Old Town At Night
My music camp kids in the concert hall
Naomi and me in Wells Park during camp, summer 2002
Naomi and me at her wedding celebration
14 July 2009
A Little Bit Of Old Town
Once in awhile, if we’re lucky I believe we can stumble upon a place that truly makes us be in the moment, and truly makes us think this is where I’m supposed to be. That place for me was The Old Town School of Folk Music. I discovered The Old Town School in the summer of 2000 when I became a guitar student there and then went on to work at their Music and Theater camps for several summers. During those years I met wonderful people, saw countless performances, learned guitar, and made life long friendships. Every Tuesday night after class all the students would convene in the concert hall for one big jam session, strumming collectively to the music of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and other folk legends. I was there the night of September 11, 2001. Classes were cancelled but we all gathered in the concert hall playing songs like Helplessly Hoping and This Land is Your Land while we tried to comprehend the horrific events that unfolded that day. I remember performing on the stage there with my fellow coworkers during the end of the camp session. I remember meeting friends for coffee at the cafe before class. I spent many a summer day teaching kid’s improv games during Theater camp. There truly are endless memories that this place brought me. This past weekend I experienced little bit of old town while at my good friend Naomi’s wedding celebration. I was reminded of how special that place really was to me as I saw my friend and reminisced with some old friends from the school. I’m not sure if I’ll ever have another Old Town, I think much of the experiences were derived from a combination of where I was at in my life coupled with the good fortune of meeting all the great people at that time. However, what I can do is to take those experiences and remember. Remember what brought out that feeling of never wanting to be anywhere else. In doing so, perhaps I’ll bring a little bit of old town into my everyday life and all the while I’ll never forget what I was given. This Blog entry is dedicated to Naomi and Claire.
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2 comments:
Oh my goodness, Tricia!! The sweetest sweetest blog entry -- you're making me cry down here in North Carolina! Your blog post is so moving and beautiful and I'm so touched - and I love seeing that picture of us from Wells Park! Especially coupled with the one from Saturday. From the Cubbies, to the Huetten bar, to not being able to open a wine bottle at Rivinia, I, too, have the best memories of us helping each other get through those crazy camp days and those crazy school years. I miss you SO much and love you SO much -- always always.
And she's making me cry over here in London, right?! Oh man, do I know what you mean about the incredible gift that was Old Town -- that time, those PEOPLE. The Wells Park picture is the cuuuuuutest, how amazing are you guys?! And how amazing was this weekend?!?! So, SO good to see you and your beautiful family. (And please remember I went to high school next to a gigantic shopping mall in the most suburb of suburbs, so never fear!) I'm still all verklempt about the blog entry, and I feel the exact same way about being so incredibly fortunate to have the Old Town Time. It's camp time now, and we're all over the place but we're all still together with great memories and more to come. And hopefully more people are getting the great gift of that place now. Hmmm, maybe it's time to pull out my guitar, play a little Neil Young and have a good cry?? I miss you guys and send you the biggest bunch of love from over here!
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