It’s been a great year for our 2006 coffee house series, from Ronny Cox in January to Robert Hazard in November. In between we had the likes of Travis Wetzel, Vickie Russell, Tim Harrison, Stephen diJoseph, Celtic Harvest, Chris English, open mics, and sadly, one of the last performances by Fitzgerald and Beach. We look forward to 2007, with planned performances from blues legend Roy Book Binder, Philadelphian Christine Havrilla, and Dover native Shawn Qaisaunnee already scheduled.

This month’s coffee house is our annual Christmas holiday coffee house. And, in our never-ending quest to try different things, we’re combining the coffee house with the annual membership meeting. It’s an attempt to allow more folks to participate in things by only scheduling one event during this busy time of the year.

The annual membership meeting is the best of many chances you have to tell us how we’re doing and to suggest changes, and elect members to the Board of Directors. The annual meeting will begin at 6:30 pm, December 16, in the Wesley College Chapel, corner of Bradford & Division Streets in Dover. The meeting is open to all, but only 2006 members of Delaware Friends of Folk are eligible to vote or to be a candidate for a seat on the Board. Those elections are the major event at the meeting, and this year we will have six of the nine Board seats open. Nominations (self or someone else) should be submitted to the Board Secretary, Jan Crumpley (jan@flutecake.com) by December 14 if they are to appear on the printed ballot. We will also accept nominations from the floor during the meeting, but those will be for “write-in” candidates only.

The other activities will include the distribution of my “annual report”, discussion of the report, and conversations on anything that any member would like to bring up about Delaware Friends of Folk. We will have some “finger food” and lite fare and ask that you bring some dessert things to share during the meeting and the coffee house. Alcoholic beverages will not be available and are not welcome at this event, mainly due to our meeting in the Chapel instead of the usual pub.

Then at 7:30 the real fun begins with the open mic portion of the evening. Jim McGiffin will serve as the host for the night. Jim has been hanging around the FoF scene since the beginning, though he doesn’t seem nearly that old. He is an active member of our Board, taking charge of all of our marketing and publicity efforts and really doing a great job in letting the public know what we’re doing. He’s also one of the best bass players in the state, does more than a fair job on guitar, and even dares to pluck the tenor banjo on occasion. He sings well, writes great songs, helps the poor and downtrodden, does windows, and is NOT available. He usually appears with his lovely wife Kathy, but this time it’s a more-or-less solo show.

Jim will open the evening with a few songs, and then turn the stage over to the “volunteers” for the evening. Everyone will get 15 minutes or so to perform seasonal music, non-seasonal music, poetry, non-poetry, or whatever. If you want to perform, it’s suggested that you get there early and sign up. The open mic coffee house has become a popular part of what we do and we have had to turn away performers because we just don’t have enough time for everyone to get on stage. Jim will end the evening with a few more songs and then send us into the chill of a mid-December evening.

It all starts on December 16 with the annual membership meeting at 6:30, and then the musical performances beginning at 7:30. Please bring some sort of dessert or munchie to share and, more importantly, bring some non-perishable food items to donate to help Delaware Food Bank help those who are hungry in Delaware. Come on out and bring a friend. It’s the only thing like it in Dover.

-- John Kidd, DEFF President

Membership in the Delaware Friends of Folk is on an annual basis, and it's now time to renew your membership for 2007. You don't get too many bargains quite like this: For just $10 (individual) or $15 (family), you get discounted admission to all of our coffeehouses and our annual Festival, invitations to special "members only" events, including our annual membership meeting where you can vote for our Board of Directors. And there's more - now you can also join the Dover Federal Credit Union when you're a member of the Friends of Folk. Join or renew your membership today!

As of now, we will have elections for six seats on our Board of Directors. The election will be held at the annual membership meeting in December. There are five regular positions open, and one to fill the final year of Pauline Gonzalez-Diehl’s term. Pauline was our Festival co-chair this year and did a marvelous job of keeping things on course and on time. But her day job has changed and she will be unable to continue in her role with us, so her board seat is open too.

AND we need a Festival Chair, but that’s a volunteer position. Please consider running for a seat on our Board. Requirements include membership in Friends of Folk, attendance at Board meetings (usually the 1st Wednesday of each month), imagination, good ideas, an email address (very helpful, but not an absolute requirement), and the willingness to do many things on behalf of Friends of Folk.

The incumbent Board Members who are running: Bob Hamel, Beth Fizell, Kelly Crumpley, John Kidd, Walter Trifari.

This is a good time to thank everyone who helped make the coffee house a success this year. Wesley College found us a place to have our coffee house after we were asked to move from the Underground. Deloy Moore and Mike Hastings have made the sound as good as it can be, assisted on occasion by Paul Gumerman and Tad Jones. Zeke and Mary Zeller, Jan and Kelly Crumpley, and Clarence Brackin have been regulars making coffee, selling refreshments, and in general presenting a pretty face to greet you at our events. Lots of others have helped set up and take down the room, including Beth Fizell, Rob Deihl and his wife Pauline, Lonnie Field, and my wonderfully tolerant wife Mel. There are probably others who have carried chairs, moved tables, and performed other valuable services, and they get a big THANK YOU too, though their names are not engraved anywhere. But all of these folks, along with our wonderful performers, have been the ones responsible for making the coffee house happen. It wouldn’t be the same without their willing hands.

A new benefit for membership in the Delaware Friends of Folk has now been launched. Starting now, Delaware Friends of Folk members are eligible to become a member in the Dover Federal Credit Union. This means you can get all the great benefits of a credit union - great interest rates, low fees, personal service - that are only available to member organizations!

For more details on the benefits of Dover Federal Credit Union, see http://www.doverfcu.com/. There are 3 branches in Dover, 2 in New Castle, and one coming to Smyrna next year.

Believe it or not, we're already planning for next year's Delmarva Folk Festival. There are many exciting ideas that were surfaced at our "Wrap-Up" meeting on November 1 - more on that at a later date. We can share with you the schedule for nominations for performers for the 2007 Festival, which is planned for the first weekend in October, as usual.

Prospective performers can apply by sending a demo / press kit / CD to the Friends of Folk post office box. We also have a form that we have posted on this page: http://www.delfolk.org/contactForm.html, which gives us a consistent way to capture contact information, genre information, and required fees from performers. If you are a fan of a performer that you'd like to see considered, I'd recommend you contact the performer or their agent and direct them to our web site, so that they can provide the required information.

As promised, here is the schedule:

January 15 - the absolute deadline for festival submissions. (Given that this is Martin Luther King Day, we'll make one final stop to the mailbox on the 16th).

March 15 - we should have the selection process complete and performers notified by this date.

If you have other ideas for the festival, I suggest you show up at the first Festival meeting, which will be held on the first Wednesday of February 2007. If you'd like to volunteer to chair the Festival committee, then please contact one of the board members.