Dear Friends:

Greetings and happy summer solstice!  I hope spring coaxed you outside to wonder at the beauty in your neck of the woods.  We had magnificent tulips this year and the roses are shaping up to outdo them.  Dan and I had a busy spring working on recording projects and getting ready for an exciting summer. We spent our fifth anniversary on Cape Cod breathing in the salt air.  I wrote a song for Dan that we debuted at our Hayloft Concert in June.  I hope to sing it for y’all real soon.

I spent time working on brochures and music for a new program called “Singing for Suffrage.”  It tells the story of how American women gained the right to vote through the songs they sang.  I hope to present it at colleges, schools, and for women’s organizations.  I’m also using my education by teaching women’s studies courses this fall.  I’ll be teaching online for Empire State College and on campus at Oswego.

Meadowlark Music Camp had to be cancelled for this year.  I’ll miss that community of people immensely and am keeping a good thought for its reestablishment next year.  I’ll be at Allegany State Park for a residency of my own the last week of August, in addition to spending a week there with Dan at the end of June.

I am involved in a new production about the history and culture of the Adirondacks, produced by Andy Spence called The Visitors.  The cast includes Dan Berggren, John Kirk, Trish Miller, George Ward, George Wilson, Toby Stover, Bill Spence, Joe Bruchac and myself.  We will be giving two performances of “Visitors” at the Old Songs Festival in Altamont, NY June 27th and 29th, and two more at Great Camp Sagamore in Raquette Lake, NY August 16th and 17th.  Other performances at St. Lawrence Univ. and Crandall Library are in the works.

Willow and Winter, as most of you know, both graduated from college last spring.  Willow is now doing a Student Conservation Association internship at Five Rivers Environmental Center in Delmar, outside Albany and playing lots of rugby.  Winter has moved back to New Paltz, living with her fiance in a house he bought and they totally refurbished.  She is working as a clerk for a town court, waitressing two nights a week, and running long distance.  They both have energy that amazes me.

The Adirondack Arts and Healing Retreat made great strides this year.  Its parent organization, Creative Healing Connections, became incorporated and applied for 501c3 nonprofit status.  We have a board of directors in place and received substantial grant funding from the Susan G. Komen and Rivendell Foundations, among others.  We currently offer 2 retreats a year in July and Sept.  If you’d like to participate or join the effort to reach out to women with cancer and chronic illness, please see our new website at www.creativehealingconnections.org.

I recently became a member of Folk Alley.  It is a website which streams folk music 24 hours a day.  I uploaded a few songs to their open mic page.  Next time you’re surfing, please check out www.folkalley.com. They’re supporting folk music, so I hope you’ll support them and listen to one of my songs while you’re there.  Thanks for your smiles, hugs, concert attendance, and overall graciousness.

Peace - Peggy