that The Wag kept the main stage open for those who dared to
brave the weather and those who were packing up.
We stayed until the chair rental company needed their furniture back.
That’s dedication! It
was one of those crazy moments in life that we’ll never forget.
I’ve posted a few photos under “Circle of Song.”
More may be coming in.
Please be with us again on October 5, in Eatontown, so you can hear more
of Cosby Gibson. She did an
outstanding job at the Festival, not only on her set, but also backing
up Mara at very short notice.
September 2014 (part 1)
It’s Festival time, and our theme is “What Would Pete Do?”
I can’t wait and hope the weather will play along.
It’s been such a wonderful summer.
I am looking forward to being with new and old friends, while
keeping up Pete’s work.
The local press has been very good.
Under “Reviews,” I
have been giving interviews in connection with our Festival and our Song
Circle. They have
photographs of me and Pete Seeger taken by Elliot Stephen Cohen.
Thank Goodness, he had the foresight to photograph us together
when it was possible. The
recent article on The Link can be viewed at http://thelinknews.net/2014/09/11/clearwater-remembers-the-legendary-pete-seeger/
. I will post the others
when I receive PDF files.
I’ve also put some more links under “Multi Media”.
I discovered that Chris Krebs of the Belmar Arts Council
videotaped me when we had the Circle there.
He placed his videos on You Tube.
We’ve
added more images under “Photos” on this Website.
There are many more to come.
Among the photos already up is one with comic legend “Prof.”
Irwin Corey. It was taken at
his 100th (!) birthday party.
When we met him later at his house, I was very impressed by how
well he was informed on recent news events.
Maybe that’s the secret to longevity.
I also had the pleasure of interviewing Mike Taylor, a Holocaust
survivor who fought in the French Resistance.
He managed to save three of his sisters by placing them in a
convent where some heroic Catholic nuns were able to hide them.
He also saved hundreds of others by placing them on a ship to
Palestine.
His son Shannon has a TV show on MNN (Manhattan Neighborhood Network),
and he interviewed me for it. Please
check (part 1): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShWk5Ruwi7E
and also (part 2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGVPSGVFj24
on U-Tube.
I didn’t realize that I shouldn’t wear my favorite green blouse
because I’d be in front of a green screen.
The engineers forgot to cut away from the NYC background scene to
a more neutral one. So now
it looks as if I am wearing the Empire State Building which is moving
around on my blouse. Oh well
….
But it’s a very good interview. We
touched on many things, from fracking to my photos of the World Trade
Center to my working with Pete Seeger and to my love for NJ Friends of
Clearwater, an organization that Pete urged me to join.
August 2014
It’s almost time for our annual Festival which will again be in Long
Branch, on the northern half of the boardwalk, on Saturday, September13,
from 11 am. The overall
theme will be Pete and Toshi Seeger and his music.
I manage the Circle of Song Stage, which will be near Rooney’s, and I
usually go on first – around 11. Please
look under “Circle of Song” for a preliminary Circle of Song Stage
lineup. Most of us stay
around for the Finale on the Main Stage at about 6 pm – a long day of
fun and friendship as well as concern for our environment.
My life has been incredibly busy.
July 2014
I can hardly keep up with all the events.
Please look under “Live Photos” for some of the things that
have been happening around here.
First I wish to thank Lydia Adams Davis for our fantastic June Circle of
Song. She is such a pro !
I have since listened to her children’s CDs, and they are
excellent. She does a great
job of combining an environmental message with having fun.
I’ve been part of several Pete Seeger memorial concerts and attended
many concerts as well as the Songwriters Hall of Fame dinner and the
Clearwater Revival Festival. All
the while, I’ve been trying to find time to computerize and archive
some of my photographs, recordings and writings.
Brian Ostering of The Wag started organizing benefit concerts for our
next NJF Clearwater Festival, and I’ve been part of that too.
In my spare time, I’ve tried to memorize Pete’s songs.
I tried to tell him that I have a hard time memorizing lyrics –
any lyrics. He replied,
“Stay with it. – You’re not too old to learn.”
I hear from Spook Handy that he is now learning how to play the banjo.
He asked Pete what line he should use, instead of “…hand the
old [banjo] to someone younger,” in the song Quite
Early Morning. Pete
replied, “You’re not too old to learn the banjo.”
Who could argue with him?
April
2014
Where
do I start?
Among other things, I’ve been trying to attend all of
Spook Handy’s “Remembering Pete Seeger” concerts.
He is doing a wonderful job of getting Pete’s songs out there,
and I’ve been proud to join him for his Finales.
It was through Spook that I met Pete – his song “Vote” was sent to
Pete by another friend, Sharleen Leahey, and the rest is history.
I vividly recall Spook singing “If I Had a Hammer” with Pete and
Peter Yarrow during a Hiroshima Memorial at the Riverside Church in New
York City.
You could tell that the song evolved with each performer.
Pete sang the Weavers’ version.
Peter Yarrow obviously did the one sung by Peter, Paul and Mary,
while Spook must have learned the song from the Trini Lopez recording.
But somehow it all came together.
Our Circle
of Song with Bob Mecklenburger will be in Belmar - this time only
– please make a note.
And I will also be singing at a Poetry event in Ocean
Grove on Sunday, April 27th (see “Performances”).
Spook
Handy and Pete Seeger sharing a happy moment, while performing together.
Photo by Ingrid Heldt
March 2014
I am looking forward to having our Circle of Song at
the Eatontown Community Center in April.
In May, we’ll switch to the Belmar Arts Council for that one
month only. I love that
building also and you may want to check out the many interesting
activities that are happening there.
Yesterday, I attended a wonderful concert:
Tony Trischka was at Mexicali Live in Teaneck.
I’d seen him several times in the past, when he was performing
with Pete Seeger. I am not
usually a huge fan of bluegrass or banjo music, but he and his band
truly made both fun for me and the audience obviously loved them too.
It was well worth traveling the long distance in the rain.
Please mark your calendars: The
date for our next NJ Friends of Clearwater Annual Festival (our 39th)
is planned to be September 13-14. We
are hoping to go back to two days. Did
I mention that I have become the Vice President of NJ Friends of
Clearwater? We’ll do our
best to keep up Pete’s work, both musically and with respect to the
Environment.
February
2014
We’ve had a great start to our Circle meetings at the
Eatontown Community Center – about 60 people.
The sound is fantastic – it’s a former church.
We’ve had one
more major change to our Circle – for March.
Please mark your calendar:
Belmar is having its St. Patrick’s Day Parade on the day when we
planned to be at the Belmar Arts Council because the Community Center
has a conflict. They’re
expecting record crowds and much of the town will be roped off.
We’ve had to move our Circle to
Saturday – just for March. It
won’t be in Belmar. It
will remain in Eatontown. Please
mark your calendar.
I want to thank Sharleen for hanging in with us through all these crazy
changes. If you were among
the crowd last time, you’ve heard her do Pete Seeger sing-along songs
that she prepared for us. I’ve
sung backup on some of her recordings.
Prepare for some nice harmonies.
|
January
2014 – part 5
I
decided to post my favorite photo of Pete
and Toshi on my Website. I
took it after one of our Beacon Festivals.
Now they’re back together.
January
2014 – part 4
Just
as I completed most of my monthly e-mailing, wherein I informed
everyone of the new time and location of our Circle of Song, I
heard the sad news that Pete Seeger didn’t survive his recent
struggle with congestive heart failure
|
Pete and Toshi now they are together again
Photo:
Ingrid Heldt
|
Last
week, I spoke with Dave Bernz who has been producing Pete’s last
few CDs. He said that
just about everyone he meets has a story of how Pete helped his or
her life.
I
added mine: I used to
be so nervous, as a performer, that I’d become physically ill
before each major performance that I was scheduled to do. It
forced me to give up my dream of becoming a professional singer.I don’t know how I mustered up the courage to sing for
Pete, but he had a way of making you forget that you were “performing.”
He made you concentrate on making the audience participate.
He made my dream possible.
January
2014 – part 3
“VICTIMS
OF YOUR OWN SUCCESS” – that’s how Mike, the owner of the Turnstile
Coffee Bar put it when he sadly told me last month to look for another
location.
I perfectly understand. We
love his place, but it has become very popular on weekends with his
regular clientele. When we
arrived last Sunday, he had already two dozen or so people there.
We brought in another three dozen, which was impossible to
handle. The place was
crowded and parking turned into a nightmare.
We’ve been offered a number of places in the past and decided to make
our permanent home at the Eatontown
Community Center, where NJF of Clearwater has been conducting
business and party meetings in the past.
It’s a former church at 72 Broad Street, which is north of
Route 36, parallel to it. The
directions are posted under “Circle of Song.
Thank you, Ed Dlugosz, President of NJ Friends of Clearwater, for
stepping in and booking this beautiful space for us.
This will become our permanent home.
January
2014 – part 2
We found a new venue.
Please
check for the new address and directions under “Circle
of Song” or under “Performances.”
We’re also changing our starting time to 2 pm.
At one of our last meetings, the consensus was that most of us
preferred a later starting time.
This can now be done because we’re not locked into the opening times
of the Coffee Bar any more.
January 2014
This
is just a short note – please look for updates:
We have outgrown our beautiful venue, the Turnstile Coffee Bar.
To quote Mike, the owner, we’ve become a victim of our own
success.
His place is suited for about a dozen extra people – we’ve
brought in close to forty each month – much more than he can handle.
I will be keeping you updated here and under “Circle of
Song.”
November
2013
I’m still busy updating this Website.
Please look for more changes, especially the exciting new “Live
Photos,” most of them taken by Elliot Stephen Cohen.
I have so much to report. First,
I’d like to thank James Durst
for doing an impromptu second set on the Circle of Song Stage at our NJF Clearwater Festival, when someone had to cancel.
I was particularly happy about that because it gave me the
pleasure of getting to hear him and his wife who has a beautiful voice
too. I’ve been a fan
of his since the 1970s.
I am also a huge fan of his band, Work
‘O the Weavers, and last weekend, we traveled to Beacon, NY, where
they played to a sold-out crowd at a wonderful venue called the Town
Crier, which recently moved there. Pete
Seeger helped them out, and so did Tom
Chapin. Ronnie
Gilbert participated by telephone.
Here is the link to an article that Elliot Stephen Cohen wrote
about it in The Examiner: "Ronnie
Gilbert"
As you can see from my “Live Photo” page, I’ve been busy meeting a
lot of interesting people, like Dave Davies of The Kinks, Denny Laine of
Wings, James Burdon of The Animals, Bill Medley of The Righteous
Brothers, David Amram, Mike Love and Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys,
Tommy James, Thuli Dumakide of Thuykuza, a wonderful band combining
African and American talent (check them out at the Baruch Performing
Arts Center), and Darlene
Love, who is an inspiration at 72 – she looks and acts more like a
teenager – I think having music in one’s life does that.
Our Song Circle is going strong.
We’ll
be changing the starting time from January – an hour
earlier will be more convenient for our generous hosts at the Turnstile
Coffee Bar. They Won’t
have to stay open any more past their usual closing time.
October
2013
I’ve been doing a lot of updating of this Website in
the past few weeks. Please
look for the changes. They
should be “up” within the next few weeks, especially the exciting
new “Live Photos” taken by Elliot Stephen Cohen.
I’ve also – finally – finished two CDs that used to be Mini CDs (Visualize Peace ! – Hope
Road). Somehow
I hadn’t gotten around to completing them.
I also finished another CD (Beautiful
Planet) that’s new and
that reflects my work with NJ Friends of Clearwater.
Our 38th NJ Friends of Clearwater Festival went very well and
broke even again, even though we didn’t charge for admissions.
Moving to Long Branch brought us many new people who walked in
from the boardwalk and who wouldn’t have heard about us, otherwise.
PLEASE STAY TUNED...
September
2013
I
can’t believe that it’s almost time for our NJ Friends of Clearwater
38th Annual Festival (September 15 – Long Branch – see
“Performances”).
I’ve been recording – finishing up three CDs that I promised a
number of years ago. Nothing
makes time fly faster than recording.
And I’ve been performing. The
Corn Fest in Beacon was the highlight of my summer season, and a
reporter from The Examiner-dot-com,
took a number of beautiful photographs there that I intend to share here
soon.
I’ve met, among others, Mike Love and Bruce Johnston, two of the Beach
Boys, and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Darlene Love, who has lost none
of her fantastic voice or looks and who has sung with people like Elvis,
Dionne Warwick, Tom Jones, Sonny and Cher and her own band, The
Blossoms.
As soon as I finish the artwork for the three coming CDs, I’ll be
updating this Website and sharing some of the above.
May
2013
Again, I want to thank you for coming to our last
month’s benefit at Molly
Maguires and to our regular Circle
of Song. The Turnstile
ran out of chairs – that’s a wonderful problem for performers to
have.
Our next Circle of Song will
be on Sunday, June 2, 1:30 pm, at the beautiful Turnstile
Coffee Bar. We’ll be
joined by James Durst, a
legend in the world of Folk Music. I’m
so excited that he asked to be our featured performer.
I’ve been a fan of his since the ‘70s.
Among other things, he founded Work
of the Weavers. They
don’t only perform the songs of the Weavers and of Pete Seeger - they
also tell the story. Pete
himself joined them for their first few performances.
When I asked James how he manages to sound so much like young
Pete, he said he’s been a fan of Pete’s all of his life.
On Saturday, June 8, we’ll have another Fundraiser for our Festival,
this time at Unity by the Shore, 3508 Asbury Avenue, Neptune, NJ.
At 2 pm, our Traveling Environmental Festival (TEF) team will teach how to keep our Environment clean.
After that, at about 3 pm, Dale Lakata, Isis and I will start the
music.
By now you’ve probably heard about the change in plans for our 38th
NJ Friends of Clearwater Festival.
It will be held on Sunday, September
15, 2013 – not in August – and it will move from Asbury Park to
the North End Park at the boardwalk in Long Branch, north of the former
Hilton Hotel and south of Rooney’s.
The Circle of Song Stage
will be near Rooney’s.
I’ve also been singing, teaching and timekeeping for our TEF program. Like
Clearwater, our much admired parent organization, we teach respect for
our Environment, but our boat, the Adam Hyler, is kind-of small – it
can’t accommodate our teaching program.
Instead, we go out to local schools – or to the Unity Church,
on June 8.
April
2013
It’s been another very busy series of months.
Besides dealing with some very challenging computer tasks, I’ve been
opening for Tommy and Abby Anton
and singing backup for Sharleen
Leahey and Dale Lakata.
I’m also looking forward to singing at the Corn
Festival in Beacon, NY, on August 11.
I’m not sure about my time slot, but I’ve been on as early as
12 Noon in the past, and Pete
Seeger is usually on at 2 PM. Please
come early. I will be
posting more information soon under “Performances.”
I’ve also been singing at several African History Celebrations, one
thanks to my friend Isis Ra,
another thanks to Dale Lakata.
Isis, Dale and I recently collaborated on our first song.
At this time, we’re doing some recording.
NJ Friends of Clearwater is
having another fundraising event, this one on April 28, at a beautiful
historic pub in Rumson.
Please check under “Performances”
for more information.
January
2013
As you can see from my December Performance list,
I’ve “been around” more than usual.
I am glad that things are a little calmer now.
I have a lot of catching up to do.
Today I took a walk in Asbury Park, so that I can report on its
boardwalk. They’ve
promised that it will “be back” before next summer.
As far as I could see, they’re making great progress.
All the underpinnings appear to be in place and some sections
seem to be complete. It
struck me that one of the things that survived without damage is the
base of a portion of the Casino that was torn down a few years ago.
People then didn’t skimp on materials as they do now.
The northern portion of the boardwalk in Ocean Grove survived with minor
damage and has been repaired. That’s
because the dunes held up. They
were planted well, which kept them in place, saving my house also.
The southern end, where all the flooding was, doesn’t look so
good. I don’t think that
the fishing will be back by the summer either.
Other
towns have suffered much more. I
tried to take a trip down Route 35.
In Mantelokin, there are still armed guards keeping everyone out.
I hear that 90% of that town is damaged.
Before 1992, I used to love sitting on the benches on their
generous dunes, reading a book. In
1992, they were damaged by a nor-easter and not completely rebuilt – a
terrible mistake.
One
of the towns with little damage along the ocean is Bradley Beach.
They used interlocking bricks for their boardwalk, claiming that
this was historically correct – there had been bricks before.
I recall that a storm underwashed some of them soon after.
A concrete barrier was added.
I sneaked in the day after Sandy, sure that the bricks would be
in the ocean. I was amazed that the entire boardwalk was not only
intact, but also cleaned up. The
police chased me away, but everything was definitely ready for use.
In 1992, they used a strange technique of depositing Christmas
trees on their beach, hoping it would add to their dunes.
They were proven right. The
only major damage was in Tommy
and Abby Anton’s neighborhood, where a lake overflowed –
something completely unexpected.
I strongly feel that we need to invite dyke experts from Holland.
In 1964, Northern Germany lost 600 lives due to a horrible flood.
The Dutch experts were called in to rebuild every dyke.
The storms and floods have kept coming, but I haven’t heard of
anyone drowning since. The
only fatalities have been from falling trees.
That’s another matter. I
visited Joe Petraitis in
Randolph, surprised to see a tree smashed into a car in his driveway.
He used to have a small forest in his back yard.
Most of that is now firewood.
I often go hiking, and it’s amazing to see how many trees
we’ve lost. We need them,
so we can breathe.
November
2012
Many
things have happened around here. We’ve
had to cancel last month’s Circle of Song with Sharleen Leahey because of Hurricane Sandy.
Sandy has caused major destruction.
Life has felt unreal since. While
the block where I live was almost undamaged – a few blocks from
here is major destruction.
Among our friends who have had major problems are Tommy and Abby Anton, who have always supported us in the past.
Their home in Bradley Beach has been flooded.
They said they found live fish in their car and in their
basement. They are now
ripping out all the contaminated sheetrock and insulation to make their
home habitable again. I hope
that we’ll be able to do a benefit for them.
If you wish to get in touch with them or if you can help, this is
the Website they’ve set up: www.helpabbyandtommy.com
Another person who has been having unexpected housing
problems is Carl Croce. It
forced him to cancel his participation in our December Circle.
However, Joe Petraitis, who would have been there with him, has
graciously offered to be our featured Leader-Performer.
Joe and I used to sing together often, and we love to do duets
like “Where is the Soul,”
my favorite song of all – he wrote it.
The Turnstile Coffee Bar hasn’t
been damaged, but I am sure they’ve suffered because they had to close
down because of the power outage. Please
give them your business whenever you can.
As for NJ Friends of Clearwater: We’ve
lost many Festival materials that were stored in a garage.
But everyone is alive and well, and we will recover from this.
August
2012
I have a number of things to discuss today.
First Item: DO NOT FORGET TO
COME TO OUR 37th
ANNUAL FESTIVAL on AUGUST
11 in Sunset Park, Asbury Park.
It starts off on the Main Stage at 11 am, with the Allen Chapel AME
Youth Choir and Praise Group. I’ve
had some weekends off and have been able to spend some time at this
Church. I admire their
positive, joyful outlook and their music program that is nothing short
of awesome.
I will start the Circle of Song Stage at 11 am.
If you miss it because you went to hear the choir: I
am planning to continue running the stage, while singing backup for a
number of my friends. At 6
pm, we will all change over to the Main
Stage, where we’ll do the FESTIVAL
FINALE. We are
planning to revive a song by our founder, Bob
Killian, and another that I’ve heard Helyn
Chobocinski sing who used to organize our stages.
Next Item: Thank
you – you who have come through for NJ Friends of Clearwater in such a
big way. Not only did we
collect most of the money we needed for this year’s Festival, but
Quincy Mumford, who wasn’t able to make it there, suggested that we
should also have a Fundraiser at Chico’s Jazz Club in Asbury Park.
That turned into a great success last Sunday.
It was exciting for me to get to hear some of the people whose names
I’ve seen on our Festival program, but who are on other stages, while
I am on the Circle of Song Stage. People
like O’Neill & Martin, The Wag, Poppa John “Bug” and Quincy
Mumford. The variety of
their styles, the quality of their musicianship and the enthusiasm they
brought to their music and to our cause was so refreshing.
Besides, Chico’s is a neat place.
I was fortunate to get to talk with the owner who isn’t only an
icon in the jazz world. He
is also a firm believer in our organization and what we stand for.
It’s reassuring to know how many friends we have who aren’t
necessarily members of our organization.
He suggested to get more young folks involved, and I told him
about our TEF (Traveling Environmental Festival), a teaching program
which, unfortunately, is presently on hold because our past leaders are
dealing with serious health problems.
My first experience with something similar was on “our” mother ship,
the Clearwater. Someone
smuggled me in as “Danny Einbender’s girl friend,” much to
Danny’s surprise, so that I could sing for a group of special kids and
an unidentified “Special Guest.”
That day, the teaching program was done in the usual manner:
The kids were broken up into eight groups, who were guided from
teaching station to teaching station on the ship.
I recall a net being cast into the water which, when it came back filled
with fish, was emptied into an aquarium until we had a chance to
identify them, with the help of a booklet, and put them back in the
water. I also recall reading
maps, discussing rivers in general (“Who owns the River? – We
do”), learning how to navigate a rather large sailing ship and also
that it isn’t okay for Bonnie Finkenaur and me to giggle while we
steer the boat into oblivion.
I also recall the strict security that day because of the “Special
Guest,” who turned out to be Hillary Clinton.
We had every intention of sticking to the protocol until one of
the kids grabbed an eel from the aquarium and stuck it in the direction
of Hillary’s face. At that
point, all security went by the wayside.
Everyone, including Hillary, broke into squeals of laughter and
the rest was fun.
I also remember a
lesson I took home with me that day, one I was able to apply the very
next morning: Danny told us
that styrofoam cups are disastrous for the environment because they
simply don’t bio-degrade and that, if we can do nothing more at the
time, we should at least buy our coffee in shops that use paper cups or
maybe – maybe – bring our own mugs.
Back to New Jersey Friends of Clearwater:
We have a boat too, the Adam Hyler, except, it’s a “garvey,”
which means that it’s too small to have groups on it.
Besides, it’s currently out of commission.
I hear that it’s being rebuilt by a group of dedicated young
volunteers and that it – or something much like it – should be back
in the water by the time of our 38th Festival.
But as I said, it’s not large enough to house teaching events. That’s
why we used to go directly to the schools to teach.
I’ve participated in those TEF teaching events too.
I sang for the kids and helped with the teaching stations.
I recall microscopes to teach about phyto- and zoo-plankton, the
tiny creatures that small fish feast on, so that larger fish, in turn,
can feast on them. If the
little ones aren’t healthy, there won’t be any big ones, just as it
happened with the Hudson River before Pete Seeger decided to build the
Clearwater and use it to educate people.
He’s now involved in building swimming pools for the river
because the water is clean enough to do so.
He’s living proof of how much one person can do – with a
little help from friends.
Another station I vividly recall is the watershed model, which is rather
large to transport – too large for my Toyota.
We used oregano to represent the candy wrappers that we might
throw away in the streets and colored oil to represent what might be
dripping from our cars. The
fun began when we all got spray bottles and created our own rain storm.
After that, we watched how everything ended up in the ocean of
our watershed model – not good.
I asked Chico to be on the lookout for retired teachers or possibly
people with flexible schedules and maybe access to a van.
We could use their help, so that this great program can be
revived. He offered to have
an event for children at his place.
That should be a good start.
Please let us know if you’re able and interested in volunteering for
this program. We’ve
educated over 25,000 students and our voices shouldn’t be silent at
this time.
May
2012
Let
me print here the E-mail I just sent out to my mailing list.
The contents are so important.
Re: NJ Friends of Clearwater - URGENT APPEAL FOR FUNDS
Please feel free to forward this E-mail to as many of your friends as
you can think of.
I mentioned in my last mailing that NJ Friends of Clearwater will make
an urgent Appeal for Funds
and
that I will be sending an E-mail about it.
Our PayPal
button is now working. I've
just tried it and sent my own membership contribution that way.
It works - and it's sooo cool. Thank you, Ed Dlugosz for
getting this to work.
You'll find it on the opening page of our Website, www.njclearwater.org .
While contributing, you can explain to us what your money is for by
clicking on the tab labeled "Add special instructions to the seller".
There's also a snail mail address on our front page.
If you prefer to send us a check, you may use that address.
Any amounts that you can spare is will help us greatly. The
painful truth is: Some of our wonderful donors have had to
cut back this year. We need to make up for the difference.
If we can't raise enough funds now, we won't be able to have our 37th
Annual Festival on August 11 in
Asbury Park, and that would be terrible.
For several years, we haven't charged an admission. That way,
we've been able to attract many more people. Isis and I will make
an effort in the next few weeks to get us advertised in all churches,
libraries and businesses in Asbury Park and Ocean Grove.
But putting on a Festival is expensive, and it won't happen without
your contributions.
Ingrid
Thank
you, Sharleen
Leahey. I just
received your E-mail informing me that you contributed $50 in honor of
your friend – our friend – Carol
Sciacca who was the videographer at our last few NJ Friends
of Clearwater Festival Circles of Song.
In her quiet way, Carol always did so much for all of us.
I am so glad that I dropped by her hospital room, but didn’t
expect never to see her again. Life
is so fragile.
February 2012
This
is nice: Patricia
Florio, a local writer, has come to our Circle
of Song in January (and also in February) and written a
wonderful article about it. It
can be accessed at http://stripedpot.com/2012/02/09/even-in-winter-theres-always-something-to-do-at-the-jersey-shore/
.
Maybe there is hope.
Kathy
Moser makes me think about so much that may be possible when
she did her outrageously funny song about Shopping Malls at our February
Circle.
Years ago, when I first heard her do that song, it seemed to be just
some crazy idea: “If we
took down the malls, all the people would have a lot more time, I’d
have some peace of mind. There’d
be so much more open space – Hey, isn’t that what we came here for,
in the first place.” Crazy
idea, yes. Yet, for whatever
reasons: Fewer shopping
malls are being built today, and some are actually reverted to wildlife.
“Seaview Square Bird Sanctuary” ... What a thought!
Pete
Seeger sometimes quotes Jesus about putting out Seeds.
Pete has certainly put out a huge amount of them, and some have
come to fruition. Others may
yet see their day. Maybe the
most important thing is the word – mentioning our wishes to others and
then let the universe suggest solutions. I
think that’s what Pete means when he talks about Seeds.
It reminds me of my Dad, Carl
Friedrich Lühmann. He
yelled something across the street that got him in trouble with the
powers that were in Germany, early in 1945.
It certainly seemed more than impossible at the time.
The government wanted War, and they didn’t mind spreading lies
and rumors to get what they wanted – or to eliminate the people who
might have stood in their way.
Dad yelled “Bald haben wir endlich Frieden.”
It may seem like a useless thing to say, considering the
circumstances. But another
peace lover may have heard it and found the courage to hope – maybe
even to help. Besides, he
was to remain right: I was
fortunate to grow up in one of those seemingly impossible times of
Peace.
I
am also thinking of my days as a Civil Engineer, on the renovation
project of the Coney Island Sewage Treatment Plant.
When I took the job, I was excited to help cleaning the air in
Sheepshead Bay, a beautiful part of Brooklyn that used to smell like a
sewer. My joy was disturbed
when I discovered what was done with the toxic sludge, one of the side
products of such a plant. It
was put it on barges and dumped into the ocean.
The plans for the future were even more disturbing:
An underground pipe system was to combine the sludge from three
sewage plants, to be put on bigger barges and dumped into the ocean –
further out.
I
felt like the lone voice in the wilderness when I kept harping at just
about every meeting that the Europeans clean their sludge and use it as
fertilizer. The reply was
always the same, “It’s cheaper to make chemical fertilizers.”
I became frustrated, quit my job as an engineer and opted for an
easy computer job with a law firm.
More than twenty years later, at one of our combined Sierra Club/NJ
Clearwater events, I met a sanitation engineer of the NYC Department of
Sanitation. He told me that
it’s happening: New York
City’s sludge is now shipped to fertilizer companies.
He also said that the expensive pipe system never worked.
There’s much to be learned from Europe:
When you have so little space and so many people, you simply
can’t get away with shortcuts. Most
people may not realize how much bigger the US is than Europe – the
maps are usually printed in different scales.
That reminds me of my first bus trip from New York City to Chicago.
After about nine hours, I started to worry that I might not have
gotten off in time and to fear that I might end up in California.
I asked the driver, who smilingly informed me that we’d soon be
leaving New York. Seven-or-so
hours can take a person straight across Europe.
Talking about crowding: Germany
has one fourth of the population of the US – all in half the size of
Texas. Holland, where I used
to live for a while in the 1960s, has twice more people per square mile.
I did feel crowded there and dealt with it by joining friends on
sailboats as often as possible.
I am always surprised to find that Germany doesn’t feel as crowded as
it is. People realize that
they have to be considerate. I
am proudly following the progress of Alternative Energy over there and
hope for much more of an exchange of technology.
We don’t have to keep re-inventing wheels that are already
working somewhere else.
So much for my soap-box speeches today.
Please come to hear Spook
Handy next month – on March 15 – at our Circle in the
beautiful Turnstile
Coffee Bar. He’s
been one of the proverbial voices in the wilderness during all the years
that I’ve known him. When
he wrote his song “Vote”, Sharleen
Leahey decided that Pete
Seeger might like it. She
sent it to him. Last month,
when I performed with him in Highland Park, I asked how he found out
that Pete loves the song. He
blushed, “I am from a younger generation – I didn’t know who Pete
Seeger was when I got the letter.”
Since then, he’s performed with Pete more times than even he
can count.
I made sure to go when Spook and Pete sang “Vote” together at one of
the Beacon Festivals, about seven years ago.
At the time, Clearwater had lost my membership twice, and I
marched to the Clearwater booth to voice my bitter complaint.
To my surprise, I found Pete there, by himself, explaining that
everyone had gone out to lunch, but I could help him staff the booth.
The rest is history. I’ve
been trecking to the Hudson Valley at least once a month, so I can learn
from the best.
Spook, as I said, has become a performer who is called all the time to
sing and play with Pete. One
event will always stand out in my mind:
I heard Spook, Pete Seeger and Peter
Yarrow of Peter,
Paul & Mary do “If I had a Hammer” – together –
at Riverside Church in New York – a historic event.
Each one knew a different version, but somehow they managed to
pull it together.
We are so lucky that Spook will share his valuable time with us, the
friends of NJ
Friends of Clearwater.
Ingrid
January 2012
Another
month – they keep coming. Our
Circle
of Song is doing very well. Joe Petraitis brought Carl
Croce, and we had a record turnout.
Our move to the Turnstile
Coffee Bar in Belmar turned out to be so good for everyone
involved. We love the
location, and they seem to enjoy having us there.
I hope that many people will discover it’s a cheerful and
beautiful place to go and spend some time.
Joe and I also stopped at the Folk Project in Morristown on Friday,
January 13. We received a
beautiful video. I will let
everyone know as soon as I figure out how to put it on U-Tube.
Isis had to move to another apartment, but it’s one owned by her
previous landlord. A tenant
below her caused a fire. She
didn’t lose everything, this time around.
But it’s almost ironic: Since
she was completely burned out a few years ago, she and Helen McCahill
have raised $38,000 and begun to renovate a dilapidated building, the
Allen House, as a place where people can stay temporarily, after a fire.
It reminds me of the fire we’ve had here in 2010.
The Red Cross provided everyone with a fancy hotel room for two
days. We all agreed:
We would have rather had a less-than-fancy room for a week - or
two - or three. I spent a
few nights at one of our neighbors’ houses.
He was grateful that my Solar Panels kept the fire from spreading
to his place.
I personally had been very lucky: My
living space had only light smoke damage.
I then discovered was that it was much easier to find a place to
take in people than a place for people with their pets.
We ended up sneaking a turtle and four of five cats past the
police lines. One cat had
stayed behind, hidden in the house – which freaked me out during the
fire. I moved back to join
the pets in the half-burned house, without heat or hot water.
I did have electricity to run a space heater, but I don’t miss
those icy showers.
Last week, Clearwater and the Sierra Club had the third of their joint
meetings. I spoke at the
first one of them – about my Solar Panels.
I stressed in my speech that it isn’t true that they won’t
break even. They do, even
without government subsidies. But
it’s only fair that we do get some government support because so many
of the polluters are subsidized in so many ways.
Yesterday, I became very excited when I noticed a parking lot on
Lake Street, off Road 35, in Asbury Park:
It’s been roofed and covered with Solar Panels.
What a perfect thing to do with a parking lot !
The panels protect the asphalt and the cars, and they are sooo
beautiful.
Ingrid
December 2011
I
just returned from Europe, where I did the songs for Mom’s Memorial
Service. Pastor Fettback
didn’t receive the e-mail with my information on Mom – so he decided
to try something new: He did
it interview-style. Everyone
liked it. He said he may do
more services like that.
While I was over there, cleaning out Mom’s apartment, I heard the news
that another beautiful person died – someone who looked as if he’d
be around forever – Fred
Sebastian. Fred
was the person who organized a Peace Concert at the Ethical Society in
Maplewood for Spook Handy, Gigi Goldstein, Joel Horowitz and myself.
He had agreed to become my manager, and I promised to get back to
him as soon as the fire damage in my house was straightened out, which
would have been now.
If you’re wondering who he was: He
attended every Peace event and our annual NJ Friends of Clearwater
Festivals with a table of books about Peace.
He also took time with most people he met, explaining to them why
Peace is the better way. I
can’t believe that I can’t pick up the phone and call him.
Neither could the large crowd at the Ethical Society.
Fred had also been the person who urged me to tape Gigi Goldstein in the Morristown
Hospital before it might have been too late.
She had written about 600 beautiful songs, none of which were
recorded. I recorded 25 of
them on a cassette recorder. Does
anyone know of a studio or a simple computer program that can clean up
cassette tapes? I hope to
issue a CD of these recordings soon, and it would be great to improve
the sound quality.
As for our Circle
of Song: Our new
location at the Turnstile
Coffee Bar in Belmar was a big success.
We at least quadrupled our audience and made more money than ever
– for Pastor Sony and NJ Friends of Clearwater.
I can’t wait for our next round with Lorraine
Stone on December 15.
By the way, she will be in “Black Nativity” again on December
30 in Redbank’s Count
Basie Theater.
As usual, I reserved my ticket.
Lorraine is a fantastic actress, dancer, writer and story teller.
I’ve been following her career for 16 years – ever since I
first saw her as the narrator in “Black Nativity”.
Lorraine isn’t a singer, but Isis tells me that she prepared a
song and a few stories for us.
Oh yes, this Friday will be Pete
Seeger’s Annual Holiday Sing.
I will again do my favorite Christmas song by Garth
Brooks. Yes, the
man who wrote “I’ve got friends in Low Places” wrote a
Christmas-Peace song about a true event that’s more beautiful than any
other Christmas song I know.
Ingrid
November 2011
I
have big news about our Circle: We
have a new home. The owners
of the Turnstile
Coffee Bar in Belmar contacted us to offer us their side
room. I went there and
absolutely loved the place. They
roast their coffee beans right on the premises.
It smells wonderful. I
am particularly fond of the well-lit parking lot that we’ll be able to
see while we meet, the handicap access and the fact that it’s very
easy to find, no matter from where you come.
This month, I am so pleased to welcome Arlon
Bennett, who is traveling 150 miles to support our cause.
Arlon and I have run across each others’ paths for many years.
I remember when he first sang his song
“Be the Change” for Pete
Seeger.
Pete turned to me and whispered, “Did you bring me this man?”
And you may have heard him do that same song on the Main Stage at
our NJFC Festival last August. He
has performed with an array of famous musicians and was selected by Noel
“Paul” Stookey of Peter,
Paul and Mary to perform in his
Music2Life showcase. Please
come and support him – while he is supporting us.
Next month, we’ll be doing something entirely different:
Lorraine
Stone joined in, as a dancer, when
our co-organizer Isis Ra
performed at NJ Friends of Clearwater’s Annual Festival in 2010.
You can see her on one of the photographs of that Festival on the
Circle page. I’ve been
following Lorraine around ever since I saw her in “Black Nativity”
by the Dunbar
Theater Company.
She is an incredible actress, writer and story teller, and I am
sure she will have some material appropriate for the Holiday Season.
I’ll be going to Europe for the rest of November, but will
return just in time to participate in Pete Seeger’s Annual Holiday
Sing. Last year, Carl Croce joined me on my
rendition of a Garth Brooks Christmas song.
I can’t wait.
Ingrid
September
2011
What a Festival on August
21. Not only did we manage
to squeeze it in between the storm systems, we had an unusually
beautiful day. I want to
thank everyone who made it happen. Each
of the Circle of Song Stage performers did wonderful – I want to
repeat my thanks for everyone and also for Mara
Levine who joined in. Mark
Lamhut did our outstanding sound again, and Sky
Solar provided the electricity.
It couldn’t have been better.
I also want to thank the committee that awarded me The Leland
A. Cook Award. That
was quite a surprise.
In the past few months, I’ve been in touch with a very special person:
It took years for me to come up with a song about the Berlin
Air Lift. If you
haven’t heard of it: It
was an unselfish act started by General Lucious
Clay in 1948. The
West Berliners would have starved after the Soviets closed the roads
from West Germany to West Berlin, and General Clay decided to feed all
four million of them by air. In
the past, I had run into Norman Ward,
one of the British pilots, in Berlin.
As a matter of fact, we decided to tour Berchtesgaden, Munich and
Nuremberg together. He told
me that planes would be landing every twenty minutes, and that they’d
be ready to return to Celle (a town near my home) in exactly one hour.
In the song, I mention another pilot, the American Gail
(Hal) Halvorsen. He
was the first to drop parachutes with candy for the Berlin children.
I discovered that he is now 92 years old and sent him the song.
Since then, we’ve been e-mailing and phoning, trying to come up
with an opportunity to meet. I
hope, we will be able to do so in November, in Germany.
I feel so strongly that the German people have remained strong
allies to the U.S. because of this event.
The War could not have erased the programming these children
received in the Hitler Youth – the Berlin
Air Lift convinced them otherwise.
Ingrid
July 2011
I’ve
done another shuttle to Europe which included a performance with Lea
Lewalter at the nursing home where Mom is now.
I’ve also sung backup on three of the songs on Sharleen
Leahey’s coming CD – please look for it.
There has been another mishap around my house:
Last week, lightning struck a few blocks away and destroyed much
of the electronics around here. It’s
amazing how many things we can design that work well until Mother Nature
decides otherwise. Frank, my
computer person, spent three days here so far, and we’re not done.
Even my telephone was “out” temporarily.
I want to thank Jim Crawford
and Sharleen for wonderful Circles of Song in May and June.
For July, we’re looking forward to Denise
Sullivan. Denise
writes and performs beautiful inspirational songs.
We both used to be part of Bob
Norman’s monthly songwriters’ meetings.
Bob once edited SingOut
Magazine. He’s
not with us any more, and we often say how much we miss him.
I will be doing at least one of his songs at our July Circle.
Ingrid
May 2011
Things have been fast and
furious around here: I’ve
been shuttling to Europe every few months because my mother’s health
has had some setbacks. She
is now 88 years old - mentally functioning better than I - she’s
usually the one who remembers where I lose things - but she can’t walk
any more. I hope that her
recent move to a home is temporary.
At least she has wonderful people around her who are able and
willing to help. Please keep
her in your prayers.
I also finally finished the reconstruction of my house after the fire of
March 13, 2010. Please
invite me if you want someone to speak about Solar Panels or to show off
the ones on their roof. Mine
can be seen from the inside, and I think they’re the most beautiful
sight!
Last week I was interviewed for a European study on alternative energy.
I told them too: My
Solar Panels saved my house during the fire.
Besides, after one year of operation I’ve discovered that they
are a very cost-effective investment.
Where else can one earn 17% these days on an investment that’s
nearly 100% safe?
Our Circle
of Song is going strong.
Again, I want to thank Carl Croce,
Joe Petraitis, Jay
Wilensky and Marie Trontell
of Circle ‘Round the Sun for
leading our monthly gatherings in February and March.
More thanks go to Marc
Bodino, Jim Crawford, Carl
Croce, Rich Deans, Kathy
Moser, Joe Petraitis, Isis Ra and
Vírago (they filled in last-minute for Sharleen who had car problems – what a
treat!).
You all made our April 12 Folk
Music at The Saint event another beautiful evening.
I am proud to know people like you.
Oh yes - I’ve also been in a studio, singing backup on three songs for
Sharleen Leahey‘s coming CD. Please keep me
in mind if you’d like to have a voice like mine backing you up on your
next project. I had lots of
fun doing it and would love to do it again.
Ingrid
January 2011
I can’t wait for Thursday,
January 20. Last
month, at The Saint, Kathy
Moser agreed to stand in last-minute for Spook
Handy, who wasn’t able to join us.
I feel honored because I’ve always loved Kathy.
No one can sing about the Environment with so much energy and joy
as she does.
Kathy also agreed to
lead our January Circle of Song. Please come. You won't be
sorry.
Kathy will be joined by Sister Isis,
one of our regulars, who will bring her drum, of course. Isis is
involved in many charitable events in this area.
She also teaches troubled children in Asbury Park and Lakewood
how to play the drums, and you may remember her from our annual
Festival.
Our December NJ Clearwater Circle of Song
was another fun evening. Carl Croce
and Joe Petraitis did mostly
Holiday material. So we
decided to ask them to return and do some of their other songs on February
17, together with Rich Deans,
who is one of the greatest songwriters in New Jersey today.
O yes – please visit my new
Circle of Song Web Page.
Carrie and Scott of The Media
Planet managed to add this new page to this Website.
From there, you can access the fliers of all our Circle
of Song programs, including the most recent ones.
A
similar Page is planned at New
Jersey Friends of Clearwater’s Website, but so far all we
have succeeded in doing (at this critical leadership-turnover time) is
causing it to crash temporarily. We
will keep trying.
I’ve also been elected to be a Board Member of New
Jersey Friends of Clearwater – which won’t change a whole
lot of things because I’ve been attending the meetings for a quite a
while.
Congratulations to Joellen Lundy,
our new President. She did
an incredible job last year at pulling together our Festival.
And thanks to Ed Dlugosz
for all his help in the past. He did a great job, even though he
is experiencing hardships in his family.
Other people who have been most helpful with our continued Circle
of Song are Lynn Humphrey and Jack
and Barbara Charlton.
On December 18, I enjoyed singing at the annual
Holiday Sing at the Beacon Sloop Club,
together with Pete Seeger and many others (see “Performances”).
Carl Croce sang backup
for me on my very favorite Holiday song, Belleau Woods, written by Garth
Brooks. – Yes,
the same Garth Brooks who wrote “I’ve got Friends in Low Places”
has written an incredibly sensitive song about a true event that
happened during World War I.
One of the groups that sang was The
Rivertown Kids with Danny
Einbender. Guess
what? - They’re up for a Grammy
!
Work of the Weavers –
another fantastic group – was represented by Dave
Bernz, who organized the event, and James
Durst. They’re
a “Must-Hear.” They
don’t only sing the songs of The
Weavers, but they tell their story.
They’ve also have added a few of their own songs to the
repertoire, and those are just as exciting.
I remember rushing to the stage after I heard them in the past.
I recall telling James how much he sounded like the young Pete
Seeger. He said he had
admired him all his life. And
I recall that I kept saying how familiar he looked to me.
I recently checked his Website and found that he is organizing a
Tribute to Bob Gibson.
The very man who was first to put me on a stage.
I have to tell the story about that event:
I was so nervous that I totally wrecked my song and was close to
tears. Instead of just
whisking me off the stage fast, Bob smiled and said, “That sounded so
beautiful. – I’d like to
hear that again.” And
guess what? – It did sound good the second time around, if I may say
so myself.
Last, but not least - our event at The Saint:
I so want to thank all of you who braved the terrible weather to
be there – both as a performer and as an audience member, and many of
you came. Everyone told me they had a great time, even Scott, the
owner, who hears good music every day.
We were paid too. As
usual, the money will go to Pastor Sony. And we've been asked to return about
March.
Ingrid
November 2010
Our
third NJ Clearwater Circle of Song
was another incredible event. Thank
you, all of you who came and showed such enthusiasm for two of my
favorite singer-songwriters, Spook
Handy and Tom
Picard. By
the way, this is a monthly event every third Thursday in Asbury Park
(see “Performances”).
Spook
tried some of the material he was planning to do when performing with Pete
Seeger on November 20 (at the William Carlos Williams Center
for the Arts in Rutherford, NJ). When a dozen or so Hispanic children appeared in our room,
who couldn’t find the right meeting place in the Church, he used the
opportunity to teach them “This Land is Your Land” and “She’ll
be Coming ‘Round the Mountain.”
I’ve always admired his wonderful stage presence, but this
topped everything I had seen in the past.
I’ve known Tom Picard
for many, many years as a fantastic songwriter who pulls out
crumpled pieces of paper from his pocket and sings for us gem after gem
that he has written on them. I
was delighted when he did my two favorites, “Welcome to New Jersey”
and “Pulaski Skyway.” He
also announced two new venues for Folk
Music that he is starting in the West Orange area.
I will write about them when I have more information.
And again I want to thank Pastor Sony
and for being such a gracious host in his beautiful Church in Asbury
Park.
Our Featured Leader-Performers for Thursday,
December
16 will be singer-songwriters Carl
Croce and Joe Petraitis.
Carl does a range of songs.
You will know some of them.
Joe has written what may be my
very favorite song (Where is
the Soul), which I love to do with him.
Don’t miss them.
I am also excited about a second December event: We, the Performers of the NJ
Clearwater Circle of Song, have been invited by Scott
Stamper of THE
SAINT, a Rock Club in Asbury Park, to perform there on Tuesday,
December 14, from 7:30 pm (cover
charge $10). THE
SAINT has held out in Asbury Park, NJ, when it was almost
impossible to do so. Today, Asbury Park is becoming beautiful again and resuming
its historic place as a center for all kinds of music.
Scott and I hope that it will become a center for Folk Music also. Please
support our effort and come to this event.
Scott needs 35 guests to break even.
Our lineup (Mark
Bodino, Carl Croce, Rich Deans, Spook
Handy,
Sharleen
Leahey, Joe Petraitis and Thomas
Wesley Stern) is simply incredible.
We will perform in a Circle, so come, even if you have to be late
or if you have to leave early. We will include songs you know and Songs of the Season that
you can sing along with. If
you can come to only one event that week, choose this one.
Our
second NJ Clearwater Circle of Song was one of my experiences of
a lifetime. Please check
for more information under “Performances”
– this is a monthly event every third Thursday in Asbury Park.
The young men of Thomas Wesley
Stern have become so good during the few months that I’ve known
them – I could hardly believe what I was hearing.
They now write their own songs, and their harmonies and fresh
sounds had me mesmerized.
I thought that Anthony
Apostolaros would have a hard time following them, but he stole the
show by bringing a self-built drum.
It had such a beautiful, entrancing sound that everyone in the
room took turns playing it and the rest of us clapped and chanted and
danced.
And again I want to thank Pastor Sony and his wife Mona who brought us refreshments for a
perfect evening.
Our Featured Leader-Performers for November will be singer-songwriters Spook
Handy and Tom Picard.
Don’t miss them.
Ingrid
September 2010
We
had our first monthly NJ Clearwater Circle of Song (every third
Thursday at the United Methodist Church in Asbury Park – please check
for more information under “Performances”).
Thank you, Sharleen Leahey
and Mark Bodino, for being
our first Leader-Performers. And
thank you, Pastor Sony for being such a gracious host.
I also want to thank all of you who braved the storm and floods to be
with us and support NJ Clearwater and Pastor Sony’s work with the
homeless and hungry. I had
a great time and everyone I talked to ensured me that they did too.
Our Featured Leader-Performers for October will be Thomas Wesley Stern and Anthony
Apostolaros. Don’t
miss them.
Ingrid
August 2010
Big
news: We enjoyed the NJ
Clearwater Festival so much that we decided to keep up the momentum on a
monthly basis:
We are now planning to continue the NJ Clearwater Circle of Song
every third Thursday at the United Methodist Church in Asbury Park – I
will post more information under “Performances” within the next few
days.
All the proceeds will go to Clearwater and Pastor Sony of
that Church, who does incredible work with the homeless and hungry in
the Asbury Park area. I
personally know about it because my friend Aaron became ill and lost his
job. Pastor Sony and his church members came to his house almost
daily to help him.
It was very rewarding to work with so many Performers at the Festival
and to see how everyone “came through” in a big way.
Those Performers included (alphabetically) Kacie Baker, Jan
Christensen, Carl Croce, Rich Deans, Emily Grove, Spook Handy, Isis and
The Tribe, Sharleen Leahey, Mike Meade, Joe Petraitis, Tom Picard, Eric
Russell, Michael Scolnick, Thomas Wesley Stern, Jay Wilensky and Hillary
Zaenchik. We sang and
played both on our Circle of Song Stage and on the Main Stage.
Big thanks go to all of you.
I was especially encouraged by the fact that we were joined by
teenagers and young folks who are eager to make this Planet a better
place for their generation.
I also wish to thank all the Clearwater Volunteers, who
made the event possible, especially Mark Lamhut, who did a
fantastic job of running our sound and Sky Solar who provided the
electricity. Sky Solar also
put the beautiful solar panels onto my roof – the very panels that
saved my house during the fire in March.
And who could forget Roseanne Schatek and her wonderful
sign-language interpreters. Watching
them is like observing
a ballet in motion. When I
did “Soon We Will Have Peace” in seven languages, we were all
becoming aware that they were doing an 8th language of that
song.
I also wish to thank the members of Ed Ahlstrom’s Art Class of
the Neptune Senior Center, who volunteered to hand-paint our
banners.
I’ve posted a few pictures, so that everyone can share in the joy of
the Festival.
Ingrid
July 2010
I
haven’t communicated in a while – for a reason. We had a huge fire on my block, and my house sustained more
than $200,000 worth of damage. On
the positive side: I can
still live there and I lost few personal items. On
the negative: The insurance
and construction processes have been eating away my valuable time.
I was one of the lucky ones. Seven
landmark buildings are lost forever.
Some of my neighbors lost everything.
I was protected by some of the things I’ve done right in recent years
– for the ecology: I
didn’t think of fire when I installed Solar Panels, but they protected
my roof. They caught all the burning debris. Miraculously, they are still operating, but I had to remove
some of them to replace the melted roof underneath.
When I installed double layers of sheet rock in all my outer walls, I
was also not thinking about fire, but had energy savings in mind.
They kept the fire out after it had burned through my siding and
my support beams. A good
portion of the damage was caused by water because the firemen hosed my
neighbors’ houses from my windows.
Among other things, it flooded my basement with the heating and
hot water systems, which all had to be replaced.
No
one was hurt and that’s a miracle. And I am finally back to performing again.
I am now making plans for the New
Jersey Friends of Clearwater Festival on August 21. I am glad that Mike
Meade agreed to help me manage the Circle
of Song stage. I will
supply more information about that under Performances.
We are excited to introduce Thomas
Wesley Stern, a sensational young Folk band from Jackson, NJ, and Kacie
Baker, another incredible, very young Folk performer.
Ingrid
December
2009
I
sang at Gigi Goldstein’s Memorial Service and asked for her son’s
permission because I want to continue doing her songs.
I’ll sing one of them at the coming Holiday show at Espresso
Joe’s.
I’ve also been practicing with Kacie Baker, who will join me for both
of the coming Holiday shows. She
just turned eighteen, yet she writes great songs and is a dynamic
performer. We met at
Espresso Joe’s new Folk Festival in Keyport.
I’ve also been practicing and performing with Joe Petraitis and John
Croce.
Most important news: My
wrist still hurts, but I am finally able to practice regularly again.
Ingrid
October
2009
Today,
I have some good news and some very sad news:
The
good news: I will be in a
showcase of PASA, the Philadelphia Area Songwriters’ Alliance, Friday
evening, October 9, at the Walk a Crooked Mile Bookstore near the Mount
Airy train station.
Also:
Sonny of Espresso Joe’s in Keyport is planning to have a
Holiday show on December 19, and I will be part of that also.
The
sad news: I went to the
hospital in Morristown to see my friend Gigi Goldstein.
Her e-mail and telephone stopped working and, unfortuntely, the
news is sad. Gigi passed
away.
Gigi
and I met at the Maplewood Ethical Society, where we did a Concert for
Peace, together with Spook Handy and Catherine Moon.
I was so impressed with her songs that I asked to buy her
recordings. She had none,
and so we decided to meet and put some of her songs on CD.
The
meeting kept being delayed because she became ill and was hospitalized.
I finally realized that I had to go there to record her in her
hospital room, which I did.
She
wanted me to sing her songs and, so far, I have recorded 12 of them.
I hope to release a CD some day.
I also have her recordings of a total of 27 songs, some of them
on my answering device, others, unfortunately, done with a cheap
cassette recorder. Please
inform me if you know of a way to clean up such recordings.
I
hope to keep doing her songs and will contact her son about that.
I am so sad not to find her messages on my answering device any
more whenever she remembers additional bits and pieces of those
beautiful songs that she has written.
Ingrid
September
2009 - Part 2
I am in Love – in a big way:
Is there such as thing is being in love with your Solar Panels?
Well, anyway, they are sooo beautiful – a pattern of blue that
reminds of our Planet Earth from outer space.
Whenever I want to feel good, I either go to my attic and stare at them
or – better still – I go downstairs and watch my electric meter spin
in reverse. You must (!)
check them out under “Live
Photos”.
They were installed by Sky Solar in Freehold, New Jersey, the same
wonderful people who do donate our Solar-powered sound to Clearwater (no
noise – no smell – just great sound).
To quote Saul Rozinsky of the Beacon Sloop Club: “Good Planets are hard to come by – we’re trying to
save this one.”
Ingrid
September
2009 - Part 1
Clearwater was a lot of fun, as usual, and I’ve
been busy since with the installation of my solar panels.
Joe Petraitis will join me for a portion of my next performance:
If you liked the Indigo Coffee House – Espresso Joe’s in
Keyport is even nicer. Sonny,
the owner, loves the music himself and treats the performers with great
respect. You will find the
info under Performances.
Ingrid
August
2009
It’s
time for Clearwater NJ again, and I will be doing a set at 1 pm on the
Circle Stage. I’ll also
be one of the Sloop Singers again.
I’ve participated in some of the planning, where it was decided not to
charge for the entry. However,
the event is very expensive and we urge you to come and contribute
voluntarily. We need it to
continue our work for the Environment and to be able to have another
Festival next year.
Europe was fun for me last June. I
did get to see Nuremberg, Munich, Berchtesgaden and Innsbruck with my
pilot friend. I also got to
sing some of my songs at a local church with Lea Lewalter, an
11-year-old with a beautiful voice, who learned my songs at very short
notice.
My wrist is trying to come back. My
Chiropractor tells me that he has never seen a break with as many
complications. But I am
determined to play again, and I have transposed many songs and
simplified many chords, so that I can play them again.
Ingrid
June
2009
If you wondered
about my silence in the past few months – here is an update:
I did the Christmas show with Marjorie Conn and enjoyed singing
in that theater setting very, very much.
There was plenty of time between songs to make sure that I
recalled all the lyrics. And
I enjoyed that so many of you came.
Thanks so much for your support.
After that, I sang at the Christmas Party of my hiking group.
On December 20, I was sooo excited to sing for the second time at Pete
Seeger’s annual Holiday Party.
Pete delayed it from Friday to Saturday because of the snow that
was expected. I walked out
of my house that day, thinking to myself, “Good – we only got
rain.” I didn’t see the
black ice on my porch when I went head-first onto the brick steps below.
My friend Joanne dragged me to the hospital to have my head
stitched. Only there did we
discover that my left wrist was not “just” strained, but broken too.
All of that should be resolved by now, but it isn’t. I can’t turn my wrist over or press down on strings using
individual fingers.
My friends have been great: Sharleen
Leahy and I sang and played together at the memorial service for our
friend Roz Hendrickson. Joe
Petraitis and Anthony Apostolarus have been playing for and
with me at times, and a special “thanks” goes to Mary Lutton
who re-tuned my guitar, so that I now can play simple songs in open
tuning. It’s like
learning to play a brand-new instrument, and I miss my beloved minor
chords, but hey … it beats not playing at all.
Eric Prussell and I have gone to record GiGi Goldstein
again in Morristown, and we managed to piece together two more of her
songs. I am now trying to
clean up the previous recordings that I made of her using my ancient
noisy cassette recorder. Please
let me know if you have any ideas as to how to go about cleaning up such
recordings. I was able to get rid of a nasty hum in ProTools, but the
scratchy motor noise of my old-fashioned tape recorder is still there.
GiGi is too ill to do all of those songs again, and I trust that
the technology exists to clean up what we have.
She is a fantastic songwriter, and I so much want to put a
finished CD of her songs into her hands.
I’ve spent much of my time recording, translating songs into German
and working on my stepfather’s biography.
I’ll be in Germany for the remainder of June, where I plan to
meet my British friend Norman Ward again, the pilot who flew the
Berlin Air Lift in 1948. He
has become an avid student of German history who offered to be my guide
to historical sites when we met in Berlin, years ago.
This time we will visit Berchtesgaden, Munich and Nuremberg,
trying to find some of the sites shown in my stepfather’s historic
photographs.
Ingrid
November
2008
Time
has been flying again. I’ve
had an incredible summer and fall - writing, performing and recording.
The highlight of my summer was Clearwater Monmouth, where I opened the
event on the East Stage. Thank
you – you who came out to hear me.
It really made a difference.
This event opened up several exciting opportunities.
Among other songs, I sang one by Gigi
Goldstein. Spook Handy, Catherine Moon
and I sang with her a few years ago at the Maplewood Ethical Culture
Society. I was so impressed
with her songs that I asked to purchase her CDs.
To my surprise, she told me she had none – that only one of her
songs had ever been recorded – she’s written hundreds.
I offered to help
her record them, but soon after that her health deteriorated to the
point where she couldn’t travel.
So I went to see her in her hospital room in Morristown with my
small pocket recorder. I handed her my guitar and recorded 25 songs, some of which I
perform now. I’ve also
recorded three of them, and they are among my best recordings.
I may do a whole album.
Eric
Russell, who was in my Clearwater audience, agreed to join me for
the next hospital session. I
had bought a better digital recorder, and we were able to put down 12
songs. But there is more
work for us to do.
Eric has also asked me to sing at what I thought would be a simple
political Rally for Tom Wyca,
an aspiring Congressman, in Morristown, NJ.
I didn’t expect that Tom would be there.
Neither did I expect U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, Barack
Obama’s advisor Mark Alexander, U.S. Congressman Steve Rothman, and
Ellen Greenberg and Diane Weeks, two local politicians in Morris County.
That was yesterday.
Another person who heard me at Clearwater Monmouth was Marjorie
Conn. She
invited me to do “Soon We Will Have Peace” in a Holiday play at the
Crane House in Asbury Park – please check my “PERFORMANCES” page. I read her script and suggested three more songs that I
rarely get to perform, and she accepted.
I did some acting in high school – loved it, but decided to go
the singing route instead. This
will be a great way to be involved in both.
For those of you who keep asking me about the progress of my stepfather Herbert
Datum’s life story: Since
I gave my speech about it at Brookdale College’s World War II Center, Neil
O’Connor, an American military history expert, joined me in a
year-long effort to correct errors in the manuscript, particularly the
photo captions. We were
able to piece together an almost continuous story of where Herbert was,
as well as when and why.
For
those who haven’t heard about him yet:
He married my mother long after my father died, and he was one of
the first 120 of Hitler’s bodyguards.
After that, he became a vehicle and supply-convoy expert, a role
that – much like it seemed to be the case with Woody Allen’s
character “Zelig” – put him on the scene at just about every
important battle and site during World War II.
He was even at the Bunker next to the Reich Chancellery when
Hitler shot himself. He
then took part in the third “Breakout” of Reich Chancellery
personnel from the encircled Bunker, as it is graphically shown in the
movie “Downfall.” He
may have been the only surviving member of his group because he hid
under rubble after a Soviet bullet hit a book in his breast pocket. I
have the bullet.
What
made Herbert’s story so compelling is that he became the photographer
of his SS Commander Sepp Dietrich.
I inherited his incredible collection of 1200 photographs,
unsorted, in shoe boxes. He
died two weeks before dictating his life story to me, but I was
fortunate enough to discover that he had already started the dictation
and that he left behind diaries and letters.
Last
week, I spoke with William DuAime,
our French collaborator. He
came to the U.S. about a month ago to hospitalize his father, William
Wharton, the World War II hero who turned into a great anti-War
writer. Among other novels,
William Wharton wrote Birdy
(made into a movie with Nicholas Cage and Matthew Modine and directed by
Alan Parker) and A Midnight Clear (directed by Keith Gordon).
Unfortunately, he died from the complications of his illness.
William Junior started the Herbert project by writing captions for the
photos, and he is planning to visit again to help us write the final
story. All three of us have
somehow fallen in love with Herbert and his ability to keep his dignity
and humanity, while the world around him was going insane.
For me, this has been an incredible history lesson. The Allies did not permit our school teachers to teach us
about World War II, fearing that they would make us into Nazis.
Little did they know that the opposite might have been the case:
Some of our teachers had almost died in battle and others had
been Social Democrats (the German equivalent of the Democratic Party)
and, as such, they were persecuted.
I vividly recall one of our teachers sneaking anti-War stories
into our German classes, thereby risking his job.
My uncle, meanwhile, was dedicated to the Christian Democratics (the
equivalent of the Republican Party), which often put me at odds with my
teachers. I am sure that
they didn’t realize that Uncle Otto became a politician because he had
not been involved in the Nazi
party, and that we, as small business people, tended to vote and be
involved in the more “conservative” party.
I am actually quite proud of most of my teachers: Somewhere in my files is a photograph that I found on the
Website of the Leo Baeck Institute.
It shows a terrible scene: The
synagogue in Zeven, my home
town, was not burned down by the Nazis because it was attached to other
houses. However, the Holy objects were dragged out and burned.
An order had been issued to all the teachers in Zeven to attend
and to bring their school classes. To the credit of our school teachers, no one went, and the
only spectators were a few Nazis in uniforms and a few bewildered
children who must have stumbled into the scene.
This week I’ve been singing for the Democrats, but I have come to the
firm belief that we have to meet Somewhere
in the Middle – remember that great Country Song by Diamond Rio? No – let
me correct that – it’s where we all must
meet to make this world survive.
I saw Pete Seeger a few days ago. I’ve
translated an album’s worth of his songs into German. His comment: “My
songs sound a lot better in German than in English.”
I hope to promote them in Germany.
I am also still working on my song project about German history.
I’ve recently read a book on the Berlin Air Lift, The
Candy Bombers by Andrei
Cherny. They deserve a
song. I became friends with
one of those pilots, Norman Ward from
the UK. Andrei calls it “America’s Finest Hour” when the bombers began to bring food and
supplies into beleaguered West Berlin. But
don’t forget the British – they helped too.
Norman was stationed a few miles from my house at the time I was
born.
West Berlin was like an Island in Soviet territory, and the Soviets
stopped the supply trucks from entering the City, expecting that it
would force all of Berlin to become Soviet.
It was then that the Army supply people took over from the
fighting Armed Forces. And
it was then that the Allies truly won the War against Hitler.
Andrei’s book starts with a moving story about an old lady who was
crying during a 9-11 protest in Berlin.
When asked why she cried, she responded, “They’ve hurt my
friends, the Americans. I
was a child during the Airlift.”
This is remarkable because she had probably been subjected to
much indoctrination in the Hitler Youth, only a short time before. Bombs
thrown on Berlin could not have erased the programming from her memory.
But the humanitarian effort of the Airlift did it.
Berlin and Germany became fiercely pro-democratic.
I am just realizing that I have told the people at Fordham Publishers,
who want to publish my life story, that I just can’t get the last 100
pages written. And here I
am writing the whole thing in my blog.
Oh well.
Please come to our Holiday Show. Your
support has been wonderful.
Ingrid
June
2008
I
just returned from the Strawberry Festival in Beacon, NY, and it was fun
to join Spook Handy during his set, and to see Pete Seeger, Danny
Einbender and a wonderful young act, Storie Laurie & Ira
Mackintosh,
who will cover my children’s song “Come to the Sea.”
Last month, I did something very exciting.
a live interview, including three songs, for Mindy Fradkin on her
wonderful program “The Smile Revolution” on WKNY in Kingston.
I am very impressed by Mindy and her positive outlook.
It inspired me to write my song “Smiles.”
I am planning to post a portion of the program here as soon as I
receive it.
I also want to thank Jim Albertson for his repeated air play on his Down
Jersey program on WSNJ. It
was also a pleasure to meet him at the New Jersey Folk Festival.
Please
see “Performances"
for the next event with Joe Petraitis and myself - on June 21 at the Café
Z - a venue started by fellow singer/songwriter Tom
Picard. I am also
scheduled to sing for Clearwater Monmouth again, including a solo on
Saturday of their next Asbury Park Festival, as well as other events I
love to do with them.
Ingrid
May
2008
I
cannot believe that I will be going to the Memorial Service of a dear
friend and mentor, Bob Norman cdbaby.com/cd/bobnorman1.
I don’t want to repeat the press release here.
You can find it at Ron Olesko’s Website ronolesko.blogspot.com.
But I want to give you
a feeling for my loss at this time – our loss. Bob was the kind of person who made you believe in humanity.
For six or seven years, I’ve been going to his house every month to
share new songs I have written. I
didn’t care that he lived an hour away.
I wanted his gentle, to-the-point input before I sang the songs
anywhere else I loved to listen to his recordings and went to all of his
concerts. So did most of us
who became friends in his circle. I
cannot even begin to describe the void I have felt during the past two
months when Bob wasn’t feeling strong enough any more to meet with us.
As I am sitting here, grieving, I searched for his name on my computer
and found a few photographs. I
will post them under “Live
Photos.” They
will speak for themselves.
Ingrid
April 2008
I am rehearsing for my upcoming two concerts – please check
under “Performances.”
Here are a few quick
additions to this Website:
I am so happy to be doing the Earth
Day Festival in Beacon again.
I’ve written two songs for it, “Planet Earth” and “It
takes One,” and I may also do “We can Change,” which I did last
year. You can find the
lyrics in my “Lyrics”
page. I want to thank Mindy
Fradkin of The Smile Revolution for playing my songs on her radio
program “The Smile Revolution” out of Woodstock, NY.
The New
Jersey Folk Festival at
Rutgers is under a German theme this year, and I have been
asked to do the German National Anthem.
I realize there won’t be a lot of time to explain its history
on stage, but here it is, for those who are interested:
The Story of the
German National Anthem
In 1797, Joseph Haydn wrote the song as a birthday anthem for the
Austrian Emperor Francis II.
Hoffmann von Fallersleben, a poet of popular children’s songs, added
new lyrics in 1841 and called them “The Song of Germany.”
It became the German National Anthem in 1922, long after his
death.
When he wrote “Deutschland über
alles” he could not have anticipated that someone might take this
literal. Von Fallersleben
enthusiastically described Germany’s boundaries as reaching from the
Rivers Maas to the Memel, from the Etch to the Belt.
The last time I checked the map, the Maas was in Holland, the
Memel in Lithuania, the Etch in Italy and the Belt in Denmark.
I am sure von Fallersleben did not intend for anyone to go out
there and conquer these lands.
The second verse was harmless, in comparison – it dealt with wine,
women and song.
Even though the Horst Wessel song was usually preferred to this anthem
during the times of the Third Reich, there was quite a bit of discussion
after World War II whether to still use this song.
Only the third verse was kept, which reads as follows:
The Song of Germany
(translation by Ingrid Heldt)
Unity, Justice and Freedom
For our German fatherland,
Strive together and in brotherhood,
Strive together, hand in hand.
Unity, Justice and Freedom are
Solid ground whereon we stand.
Glow and blossom in your beauty,
Blossom, our German fatherland.
Das Deutschlandlied (music:
Joseph Haydn; lyrics Hoffmann von Fallersleben)
Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit
für das deutsche Vaterland,
danach laβt uns alle streben,
brüderlich, mit Herz und Hand.
Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit
sind des Glückes Unterpfand.
Blüh’ im Glanze dieses Glückes,
blühe, deutsches Vaterland.
Please also check my new “Live Photos” section, which I will keep
updating.
Ingrid
February 2008
I am
finally cleaning up this Website. Please
check under “Performances” for the Earth Day Festival on April 21 in
Beacon.
Also, please check out our monthly meeting events at Clearwater
Monmouth. You will enjoy
being with a great crowd who is doing a world of good, educating
children and grownups about the environment.
Incidentally, I participate in their Environmental Teaching events also,
and there is nothing as great as teaching an entire class of children to
sing my song “Planet Earth” and hearing it back from them.
Ingrid
January 2008
I hope you all had a
beautiful Holiday Season. I
enjoyed having a little break.
This month I am looking forward to participating in a Benefit/Tribute
concert at The Headliner, a large Club on Route 35 in Neptune,NJ.
Please check my new “Performance” page for more info.
All proceeds go to the
family of Helyn Chobocinski,
a very special woman, one of the co-founders of Clearwater Monmouth.
She passed away after a long illness, and it left her family in a
difficult financial situation.
I met Helyn, when we shared the stage at Clearwater Monmouth, but I
could not forget her. My
friends, who came to hear me, all commented about her.
She had to sit to be able to perform, but her voice was
hauntingly beautiful.
Among the many other performers whom she befriended in her lifetime and
who will participate in this concert, are a few whom I know personally:
Spook
Handy, Lackawanna
Rail and Mel & Vinnie.
If you cannot be there, please contribute any amount to:
Friends of Helyn and Ingrid
c/o Art San Filippo
12 Leland Terrace
Tinton Falls, NJ 97724-2810
If you are
interested in Clearwater's great environmental work, please join
us at our monthly meeting before the concert.
We have changed venues to a place that is easier to find. Our meetings now are: every first Sunday at 2 pm in
the Community Center, 68 Broad Street in Eatontown, http://www.mcclearwater.org/calendar.php
Ingrid
October
2007
On Sunday, October 14, I will sing at the Beacon
Pumpkin Fest,
and I was given the spot right before
Pete
Seeger, and have asked Joe
Petraitis, Sharleen
Leahey
and Mike
Meade to join me, each on one song
that we will do together. All
of us will then do “Soon We Will Have Peace.”
A few weeks ago, at one of his Peace Gatherings, Pete played
the banjo on that song.
I hope to ask him to join us, but he hasn't had a chance to
practice it, and my chord progressions tend to be a little unusual.
Before that, at 12:30, I will join Joe on the Children’s Stage.
That was much fun at the Corn Festival last month.
On November 10, I will be on a Music For Peace panel at the INDIE
-CON Music Convention led by Rik Palieri (www.banjo.net)
in
Burlington, VT. Mike
Meade will also be there, and we will both be singing.
I will post more info when I receive it.
Ingrid
September
2007
On September 22, I
will be joining Joe Petraitis
on TV for one or two of his songs.
The show is called Café
Improv www.CafeImprov.com.
It’s on Channel 30 – 7
to 11 pm. Channel 30 is the Princeton Community Channel.
I am told that it’s hard to get it outside of Princeton.
You may want to come and be part of the audience instead.
Please check the above link for the directions.
On September 23, there has been a change of program. Instead of singing on the Main Stage at the Alternative
Energy Festival, I will be
singing on the Children’s Stage with Joe
Petraitis, as part of his performance.
Last time, he started early, close to 12 noon.
I am also scheduled to sing at the Beacon
Pumpkin Fest on October 14, where I am to sing in the spot right
before Pete
Seeger, who is usually
on around 2 pm. While
there, please sign up for a free ride on
Pete’s boat, the Woody Guthrie.
Ingrid
August
2007
I am just rushing
out for yet another event: The
Corn Fest in Beacon, NY. I will be
singing backup for Sharleen
Leahey who is on at 4 pm. My
buddies, Spook Handy (I
love his song “Vote”), Joe
Petraitis (I
love his song “Where is the Soul”) and Arlon
Bennett (I
love his song “Be the Change”) will be there and, of course, Pete
Seeger (I love so many of his songs – I
can’t count them).
Clearwater Monmouth is
also coming up where, on Sunday, I will be doing a one-hour set
on the East Stage. Before
that, I will also be part of the Sloop Singers on the West Stage.
And I expect to be “hanging out” with my friends all day
Saturday on the third stage, the “Circle of Songs.”
Next
on my schedule is the first Alternative Energy Festival in Beacon on
August 19, where I will also be doing a set.
I
also am scheduled to do a full hour on the East (Family) Stage at this
year’s Clearwater Monmouth Festival, Sunday from 1-2 pm. For part of my program, I will be joined by Mike Meade and Sharleen
Leahey
(East Stage). I will also ask Joe Petraitis whether he can come.
I will also be part of the Sloop Singers on the West (Main)
Stage, Sunday from 11:30 until 1, and I will spend the entire day on
Saturday on the “Circle of Song” Stage. Come
and share a song – or request one.
It is lots of fun.
Incidentally,
Mike Meade and his band Lackawanna
Rail will be on the East Stage
after me. We will have CDs
available somewhere nearby. Mel
Healy is on after them. She
and her husband Vinnie are doing an incredible job fundraising and
organizing the Circle Stage at the Clearwater Revivals.
At some point we all may return to the Circle of Song (the third
stage). Come and share a song or request one.
Also:
Please check out the butterfly tent with Una McGerk.
I was so impressed with her work last year that I wrote her a
song “Chase the Butterfly” and gave her a CD to sell as a benefit
for “her” butterflies.
She
is giving all the proceeds to the Mexicans who are trying to put back
the trees that our Monarch butterflies need there in winter, while she
is raising butterflies at her house, so that they have a fighting chance
to survive. I am sure she
will release some of them, and we will have fun with them again all over
the festival park.
I won’t be giving any speeches this month. At Brookdale College, I met my second collaborator, Neil
O’Connor, an expert in Military History, who is helping me date and
identify many of the photographs that I inherited from my mother’s
second husband, Herbert Datum. My
other collaborator is William DuAime, the son of William Wharton, who wrote the amazing anti-War book
“Birdy” that was filmed with Nicolas Cage.
Neil
and I are working hard on this project.
He is comparing Herbert to Woody Allen’s character “Zelig”
who just happens to show up at all important world events. Except that Zelig was mounted onto news reels, while Herbert
really did show up because he had an interesting set of skills that took
him to so many places: Not
only was he Hitler’s bodyguard (one of the first 200), but he also
became his Commander Sepp Dietrich’s photographer.
Besides that, he was a vehicle expert involved in motorizing various
divisions and later supplying the Eastern troops with food and arms, all
of which he photographed. I
even found court papers that show him back at Reich Chancellery at the
time when Hitler killed himself, to end up leading the second
“Breakout” of the Reich Chancellery staff from Berlin.
We are telling his story using diaries, letters and other
contemporary materials. Incidentally, he was the one who taught me most of what I
know about photography.
If you have any idea as to what publisher may be interested in this,
please contact me. Fordham
University Publishers have expressed an interest in publishing my own
(half-finished) memoirs. My
father and grandfather were resisters, while my family includes everyone
from Jewish and gay in-laws to a rabid Nazi who killed himself and his
entire family when Hitler did the same.
Last,
but not least – and this will testify to the power of the Internet:
Under “My Work,” I mentioned that I lost track of my family in
Tennessee when my Aunt Hilda died – the woman who lent her name to my
recording company. A month
or two ago, I received a call from a very nice woman in Tennessee with
whom I talked for about an hour. She
is Hilda’s daughter who – because she still misses her remarkable
mother – put her name into a search engine and found me.
Of course, we agreed to meet and it will give me an excuse to
visit Nashville again.
Ingrid
May
2007
Earth Day and the Mine Street Coffee House were wonderful!
I couldn’t believe how much we all have grown – we – Briz,
Jeff Griesemer, Spook Handy, Mike Meade, Bob Mecklenburger – the
people who regularly meet at Bob Norman’s house to critique each
other’s songs – joined by David
Massengill from NYC, one of my favorite songwriters.
More things are coming up:
I added one more
speech about my coming book Hitler’s
Other Photographer on Sunday, May 6, at 4 pm at the Stephen
Crane House, 508 4th Avenue, Asbury Park NJ 07712,
732-775-5682.
The other speech
will be on Tuesday, May 8, at 7
pm, at the Center for World
War II Studies and Conflict Resolution, Brookdale
College, Student Life Center in Lyncroft, NJ.
I will also be singing on Saturday,
May 12, 2007. It starts
at noon in Mt. Holly, New Jersey, where the Delaware
River Folk Society is organizing its annual Fantasy
Tea and Art Fair on Route 541 is Exit 5 of the NJ Turnpike.
Ingrid
April 2007
I keep thinking that things will become less busy one of these days, but
that doesn’t seem to be happening.
I’ve been so active that I haven’t found the time to update
this Website or send mailings.
One
of the places, where I’ve been performing is Clearwater Monmouth.
Mike Meade and I have become somewhat regular performers
(singing together) at their meetings and with their traveling
environmental show. I love
it, and many of my songs – the very ones that have been called a
little “preachy” by some – are perfect for teaching about the
environment – exactly what I was hoping to do.
Our
next performance together will be very soon – Earth Day - April
21, on board of the Clearwater, which will then be anchored
in Beacon, NY - for the first time in many years.
The entertainment is from 1 - 5 pm – we will be “on” early
because we are planning to do another performance that evening.
If you search this document for “Beacon” you will find
directions to the Sloop Club near the Beacon Railroad Station.
That’s where the Clearwater will be.
You may also find info at www.clearwater.org
That evening (April 21) we are planning to do a few songs at the Mine
Street Coffee House in the First Reformed Church in New Brunswick, 9
Bayard Street: blog.firstreformedchurch.net/mine-street-coffee-house
. Our friend Bob Norman
- Mike and I met at his house - was scheduled to perform, but he
doesn’t’ feel up to it. So
we practiced two of his songs, and a few other friends of Bob’s have
done the same. We are
supposed to fill in for him if he can’t perform or to do a few songs
if he can. Please follow
the above link for info on the event.
The
other date that is coming up quicker than I can believe is May 8.
I am scheduled to speak for the Center for World War II
Studies and Conflict Resolution at Brookdale College, Red
Bank, NJ, at 7 pm, about my Stepfather’s photographs.
The link for that is: www.brookdale.cc.nj.us/fac/tlt/ww2
. I did quite a bit more research for that speech and for the book that
I am putting together. In
Germany, I spent hours in the Film Archives, comparing the pictures to
the old Wochenschau reels and similar films.
And several people in the Archives have checked over the
information and corrected it. None
of these photographs have been shown in public before.
I hope to see you at
one of these events.
Ingrid
November 2006
Time has been flying again. I
haven’t been performing much since August because I’ve been busy
working on my stepfather’s photographic World War II Biography. But here are a few photographs of my past few performances
(they have been moved to “Performance Photographs.”
The first one was
taken by Michael Meade of the band Lackawanna
Rail at one of the Mt. Holly benefits.
Joe Petraitis and I sang two benefits last year with
members of the Delaware River Folksong Fellowship, one of them
for Katrina victims.
The next photo shows Mike and me having fun at Clearwater Monmouth.
Please check out my updated LYRICS page.
I have added a few new ones under RECENTLY ADDED,
including two Holiday songs and one about a young lady I met at
Clearwater. She raises
Butterflies in her home in Asbury Park, with the help of people of the
Museum of Natural History in New York City.
I have seen more
butterflies in my yard this year and, of course, they were all over
Sunset Park in Asbury Park, where Clearwater was happening. Let’s hope that this will help the Monarch butterflies to
survive, even though we humans are building up their natural habitats.
“Take this
Country Back” was written after I met Hillary Clinton on
the Clearwater. I
sang there for a group of school children.
What a wonderful idea: The
crew went out and cast fishing nets.
Then they placed the fish into an aquarium and gave the children
a chance to identify them with the help of a book (“If it has fins
like this, go to page X” – etc.).
They
also taught how to navigate the river and how to keep it clean.
I will never forget that Styrofoam cups don’t degrade much at
all. I have since changed
my buying habits when I shop for coffee while out on the road.
Coffee tastes better from paper cups anyway.
The rest of the songs will probably become part of my coming CD WALLS
DIVIDE about German history.
I hope to have it ready when I begin speaking about German
history next spring.
I am scheduled to speak about the Biography I am writing at the Crane
House in Asbury Park in April and, on May 8 (7:30 pm), at Brookdale
College in Lyncroft, NJ, as part of their award-winning World
War II Series. I want
to thank Mary Byrne for taking me there and introducing me.
I hope all of you have had a good 2006 and that you have an even better
2007. As usual, I’d love
to hear from you.
Also: If you have a new
e-mail address or have changed it, please let me know, so I can keep you
informed.
Ingrid
July 2006
My
next Concert will again be the Corn Festival
(a benefit) on August 13 in Riverside Park, Beacon, NY.
I will opening at 12 noon. After
me will be many more wonderful performers, inclluding Pete
Seeger and Spook
Handy and you can sign up for a ride on Pete’s boat, the Woody
Guthrie.. It’s rain or
shine and free The
fundraising is done by selling corn.
I will have
preliminary copies of my new CD HOPE ROAD – please see my
comments about it below
“Take this
Country Back” was written after I met Hillary Clinton on
the Clearwater. I
sang there for a group of school children.
What a wonderful idea: The
crew went out and cast fishing nets.
Then they placed the fish into an aquarium and gave the children
a chance to identify them with the help of a very well-written book
(“If it has fins like this, go to page X” – etc.).
They also taught how
to navigate the river and how to keep it clean.
I will never forget that Styrofoam cups hardly degrade at all.
I have since changed my buying habits when I shop for coffee
while out on the road. Coffee
tastes better from paper cups anyway.
The rest of the songs will probably become part of my coming CD Walls
Divide about German history. I
am scheduled to speak about the Biography I am writing at the Crane
House in Asbury Park in April and, on May 8 (7:30 pm), at Brookdale
College in Lyncroft, NJ, as part of their award-winning World War II
Series. I want to thank
Mary Byrne for taking me there and introducing me.
Also coming up:
Clearwater Monmouth on August 19 and 20. 11:30 till 7 – Asbury
Park (Sunset
Park). Ask for the Third
Stage, where the Sloop Singers hang out.
I hear that Magpie and a number of other wonderful
performers will be participating in our group.
If you like to perform, bring an instrument and play (in the
round). I’ll be there for
most of the two days, unless we have another deluge like the one two
years ago, when we could barely keep our instruments from swimming away.
A few comments about the songs l will be doing in Beacon and Asbury Park
– all from my coming CD HOPE ROAD:
“Raise Your
Voice” is a collaboration with Pete
Seeger – a “lullaby for future rebels”, as I call it.
Two years ago, Pete handed me one verse, which he had been given
about fifty years ago by a woman who thought me might finish it.
He realized that he wouldn’t find the time and asked me to try
to do it. I did - and a
year later Pete let me have his comments which, of course, were all
incorporated. Recently, I
recorded the song in German for my Europe trip, and I didn’t have the
time to prepare a different CD for Nancy Cahill. She requested that I do it in German at the Corn Festival,
and so I prepared a version in German and English. I now like that version so much that I used it for my CD.
August 13, the day
of Corn Festival, is a very sad anniversary – for Germany and the
World: It’s the 45th
anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall, and I am planning to
sing a song about it, also from the CD HOPE ROAD.
I rarely do it in public because I still become very emotional
about the subject and often can’t make it through the song.
It’s called “Walls Divide.”
The song “Hope
Road” is about an actual street near Eatontown, NJ.
Route 18 has an Exit named “Hope Road.”
I decided to check it out, one day, and “Hope Road,”
the song, describes the actual street, with the exception of the Army
base. Often, when I perform
it, people come up to me to tell me that they lived there or are
familiar with the street.
“Soon We Will
Have Peace” has been translated by me and five friends into seven
languages. I want to thank
Jakob Balshan for the Hebrew, Siham Alfred for the Arabic, Michelle
Weinstat for the Spanish, William DuAime for the French and Amy Lee
Segami for the Chinese. It
was a true international collaboration, and
love how it turned out. It’s
still a sing-along. The
last few times I did it, the audiences sang in English, and I announced
the respective languages, in which I sang the same things at the same
time. If you know a
language that is not included, please send me your translation and I
will attempt to post those additional verses on this Website under
“Lyrics.”
HOPE ROAD, the
CD, will also contain “Alison,” a song co-written with Joe
Grant, one of the founders of the great Canadian band Tanglefoot
.
Joe had told me about a wonderful young American singer, who does
a beautiful version of his song “Selkirk Settler’s Lullaby.”
One day, I received a distressed e-mail from Joe, informing me
that Alison had signed up to go to Iraq.
Maybe our prayers helped: He
informed me recently that Alison has become pregnant and was transferred
to Germany. If you’re wondering what Joe has been doing since his
retirement from Tanglefoot . He has
started a new band with a less strenuous travel schedule.
It’s called Gopher Baroque
and has brought out a wonderful CD SHIPWRECKED WHISKEY.
“Violets”
is about my mother’s experience during World War II.
Life can be so ironic: My
grandfather refused to name her Anne Marie because that was a song the
German soldiers sang during World War I.
He named her Erika instead, which means “heather.” And the most popular marching song of the German soldiers
during World War II became “Erika.”
Mom was the teenage office manager of the Hitler Youth in her
State, never realizing that she was preparing the boys for war.
When they were sent out, she started a newsletter through which
they communicated with one another.
Our home State Pomerania is now Polish.
I took her back there 50 years after she had to leave by bike and
it became a very emotional trip for me too.
I want to thank Michael
LaGennusa of MJL Studios for his inspiring guitar tracks on HOPE
ROAD and Michael Kianka of DTC Records for his
invaluable technical advice.
So much for today.
I will be posting a new pictures in the near future.
Fran Sansone took a great one of Pete and me, but I want
to ask his permission. And Michael
Meade of the band Lackawanna
Rail took some of Joe Petraitis and me.
But for now I will only post this text.
Ingrid
May 2006
Again, I
cannot believe how quickly time has passed.
I have been completing the first draft of the first volume of my
Stepfather Herbert Datum’s Biography.
I even have the first two speaking engagements lined up for next
year, one at a College, the other at the Crane House in Asbury Park.
And I’ve been recording my next CD, half of which will be songs
in German and the other half songs about Germany.
I’ve also been writing songs and singing at my usual places.
But here is my next
performance with Joe Petraitis: The
Fantasy Tea and Art Fair
of the Delaware River Folk Song Fellowship on Saturday,
May 13, 11 to 5 pm (we will be on after 3 pm).
Hope to see you there.
Ingrid
January 2006
I have another quick announcement:
A Hurricane
Survivors Relief Benefit Concert organized by my friends of the Delaware
River Folksong Fellowship. I am so glad to be part of it.
It will be at the Unitarian Universalist Church
in Cherry Hill on 401 Kings Highway
609-792-9364 www.uucinch.org.
I’d love to see you there.
Ingrid
November 2005
I want to wish
everyone a wonderful Holiday Season and quickly write about our recent
Concert: “NJ Songwriters
Reaching Out for Peace” at the Ethical Culture Society in Maplewood.
Spook Handy
was wonderful,
as usual. Besides
“Vote,” he did his “Corner Hardware Store” song that I love.
Catherine Moon is young, influenced by rap and rock.
She had a cold and was losing her voice, which caused her to read
her last song as a poem.
It proved that her
lyrics can stand on their own. Gigi
G(oldstein) used to be a pop singer with her own band, and her songs
proved to be stand on their own as solos also.
And Joel Horwitz brought lots of energy to the stage. I noticed his great rapport with children.
We had such a good
time and hope it will be the first in a series.
Please let us know if you have any ideas of where we could take
it next.
A few weeks earlier,
Joe Petraitis and I re-joined on the spur of a moment.
We sang a concert at the Hunterdon Developmental Center, a home
for people with multiple handicaps.
We didn’t expect
to enjoy it as much as we did, and we may do more similar concerts in
the future.
Ingrid
Late September 2005
I have more
information about the Raritan River Festival.
I found out that Pete
Seeger started it 20 years ago and that he sailed his Sloop
“Woody Guthrie” from Beacon to the Raritan River.
The event starts at 11, and I will be on about 12 noon.
Ingrid
September 2005
I so enjoyed the
Corn Festival and – the weekend after – Clearwater Monmouth.
The camaraderie at
the “Circle of Songs” stage was wonderful, and more and more people
settled down there to hear us.
On Sunday, as part of the Sloop Singers on the Main Stage, I had the
chance to do a solo on “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” in German
and English. Pete wrote
that, of course. But,
honestly, I thought it was a German folk song when I grew up.
I also enjoyed having some of the musicians stay at my house and
serenading me and the neighbors on Saturday morning, before the big
event.
Upcoming is a World Trade Center Photo Exhibit at Brookdale
College’s Bankier Library from September 8 until at least
September 14 (maybe longer). I
will be there on Saturday, September 10 from about noon until 3:30.
And the Raritan
River Folk Festival will be
on Saturday, September 24 from 11 am until 7 pm in Johnson Park,
Piscataway.
I hear that is “across the river from Brunswick’s riverfront,” but
I will try to find out more and post it here.
I will also try to narrow down the time when I may be
performing.
Ingrid
July 2005
This is a quick
update to give you the info on the upcoming Beacon performance. I will be singing in the Corn
Festival (a benefit) in Beacon, NY’s Riverside Park on Sunday,
August 14, starting at 12 noon. Spook
Handy will be the MC and the main
performer Pete
Seeger.
It’s free – rain or shine - a fun day out in the
Riverside Park of Beacon that Pete and others salvaged from being a
garbage dump.
Also, please check
out my updated “Lyrics” pages and “Soon We Will Have Peace” for
free downloading under “Multimedia.”
Ingrid
May 2005
I have some big news: I will
be performing at the next Corn
Festival
in Beacon, NY on Sunday, August 14.
Pete
Seeger will be there too.
It is so rare that I have advance notice of a concert, I really
want to let people know now, even though I will have to post the details
later.
Pete told me he likes my song “Soon We Will Have Peace.”
I call out the lyrics on stage and, so far, each audience has
sung along. Sometimes I
feel it’s like a chant, and maybe that’s what it is.
I
have also been handing out CDs of that song and expect to be posting it
under “Multimedia” on this Website soon.
Last winter I was complaining, “I feel like I have been hi-jacked from
songwriting and singing.” I
said it to a young history teacher from France who was staying at my
house for a month, waiting for some papers to be processed before he
could return to Europe.
He
ended up working with me on my stepfather Bert’s biography, writing
1200 captions for as many photographs, many of them of Hitler and his
court. Bert was one of two
photographers who had easy access to Hitler in his early days.
We worked so hard that I began feeling like a recluse.
During his last few days here, the young teacher said, “You
must write songs about this material.”
And that was all the inspiration I needed.
At first I thought no one would want to hear songs about Germany, but
decided to write them anyway – for me.
Now I’ve begun performing them, and the response has been
incredible. I will post
some of the lyrics under “War No More.”
One describes the last day of World War II, as seen by an SS man
(Bert) called back to defend a destroyed Berlin.
I do this one only for grown-up audiences since it is very
graphic.
Another is about my Dad, who was able to take one
Jewish family to Bremerhaven’s harbor by night, so that they could
escape the horror.
These are intimidating subjects to write songs about, but maybe very
necessary ones. I forgot
who said it, but we need to work through past mistakes, so we can stop
repeating them.
I also met with the head of the “Center for World War II Studies and
Conflict Resolution” at Brookdale in Lincroft, NJ, and we discussed
the possibility of my speaking there about Bert’s photographs late
this fall.
I have particularly enjoyed singing in churches, libraries and
bookstores. Please contact
me if you have any ideas.
Before I forget it: I heard
Tanglefoot (tanglefootmusic.com) again, at a fair in Allentown, PA. I
am happy to report that the “new” band members (Terry Snyder joined
two years ago) have become so at ease that it feels like the old band
again, with some added licks and harmonies.
I also saw Republic (Republicmusic.com)
mentioned in the news as the best thing to come out of Asbury Park since
you-know-who. I am so proud
of them.
And I’ve been following Spook Handy
(http://www.spookhandy.com/), whenever possible. I so much
enjoy his message of Peace and the support he has given me.
He and Arlon Bennett organized a showcase for
several songwriters last month through NSAI, the Nashville Songwriters
Alliance, and I was happy to be part of it.
Ingrid
October 2004
I am doing an Opening Act for Steph Furness for the Somerset Voices for Peace and
Justice.
It’s a wonderful group of people meeting in a great coffee house.
Sharleen
Leahey, who booked me, has a song called
“So Frail” on her new CD, and she is very supportive of her fellow
artists.
The event is scheduled for Thursday, the 21st, at 7:30 p.m.
at:
The Sanctuary (908) 725-0808
41 Main Street, Somerville
Ingrid
September 2004
I can’t
believe I am actually sitting down to write my next update. It’s been a while, and I had such an enjoyable summer.
I did manage to see Rich Warren again, 30 years after my debut on
his Midnight Special.
We met at the Susquehanna Folk Festival in Maryland, and
he was mourning his dog Nipper,
who had just died of Cancer.
Do I understand ! Squeekie is 19 and has been with me all her life.
She’s a cat with an attitude – not always likeable –
but I can’t imagine life without her or my other cat Tigger
who adopted me when she was a stray and who has become friends with
everyone in my neighborhood. I
am not surprised that Rich devoted an episode of his show to Nipper.
I am happy to say
that I’ve completely returned to my Folk roots, where I am most
comfortable as a writer and performer, and that seven songs are finished
for my new CD “Visualize Peace!”
You can buy them now for $7 as a preliminary mini CD from me
personally or through Hilda’s House Productions.
I cannot accept credit
card orders and my distributors cannot break even at that price.
The CD case contains a coupon for a $7 rebate
on the final CD. This way
you can hear me and decide for yourself whether you want to invest in
the full-length CD that will have 12 songs. Hilda’s
House’s order form can be accessed through this link: ORDER
I’d love to have your feedback
at this time because I can make changes before the full CD is released.
This summer, I was fortunate to be invited by Spook
Handy to
the Strawberry and Corn
Festivals in Beacon, NY. I
knew that Pete
Seeger lives there, but I didn’t expect that Pete might
actually get on stage and do full sets.
He didn’t only do that, but he was there from the very
beginnings to the very ends of each event, supervising everything down
to the garbage removal. He
is amazing.
One of the Beacon men said to me, “This man is for real.
He has a pure heart.” What’s
more, he has lost none of his magic.
During “Habe Jojo,” he was dancing into his audience, and he
had everyone up on their feet, applauding.
I knew Pete has taken a liking to Spook’s song “Vote,” but didn’t realize how much he enjoys singing and playing
it. During the first
festival, Pete was manning one of the booths when Spook announced the
song, and there was Pete, banjo in hand, ready to play along.
During the second festival, everything was in disarray because it
was raining, some of the performers didn’t show up on time and Spook
filled in much sooner than planned.
We simply couldn’t find Pete when Spook did his set.
In the middle of the song, there stood Pete, banjo in hand, as if
to say, “But I was going to sing this.”
But then Spook was honored even more:
Pete, during his own set, called him back onto the stage to sing
the song again, while a lady pointed to the Voter Registration booth
nearby.
I also caught an Arlo Guthrie
concert this year, whom I had never heard in person. What a storyteller he is!
And I was invited to a very unusual performance at the German
Embassy: Woody
Guthrie’s daughter Nora
gave German singer-songwriter Wenzel access to Woody’s poems, and the result is an incredible album titled “Ticky
Tock.” Some of the
songs gave me the chills – they made me feel as if Woody were alive
and writing about recent events in New York City, for instance “Well,
I did walk an’ the wind did come – And I got to see who was the
toughest - New York Town or the high blowing wind – And I found out
New York was the roughest.” A
moan went through the audience when he sang that.
The CD is available in German and in English from the Woody
Guthrie Foundation (212-541-6230).
No one noticed that Wenzel was using “cheat sheets” during his
performance until there was a request, and that caused him to go through
his notes, frantically. Someone
asked him to “wing it,” and he turned around to say, “But you
donn’t undurrrstand – I am Tschermenn – I need papurrrs.”
I may just decide to steal that line because I am having such a
hard time memorizing my songs.
I’ve been singing openers for the Somerset Voices for Peace and
participated in many open mikes, trying to recapture my performance
skills. I am also
practicing to becoming one of the Sloop Singers who perform at the
Clearwater and Beacon Festivals.
Brian’s band Republic has
recently been competing for one of the four finals spots of MTV’s
Battle of the Band competition. We
are anxious to hear the results. I
will keep you informed.
Ingrid
February 2004
Another great friend
from my past has died: Fred Holstein, who used to own a Club called Somebody Else’s Troubles, together with his brother Ed,
who wrote for Bonnie Koloc, and Steve
Goodman, whose song City
of New Orleans was made famous by Arlo
Guthrie.
I used to “hang
out” there every week, after my lessons at the Old
Town School of Folk Music, and I can’t count the times when I
mentioned to my New York/New Jersey friends, “It’s a shame that we
don’t have places like that around here.”
I so vividly
remember Freddie’s renditions of Amsterdam
by Jacques Brel, Streets
of London by Ralph McTell
and Song for November by Gordon
Bok. You may want to check out www.fredholstein.com
and www.CDBaby.com, where I
purchased Fred’s twin CDs. I
was privileged to witness a truly unique recording that Freddie did of
his brother’s song Victoria’s
Morning. I had
mentioned to Rich Warren of WFMT
that I was a big fan of Freddie’s, and he dug it out for me.
Rich is now the sole Host of WFMT’s fantastic Folk Program The
Midnight Special. I
counted about 100 stations on the Internet that broadcast his program,
and I feel so fortunate that Fred’s passing got me back in touch with
it. I hadn’t realized
that it is broadcast every Friday and Sunday on WUMB.org out of Boston.
I now catch it whenever I can and it transports me back into the
past, when I used to tape the program every week and when, eventually, I
was on it.
I responded to a
eulogy Rich wrote for Freddie, sure he wouldn’t remember me. Years ago - I don’t care to specify how many - I was taken
to his studio by Bob Gibson
to record my very first song To John, a precursor of Chrome, Crystal and Glass. To
my surprise, Rich responded that he still has that recording.
I begged him not to play it - I was so nervous when I recorded it
that I had a few drinks - something I promised myself never to do again.
I sang badly out of tune.
In one of my last
few updates I reported on the passing of another of my Chicago friends,
my guitar teacher Ginni Clemmens.
That put me back in touch with the Old
Town School, where I met her. I
have since written two Blues numbers, The
Summer Rain and The
Dark Before the Dawn. When
Ginni was alive, I didn’t have the nerve to sing or write the Blues -
She was truly one of the great Blues Mamas.
Now it feels as if I have become a carrier of the torch.
Brian Saint’s band REPUBLIC
was asked by the Stone Pony
people to perform there again, this time as the main act on a Saturday
night. They were informed
that “a few camera people” might be there to film some TV pilot.
I don’t think anyone in the band knew that they had been
entered into MTV’s Battle of the Bands. That
contest started out with 250 bands.
It’s now down to 50. I
am crossing my fingers that REPUBLIC
will make it to the top, but they have the right attitude about it:
“It’s gotten us bookings in NYC.”
Please check out the details on www.republicmusic.com.
I feel fortunate to have witnessed how the seasoned MTV camera
people jumped onto the stage to embrace the members of the band.
See - I know how to pick them.
I predicted they’d be Stars and I’m not the only one whom
they have “blown away.”
Ingrid
October 2003
FINALLY:
My first public full-length performance in years (I don't care to
specify how many). My partner in crime: Joe
Petraitis. It will be
on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 2 pm. And
it’s free, in the Navesink House, 40 Riverside Avenue (Route
35) in Red Bank, NJ.
Many friends have
been wondering what I've been up to since I've semi-retired from my
“day” job which, most of the time, was actually a night job (my 17th
anniversary at that "temp job" will be on November 3).
I've mostly been
taking care of things I was forced to neglect for years: Like doing repairs on my house and painting.
And my files – 7 years of photography begging to be organized,
and 7 years' worth of paper – boxes and boxes of paper – paper
everywhere, really. I
decided to change my life by reading them into a scanner –
computerizing them – so that the physical paper is gone from my life.
I've thrown it out by the box-full and felt great about it.
And I've been
working on the full-length stage show mentioned above.
Joe Petraitis is a fellow songwriter from the New
Jersey Song Circle. I
fell in love with Joe's song "Where is the Soul?" and started
singing harmonies before he even had a chance to complete it.
That developed into a jam session or two, and next we performed
at the Birthday Party of the Folk Project's Minstrel Coffee
House in Morristown, joined by Andy Koenig on bass, Jeff Rantzer on
trombone and Bill Meyer on keyboards.
Performing with
others has been wonderful for me. Even
though my guitar play has improved some, my skills are miles behind
those of many of the performers in our thriving local Folk Music scene. I am ashamed to say that I've been getting air play for songs
that I can't play (yet!), like my Reggae song "Living in
Paradise." I also
can't play "Check the Box!" - that song has been recorded
three times by singers other than myself.
Well, one of these days I may surprise everyone . . .
I was very excited
this morning when I listened to the prototype of Vittoria Conn's
CD "Turn this Boat Around.."
I vividly recall the day, two or three years ago, when Vittoria
asked to come with me to Michael La Gennusa's studio in
Manhattan. I mentioned that
I was working on a country song and that some of the Nashville people
had specifically informed me that my voice was "too legit" to
be on a country demo. Vittoria
offered to help, but I didn't take that too seriously.
And then she blew me away – she nailed it on first try!
Her voice usually reminds me of Karen Carpenter's, but she's
lived in Kentucky long enough to capture the Nashville sound for me.
Vittoria and Michael
have completed 10 songs by now, all written by her.
One of those songs gives me the chills each time I hear it:
It's a lullaby for her little boy who was very ill at the time.
My own CD LOVE
MATTERS has been getting great reviews, and I will post some in my Review
section.
I've also sold many
hand-bound copies of my book LIVING WITH HITLER'S LEGACY.
I haven't had it printed yet because I've lost my original
childhood photographs when a suitcase was stolen from me in Holland when
I was 15. I've since
re-photographed pictures of friends and relatives, but the quality isn't
all that great and it's hard to figure out now who has the originals.
My next Weblog
should have information about my new CD.
Many of the songs are done, and Brian took the perfect cover
picture. I'm having a hard
time now deciding which of my "babies" cannot be included.
Besides, I keep writing new ones.
Please tune in for the next update.
P.S.:
Brian's band REPUBLIC is also in the recording studio.
I can't wait to hear their new songs.
Ingrid
July
2003
I am
overwhelmed by a performance I heard last night at the Stone Pony: Brian Saint and
his new band REPUBLIC.
The place was packed. I
overheard the sound guys saying, “These kids are great.”
Their sound reminds
me of U2 or Creed - powerful and hypnotic - and their lyrics are
profound and philosophical. I
just can’t believe this is my friend Brian
- the same Brian Saint who photographed my album cover as a favor to me.
Guess I will be looking for another photographer when they get
too big.
I also heard the
Canadian folk band Tanglefoot
again, this time at the Watchung Arts Center and without Joe Grant, the only original group member.
Joe has recently retired, but will still be involved in their
songwriting. I love Joe’s
songs and have recorded “Selkirk Settler’s Lullaby” for my next
album, a beautiful song with an interesting story.
Joe’s fiddle performances have been taken over by Terry Snider,
who remains within the wonderful original spirit of the band.
The vocals are as full as ever, probably because Brian Weirmier,
the new keyboardist, is also a singer.
Tanglefoot’s many fans will be glad they’re still the band
we’ve come to love over the years. For those who don’t like bands with fiddles:
I am usually not particularly fond of them either, but I love Tanglefoot
and so do all people of various musical backgrounds whom I have
taken to their performances.
I also thoroughly enjoyed
one of Spook Handy’s Peace Concerts at the sold-out Mine Street Coffee
House in New Brunswick. For
many years, I’ve loved Spook’s songs, his CDs, his outgoing and
encouraging personality and his great sense of humor, mostly at
songwriters’ meetings. This
performance pulled it all together for me.
I‘ve been working
hard on putting together a stage performance.
Have a terrible time remembering all my own lyrics and chords.
On July 25, I will be doing two songs at the Minstrel
Coffeehouse birthday party in Morristown, NJ (www.folkproject.org),
and I’ve finished recording the first nine songs for my next CD in
Michael LaGennusa’s studio.
A nice surprise came
yesterday by chance: I
found a beautiful review of my CD LOVE
MATTERS in a magazine called Rambles
(www.rambles.net), done by a man
named Nicky Rossiter last
May. I will quote from it under “Reviews.”
For those who were
so kind to ask: My Mom has
recovered from her knee
surgery and will resume her New Jersey visits in September.
Ingrid
March
2003
Last week, I discovered on the Internet that Ginni Clemmens died
in a car accident in her recently chosen home State of Hawaii.
She was a wonderful
singer/songwriter whom I first met in the '70s at the Old Town School of
Folk Music in Chicago. She became my guitar teacher, and I sang
background on one of her recordings.
She asked me to
accompany her on several of her trips to local schools, where she turned
the youngsters on to folk music and the Blues.
It was my “job” to tape them when they shared jump-rope
chants with us. She had an
incredible rapport with those children, especially the "tough"
ones. Maybe I am wrong, but it seemed to me that she did more children's
songs for grownups than for children, and more grownup songs for the
kids, and everyone loved it that way.
I’ve been meaning
to write to her during the holidays, but decided to wait until I’d
find those chants and surprise her with a copy of that tape.
Now I wish I hadn’t waited.
Ingrid
February
2003
On February
15, I joined the Peaceweavers, hoping to hear Bishop Tutu and Harry
Belafonte near the U.N. (at 49th and 1st in New York City - 5 blocks
from where I used to live).
We met at 54th and Lexington. To our surprise, the police ordered us to
walk towards 60th Street - away from our goal. They told us we could get
to 1st Avenue from there.
As it turned out, they herded thousands into 60th Street and closed it
off on both ends. I guess that's how they arrived at the low count of
250,000 demonstrators. There were millions, but few made it to 49th and
1st.
I broke through the police barrier at 60th Street, pretending to be a
press photographer. But there were barriers at every corner. At 54th and
2nd, the police was on horseback, and it felt menacing.
I got as far as 52nd and 2nd, where the police was in riot gear. I took
many photographs. [Comment:
I had to leave at 2 pm and am glad to hear that the Peaceweavers
eventually were able to march down 1st Avenue.]
Since then, I have translated "War
No More" and "Living
in Paradise" into German - recorded them that way and sent
them to Peace groups over there.
Ingrid
January 2003
During this month, I spent two weeks in Germany, where my World Trade
Center photographs are being exhibited in the Town Hall of Weyhe, near
Bremen.
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Ingrid Heldt shows a view of the World Trade Center to
visitors.
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I
translated two of the articles printed by the local press (even
though the information isn't 100% accurate).
I am
attempting to get a better copy of the press photograph.
While over there, I also met members of the local Peace Watch.
And
I visited my mother who was preparing for a difficult knee
operation. It went
well - when I last spoke to her, she had just returned from a
10-block walk on crutches.
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These are a few of
the translated articles:
Stuhr-Weyher Zeitung - Friday 1/20/2003:
The Twin Towers - 400 Times - Ingrid Heldt from New York
Shows Unusual Perspectives of the World Trade Center Leeste -
"My first photograph [of the World Trade Center] was taken with a
$60 camera, and I wanted to improve on it," Ingrid Heldt explained
about how she began her exceptional work. She is showing an exhibit
about the World Trade Center in the City Hall of [Weyhe-] Leeste, which
will remain there until the end of February.
When
she began documenting the famous Twin Towers, she had no idea how
valuable her work would become in the future. The 34-year-old knows
Manhattan like her coat pocket. She lived there and worked 1-1/2 blocks
from the World Trade Center for years. She had a wonderful view of the
towers from her office on the 43rd floor and fell in love with them.
She worked the night shift and passed the giant buildings
every morning. It is thus not surprising that she began taking pictures
from many angles. She always carried her camera. In the course of
several years, she took almost 400 photographs.
Among
her photographs are some that show the towers in their entire length.
The first camera offered only few artistic possibilities, and so she
bought a better one, hoping to duplicate some of her [negative]
photographs [as slides]. But today she says, "I never succeeded.
Some of my later photographs show new angles, but I never improved on
the old ones." Much the opposite: In 1990, she photographed the
towers on two different days. The buildings were so bright that they
were completely blanked out and appear as "ghost towers."
"At the time, I was upset about the ruined film and put
those images away with my 'Rejects.' When I rediscovered them after
September 11, they appeared strangely prophetic," the artist
states.
Much of her work had a shadow existence in those
"Reject" files until after September 11, when she put the
images into a fire safe because they have become incredibly valuable. To
benefit the victims and to help herself deal with the tragedy, the
artist made a video of her photographs, which lists the names of the
3,000 victims. When she listed the names in the form of two columns, she
didn't realize that even that arrangement reminds of the two towers.
After September 11 she returned to Ground Zero only once. She
found it difficult to see the empty spot. The exhibit in Weyhe [-Leeste]
shows the towers from many perspectives. One includes the Brooklyn
Bridge, another was taken from Chinatown and yet another from the
windows [of one of the towers, showing a view of other tower]. During
her walks in [Liberty State Park, NJ], Ms. Heldt took photographs that
show the towers during sunrise - you can hardly imagine that they are
surrounded by the noisy life of a City of millions.
Weser-Kurier (Bremen, Germany) -Monday, 1/19/2003:
An unusual exhibit began yesterday in the City Hall of Weyhe.
The photographer, Ingrid Heldt, shows images of the World Trade Center.
The artist was born in Lower Saxony and has been living in the U.S.
since the '70s - 10 years in New York City. She is also a songwriter and
has released several CDs. Her collection of World Trade Center images
comprises almost 400 photographs. A portion was shown in New York's SOHO
district as part of the Memorial Services on September 11, 2002. In the
weeks after September 11, Ingrid Heldt wrote two songs about the events
and sold them as a benefit for the victims. She also produced a video
about the subject. The selection of photographs will be exhibited in
Weyhe during the coming four weeks.
Ingrid
December 2002
It is located on Crescent Avenue in Wyckoff, NJ 07481 - 201-891-5571.
Click
here for directions
It
also appears that the next Exhibit will be in Weyhe, near Bremen,
Germany, where the municipality requested to display them in their
historical museum. [Comment:
they were actually shown in Weyhe’s City Hall.]
Ingrid
November 2002
The
Exhibit of my photographs in Franklin Lakes will continue until the end
of November.
The
directions are below (see "October 2002").
My
songs and photography are also still on the www.Ridgewoodcameraclub.org
website under "WTC
Tribute".
A
few weeks ago, as we were updating this Website, I mentioned to my
Webmaster Carrie that I felt it's a shame to remove the older News
items. I've heard from so
many people since September 11, some telling me that my Website and
songs put a face on the events for them.
In
May, I read a Newsweek article about Weblogs and realized that my
"News" page could be written like that. So I've dug through the old info and attempted to resurrect
some of it for people who are new to this site.
I will place the newer "News" items at the beginning,
so I don't bore those who have visited before.
The
next Exhibit will be at "The Gallery" of The Presbyterian
Church at Franklin Lakes, NJ (Exit
161 West off the Parkway - Click here for map and directions).
Ingrid
October 2002
The
exhibit of my photographs (of the perfect World Trade Center buildings)
in Soho, NYC, on and after September 11 was very well received,
particularly the "Ghost" images I took on two different days
wherein the buildings appear to be blanked out.
I was angry about the "ruined" film at the time, but
with hindsight the images appear prophetic.
The
press coverage was great, and many asked for showings in New Jersey.
The
Reception will be Saturday, November 9, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.
I'd love to see you there.
The
Ridgewood Camera Club is
also exhibiting my photographs and songs on their Website www.Ridgewoodcameraclub.org
.
Ingrid
September 2002
As
part of the September 11 Memorial Event at the Open Center in New York
City (in Soho - see address below) a collection of my photographs of the
perfect World Trade Center buildings (I took over 300) will be shown,
together with my Video POETRY IN
STONE which contains an almost complete list of the Missing.
I
will be available at the Open Center to answer questions about those
images.
Ingrid
The
Open Center is at 83 Spring Street (between Broadway and Lafayette).
Opening times on September 11 will be 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.
August 2002
My
new CD LOVE MATTERS is finally (!) available (please see
"Contact" for ordering information).
Again, Michael LaGennusa did all the instrumentation and studio
work. I wrote or co-wrote
all of the songs, and it is a collection of the old and new. For the stories behind some of the songs, please look
under "My Work."
************************************************************************
My
CD TRIBUTE TO THE WORLD TRADE CENTER and the Video POETRY IN STONE are still available (please
see "Contact" for ordering information). I am giving all of my profits to Covenant House headed by
Sister Mary Rose McGeady who looks like an angel to me. Nuns like her took me in when I ran away from home as a
teenager, and New York charities like Covenant House have been
struggling in the wake of September 11.
************************************************************************
Ingrid
July 2002
My
new CD LOVE MATTERS is at the
duplicator's and should be available in two weeks. You won't believe how many things can hold up the release of
an album.
I'll
just tell you the last one: When
copying the songs for the duplicator, I discovered two microphone pops,
unfortunately in the second line of the first song.
"No
problem," I thought and called Michael LaGennusa at the studio, who
has been incredibly patient will all my nitpicky changes. Turns out he broke his foot and it took several weeks before
he could hobble back to the studio.
He is back now, thank heavens.
I am lost without him (musically).
Things
have been hard for Michael and his wife Jane, formerly a financial
manager for Fidelity. She
used to be one of the few people I knew who always talked about how much
she loved her job. On
September 11, she barely made it out of the World Trade Center alive.
She is still out of work. Is anyone out there hiring?
Please talk to Jane. She can be reached via MJL Sound
212-268-7557.
My
Multimedia section has a clip of Vittoria
Conn's (the song is mine). She's
lent her incredible voice to many of my demo recordings (others were
done by Jean Scully, but she lives too far away from the studio to do
more at this time). Nashville
and many others think my voice is "too legit" (it came that
way - it's not the result of voice training).
Vittoria is now working on her own recording project, and I am
looking forward to hearing more of her clips. The ones I've heard so far
are wonderful. Vittoria may
be available to do studio work. As opposed to me, she is a very quick
study. She’d sing a song
half an hour after first hearing it - correctly with all the emotions I
hoped could be found in it. Please
contact me if you wish to get in touch with her.
Also
- when making the album and updating my Website, I discovered I hadn't
had any pictures taken in years and was glad when a former tenant
offered to help me. I didn't know that he is a trained photographer and
a fellow singer/songwriter with a band.
He blew me away, not only with his photographs (the camera hates
me), but also when I finally heard him perform.
Take note of his name: Brian
Saint. I bolded it on
my album cover because I am convinced he will be a Star. I want to brag some day that I knew him when . . . I will
attempt to get a recording of his for my Website.
Ingrid
December 2001
Mutti (my Mom, who
is visiting me) and I went one last time to see what is left of the
World Trade Center: the
Tuning Fork windows that I loved so much and photographed when they were
whole. Soon they will be removed.
We weren't planning to go - Mutti had come with me to Michael's
studio, and we just went driving around.
It was an eerie scene: Floodlights
illuminated the area, and people stood and stared into the cross streets
from where you could see the ghostly white skeletons of those windows (I
believe they went up to the fourth floor).
The pictures I took came out well, even though it was dark and I
didn't have my "good" camera with me.
I was glad to see those windows one more time.
I decided to walk around and got to see the grey concrete dust I had
heard about on the news - actually it was beige.
It was about four inches high in the doorway of a closed sneaker
store. The dust covered the
carpet inside and tapered off towards the rear of the store.
Yet the sneakers in the window display seemed untouched, ready to
be bought.
In one of the side streets, all the underground wires and pipes were
exposed, ready for repair.
In the week after September 11, we had been noticing abandoned cars in
the commuter lot in Lyndcroft, NJ.
Most were removed quickly, but a few were parked in the spaces
that aren't supposed to be used by the commuters.
Some of those weren't removed for a while.
I also went to the 14th Street vigils to shoot photographs for the
video. It turned into a
moving experience. I was
particularly impressed by the Tibetan community who had put up a shrine
to pray for peace.
Ingrid
October 2001
September 11 has
changed our lives.
I
used to live on 45th Street, and many of my friends live or work in
Manhattan. When I heard the
news, I tried to call all day, but the lines were dead.
When I finally was able to contact a friend in Maplewood, he said
he had received an e-mail from Virginia who worked for Cantor
Fitzgerald: She had called
in late that day to go to vote and then to pick up a prescription.
Ss she left the Duane Reade drugstore, she saw her office go up
in flames above her.
Michael LaGennusa, the owner of the NYC studio where I do my recording,
kept saying, "I can't believe I won't see Harry again" when we
recorded Poetry
in Stone. Only a
few weeks earlier, he had told me about his trip to Vegas with Jane, his
wife, and their friend Harry Ramos whose great sense of humor had made
the trip so enjoyable for everyone.
[Comment: I've since
seen Harry mentioned in many newspapers as "last seen on the 42nd
floor helping someone." Harry
wasn't a fire fighter or policeman on duty.
Yes, there are heroes and angels right among us.]
On September 11, Michael got a call from Jane, "I have to leave my
office." And then the
lines went dead. It took
three hours until she arrived home, covered with ashes.
Many of their friends didn't make it.
Harry was among them.
On September 12, I talked to Vittoria Conn, the wonderful singer who has
recorded many of my songs and demos.
She was in tears. "My
son and I moved here from Kentucky.
Those buildings symbolized to us our new life here.
We went there all the time to see them."
I truly loved the buildings too. They
were like friends welcoming me to the real world after working the night
shift nearby. I took dozens
of pictures because they were so very beautiful.
[Comment: I counted
the photographs and was surprised to find almost 400.] I now used some of them in my video POETRY IN STONE, which shows only the perfect buildings.
Ingrid
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