Our final two Lancaster Festival performances for 2010 were on Friday, July 30. First we played at Olivedale at 1:00. There was a great crowd! The highlight of that concert had to be when Cindy’s limberjack, Herbie, danced his leg right off! It was hilarious, but I think you probably had to be there. A slide show of it is on our Facebook Fan page.  Check it out!   We then had to make a quick trip to Reflections for a 3:00 concert. Reflections is like a home to us. Cindy is the Life Enrichment Coordinator there, so we play there frequently. They were also generous enough to allow us to use one of their model apartments as a home base for the week. It was a great day with two fabulous concerts! We’re tired, but happy!

Many thanks to our friend Martha Riggins who came and took pictures. See them here!

Next we played at Primose Retirement Community.  What a lovely facility!  We played in an area of their dining hall that was painted to make it look like you were dining on a patio in a quaint Italian village.  The ceiling was even painted like the sky.  The acoustics were great because of the lower ceiling.  There was a huge crowd of both residents and community people who came in for the concert.  The were a fabulous audience – you should have heard them yodeling!!!!

Today (Thursday) we started out at the Fairfield Center for Disabilities. They were a very fun audience – very interested in our instruments and the stories behind our music.  They gave us an “A+” and a thumbs up to the newest song in our repertoire, our arrangement of Thomas Moore’s “The Meeting of the Waters.”  A definite “keeper.”  We were invited back to play a Christmas party for them and will really be looking forward to that!

Our second stop today was Sterling House Assisted Living Residence – another packed house of both residents and community members.  We were very well received there as well!  We’ve met a lot of people, made new connections, and visited with old friends this week.  It has been great!!

Tomorrow (Friday, July 30) we’ll be at Olivedale at 1:00pm and Reflections at 3:00. Stop and see us if you’re in Lancaster!!

A special shout-out to band member Craig Markley.  Evening Rose recorded our “Christmas Rose” CD at Craig’s Lone Raven Studios. Musician friends, if you find yourselves looking for a recording studio, we can’t say enough about Craig.  He is incredibly patient and knowledgeable.  He put us at ease and we were 100% confident in his abilities – and thrilled with the results.

Please keep Cindy and Yvonne’s family in your prayers.

Evening Rose

The Lancaster Festival’s “Festival Fair Day” was a huge success.  It was incredibly HOT, but they still had a decent crowd.

Evening Rose performed on the stage at 10:45 to a very receptive audience.  Our set list included some of our traditional Celtic favorites, such as Sweeney’s Reel, Art O’Keefe’s Slide, the yodeling song “She Slide Down The Mountain” and the beautiful “Wild Mountain Thyme.”  We introduced a few tunes that are new to our repertoire, including “Song of the Chanter,”  “The Little Beggerman,” and “Whiskey in the Jar” – with the American fiddle tune “Whiskey Before Breakfast” embedded as an interlude.

The afternoon consisted of jamming with some old and new friends and some great mountain dulcimer workshops.  We introduced the dulcimer to quite a few folks of all ages.  Click here to view the photos.

Many thanks to Eleanor Hood and the Lancaster Festival organizers for having us back at the Festival Fair Day!

Many activities are available through the day for folks of all ages.  There will be coloring contests, a juggling show, an interactive Rainforest show, and of course, a great line-up of music!

The entertainment stage features the Standing Stone Strings and Things dulcimer club at 9:45, Evening Rose at 10:45, Mustard’s Retreat at 11:30, the Adelphi Band at 1:15, and Matt Jergen’s Stage Show at 2:15.

In addition to our concert at 10:45, Evening Rose will be offering dulcimer workshops in the afternoon.  Instruments are available for your use.  We’ll be jamming all day too, so come out and join us!

For more information on Festival Fair Day, see the article from the Lancaster-Eagle Gazette or visit The Lancaster Festival’s website.

Hope to see you there!!

Next Saturday, July 24, is the Lancaster Festival Family Fair Day!  We take the stage at 10:45 and will also offer dulcimer and bodhran lessons on “the porch” throughout the day.   We have plenty of loaner instruments, and the cost is all covered in the $5.00 admittance ticket (kids are free) so come out and join us!

The cabin was beautiful – here is a picture of a deer right outside the window.  She is camouflaged – can you find her?

Many thanks to Father Pete for putting us up for the weekend!

Our performance times/locations are as follows:

Saturday, July 24, 2010  Festival Fair Day, Fairfield County Fairgrounds – 10:45 Concert; dulcimer demo lessons and jamming throughout the day on the “front porch.”  Festival Fair Day admission is $5.00 for adults and free for kids!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010   10:30 am  Fairfield County District Library, Amanda Branch; 2:00  Primrose Retirement Community

Thursday, July 29, 2010  10:30 am Fairfield Center for Disabilities; 3:00 pm  Sterling House

Friday, July 30, 2010 1:00 pm Olivedale Senior Center; 3:00  Reflections