PLAIN FOLK by Les Pearson It's that time of year. The first semester is nearing its end. And, if Alberta Learning can do it, so can the Medicine Hat Folk Music Club! Here's our first public report card. Like Alberta Learning, it will focus on achievement and mastery, as well as areas for improvement. First, there are the all-important social skills. The Club gets a "B+" for making friends with the Medicine Hat Cultural Alliance, the Live Music Club, and Multicultural Folk Arts Council. This mark will be enhanced when organizational membership cheques are formally exchanged. (We promise it will be soon!) Additionally, the Club has proven its ability to play cooperatively with many classmates, especially Lyle Rebbeck and Stan Sakamoto. These senior music students get top marks for mentoring their junior peer. And now to the subject grades. The Bill Hilly Band all agreed on this one. The Club gets an "A+" for home economics thanks to Jane Bahnmiller’s vegetarian lasagna. It was one of many hits at last Friday's concert! Communication and Visual Arts merit an "A." Roxanne Denhollander (graphic artist) and Betty Stroh (advisor) have teamed up to produce outstanding posters for our events. Blaine Whitford and the Promotions Committee have blanketed the city and airwaves with news of our concerts. Donna Robinson (Secretary) has managed an effective e-mail telegraph to keep members informed of the Club's business and upcoming concerts. All deserve credit for a commendable PR campaign! Business and Accounting are other areas of achievement.
They rank an honest "A" for initiative and originality. David Gue (Ticket
Sales) has coordinated the marketing The Outstanding Citizenship Award goes to those tireless—and, for now, nameless—volunteers who set up venues, act as gracious hosts, collect tickets, and sell t-shirts, CD's and memberships. They do the work that makes our events work. We passed our first major test! The successful Bill Hilly Concert on November 22 was a confidence booster that every freshman craves. The crowd was smiling when they left. And the musicians—who we now know simply as "The Bills"—had compliments for the crowd and the Club. Their praise made hours of homework worthwhile. Now it's time to dream of Alberta Foundation grants and next year's program! We can even dare to dream of graduating to a summer folk festival after our senior year. But first, there's Harry Manx and our next test, appropriately, at Medicine Hat High School Theatre. Can we improve? You bet! Everything but Jane's Lasagna.
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