DELAWARE FRIENDS OF FOLK
ANNUAL REPORT TO THE MEMBERSHIP
December 10, 2022
Dover, Delaware

SUMMARY:
❖ New Festival and coffee house sites.
❖ Membership is about ten more than last year (we need more).
❖ Finances are healthy, but somewhat lower than last year.
❖ Received nearly $5000 in grants during 2022.
❖ Over 40 acts and more than 100 performers during 2022.
❖ On-line presence has improved, and more changes are coming.
❖ Changes in Board leadership and membership are pending

I am pleased to offer the following report to you, our members. I am concluding my seventeenth year as Board Chair of Delaware Friends of Folk (FoF) and first want to thank the folks who make Delaware Friends of Folk work. We are an all-volunteer organization and our members and others who step forward deserve special mention. Though better than 2021, this year continued to be tough for everyone, artists and arts organizations included. Friends of Folk have been able to do much of what we did before the pandemic, largely because of our incredible members and volunteers. Thank you for all you do.
We found a new spot for the 31st annual Delmarva Folk Festival. It wasn’t the same as the original, but G & R Campground worked well enough. Our Old State House series continued, thanks to Kent County Fund for the Arts (KCFA) and the Delaware Division of Historic and Cultural Affairs (HCA). After 26 years at Wesley College, we moved to the Dover Art League (DAL) in January and have recently reached an agreement to continue for 2023. We have gotten together for nine of our pick-ins inside Blue Earl Brewing. And this evening we again gather for our annual membership meeting and Board elections.
Turning to a bit of business, the financial state of FoF is that we have about $9,400 in the bank, about $2500 less than we had at last year’s annual meeting. Much of that deficit comes from new fees for the Festival. About $3200 of our bank account is committed to grant- supported projects such as the Old State House series. Grants from the Delaware Division of the Arts (DDOA) and Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation (MAAF) continue to support us. For FY 2022, we received a total of $2000 in grants from DDOA. We received another generous grant of $2100 from KCFA supporting our 2022-23 Old State House concert series. MAAF promised $750 to support our presentation of Shafaat Khan at the 2022 Festival.
We presented ten coffeehouses at DAL, nine pick-ins at Blue Earl Brewing, six amazing concerts at the Old State House, and our 31st annual Delmarva Folk Festival at G & R Campground. That’s 26 times we offered this thing we call folk music to the residents of Delaware in 2022. Over the past few years, we have presented what may be the widest variety of music of any performing arts producer in Delaware. We’ve sponsored blues, bluegrass, Celtic, jazz, Cajun, singer-songwriters, gospel, old-time, Americana, jam bands, classical, Flamenco, choral, classical Indian, pop, parody, contemporary folk-rock, and just plain folk music. More than 20 of our own members were on one of three Friends of Folk stages. Over 40 different acts and over 100 different performers graced the Friends of Folk venues during
2022.

We have several important local partnerships. Through the early sponsorship of the HCA and First State Heritage Park (FSHP) and the continuing support of grants from the fine folks at KCFA, we continue to bring free music to our community in the form of the house concerts at the Old State House. We have three more of these planned for the 2nd Friday in January, February, and March 2023. Pre-Covid we often had 60 or more in this truly intimate setting, almost able to touch the performers, and usually with minimal or no sound system. Given its success, it is our intention to continue this partnership and we again express our thanks to FSHP, KCFA, and HCA.
We are concluding our 20th consecutive year as members of Folk Alliance International. This is a world-wide group of folk organizations, performers, presenters, sponsors, and individuals who share common interests and goals in the broad areas of folk music and dance. We became official “small organization” members in January 2003 and have continued supporting this well-respected organization. By joining, we maintain our IRS 501(c)(3) tax designation as a nonprofit organization. That makes us eligible for DDOA, KCFA, and MAAF grants.
We are an organization of nearly 80 dues-paying members, a few more than last year.Thanks to Mary Zeller and Lisa Sipple for getting our membership rolls in shape and thanks to our new and returning members. We are still beset by the perennial problem of small, all-volunteer groups—too much to do and not enough people to do it. We need more members, so if you know someone who was once a member, or someone who should be a member, please encourage them to sign up. We literally depend on you, our members, for everything. In 2020 we found it necessary to slightly increase our dues, but it remains a bargain: you’ll still need only $15 for one and $20 for a family. We probably don’t say it often enough but thank you for your continuing support.
A special “thank you” to your Board members, who have been busy as always. Lisa Sipple and Susan Donoghue took charge of the Festival and our Facebook presence. Rob Fox has kept careful track of our money for seventeen years now, and we appreciate his diligence and insight. As noted, Mary Zeller has successfully taken charge of our membership rolls. Susan also ran our 16th Delmarva Folk Heroes contest. Nate Jackson helped keep publicity and marketing on track, aided by Susan and John Donoghue, and a whole lot of others. Lonnie Field and his family again hosted our Festival volunteer appreciation party. It was good to be back there, and we thank them for their decades of support. A singular shout-out to Zeke and Mary Zeller who continue to go above and beyond both at the coffee house and the Festival. Volunteers like Mary and Zeke make this organization run.
Sadly, we lost singer-songwriter-teacher-world citizen and long-time supporter Jerry “Crabmeat” Thompson in 2021. He served on our Board for several years. His humor and ability to make the ordinary stand out brought him to the Festival, coffee house, and Old State House stages many times. His wonderful life was celebrated in August. We still miss him.
At the end of the year, we must have Board elections. This evening we will elect four folks to our Board of Directors and at least three of them will be new. Retiring from our board are Wes Field, Amy Lee, and Zeke Zeller. We thank them for their years of service. Being a Board member means different things to different people, but it’s always giving time and talent, stretching and being stretched, rewarding and being rewarded. You can do all of that without being a Board member too. Talk to any of us and we’ll welcome your energy and your help, especially if you have an interest in marketing and publicity.
Again, my thanks to everyone connected with this organization. It’s been a genuine pleasure working with everybody, and we all can look forward to a productive, successful, 2023.
John Kidd
Board Chair

John Kidd
Board Chair