First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.....

Mountain Jam IV, Baby! (May 30 - June 1) Great work experience, good friends (old and new) and amazing music all add up to another incredible weekend. A nice change from previous years was the relative lack of rain! (we had only a smattering on Saturday). Be sure to check the festival website for the line up, and the Mountain Jam Blog has all kinds of musical highlights.

I suppose I should have expected to see folks I knew, as Hunter Mountain is really close to home, but I saw people from all over my life! Folks from Camp Winamac days, SUNY Cobleskill days, New Hampshire seacoast days, Bruce Hornsby land, the 5Rhythms(tm) dance floor, and a whole slew of folks from the Unbroken Chain Grateful Dead Symposium/devotees of the Phurst Church of Phun (for which you can find a description at the bottom of this page). Top this with the new folks I met and worked with.... that's a lot of good energy right there, to add to the mix of music and sun.

All the people I worked with at Mountain Jam were all really supportive of one another and seemed willing to give and receive input with an open mind. Everyone really wanted to work together to make it a great success. As for my work - I was assigned to the "Lost and Found" position. At first, this title gave me images of sitting in a room in some back hallway with a box of unwanted crap. Fortunately, I was WAY off base. The Lost and Found was in the main lodge, and was also the information booth. It was a perfect position for me. I got to mingle with the people, provide useful information, and best of all, I was able to reunite people with lost items while assuring others that they were earning huge karma points for bringing in found items. Some of the "reunions" were very emotional. One girl almost made me cry, she was so happy to have her bag back - we shared a good hug. As the weekend went along, the booth became more and more chaotic, but we were able to keep it organized and functioning. Funnily enough - on Sunday I had been scheduled to work "wrist bands", but after about 30 minutes in that job, Noel - the volunteer coordinator - came in with a slightly panicked look on his face and said, "Can we have you in lost and found??? We really need you there." It made me feel good to know that he felt I had handled the position well, and I was more than happy to go "home" to my post. I liked being there, and I think folks liked seeing me there. Throughout the weekend, people took the time to stop me when I wasn't on duty, to express thanks or just say "hi" as if we were all old friends... it was very warm and fuzzy for me. I'd have happily stayed there the entire time if not for the fact that I wanted to actually see the music!

Speaking of Noel - he and Lisa, who were my primary "point" people, were great to work with. I marvel at the amount of work that Noel must have put into coordinating all the volunteers and making the program run smoothly. I wonder if he had any sleep at all over the course of the weekend. Lisa... well, she was all that and a bag of chips! Any time I had a problem I couldn't address personally, she was right there to take care of it. I know the VIPs w/parking pass issues appreciated her.... of course, I was really hoping she would have needed my help in driving Michael Franti to the airport! (note: a touch of jealousy there).

Aahhhh..... Michael Franti.... This was the first time I had ever seen him perform and yes, the man is a performer. He knows how to work the crowd. He uses a lot of "shtick" for that, which doesn't really move me, but what did move me was his expression of heart. He really connects with the audience. His music is about love, perseverance, belief, and goodness. This appeals to me greatly. I liked that he had an ASL interpreter on stage with him for one song, signing the line "Everyone deserves music, sweet music" over and over again. For another song he invited a gentleman on stage to play sax as an expression to his young daughter who had recently died of cancer. His own son, having just left home to move to NYC, surprised him by showing up at the festival and Michael was completely psyched about it. He insisted his son come on stage with him and you could see the bond there. It was pretty beautiful. I probably enjoyed Levon Helm's set more than any other. So many were so good - but there was just something about the energy, the time of day, the music - it all lined up perfectly for me during his set.

The real high point of the weekend for me was, of course, the Rex Jam. This was my first Rex Jam and I think that, all things considered, it went really well. The Rex Foundation has a program called the Rex Community Caravan to help inspire people to be part of the philanthropic endeavors that were started by the Grateful Dead, when they created the Rex Foundation in 1983. I was in charge of the entire Jam at this festival and it was an amazing experience. I organized a crew of volunteers (Thanks to Mollie, Joey, Debi, Jonny Wa, Sam, Susan & Matthew, Ann Marie, Jennifer and Erica!) to help me carry out the collection of funds that went to support the Family of Woodstock. Michael Pillot, who was in charge of the Awareness Village, was my contact for the event and he was just great. Easy to work with - and an all around nice guy - he was a tremendous support. So, Michael, if you're reading - thanks!

The rush came when I, (the shy, demure wallflower you know me to be), stood on the same stage where Govt Mule, Michael Franti, Ratdog, Levon Helm and a ton of great musicians were playing that weekend and gave an appeal to the seven or eight thousand people assembled in front of me. The people I spoke with afterwards told me I did a great job and marvelled at how I seemed so poised and comfortable up there. I have much gratitude for the 5Rhythms(tm) practice, which helped me dance through my nervousness before I went up there. I have spoken in front of people before, and have always been pretty comfortable "performing" - whether it has been for a teaching evaluation, playing at open mics, doing PR for Easter Seal, or whatever - I never really get too nervous. But this was a LOT of people! I just kept reminding myself to speak slowly and clearly... (thanks to Jonny Wa and Lisa for their input). Michael Berg, the executive director of Family of Woodstock also spoke about his program. It was nice to not have to be up there entirely by myself. We raised a nice chunk of change for Family of Woodstock and I feel good about that. This one went well - the next one will be even better.

I've been fortunate that the first to festivals have been relatively small. On Sunday I leave for Bonnaroo and Telluride Bluegrass. Both of those are HUGE events. I'll let you know how things go as I can - I don't know that I will be able to bring my computer with me as I'm camping at Bonnaroo and don't have anyplace safe to leave the computer (unless I rent a car...which I'm trying to avoid if I can).

Until next time.... fest on!