Newsletter

From: George Otto <g_otto@comcast.net>

Sent: Sunday, November 10, 2019 9:49 PM

To: FPboard <fullboard@folkproject.org>

Subject: Newsletter Committee Report 2019-11

Newsletter Committee Report 2019-11

Things are proceeding as usual with the invaluable help of Kathi Caccavale, Pat Brangs, Liz Pagan, Bill Henderson, and Gary Pratt.

There has been more discussion about the right way to handle announcements in the newsletter regarding the passing of Folk Project members. In the November issue there was a special article written by two members of the Folk Project--Nancy Kelner and Liz Pagan--entitled "Remembering Jan Viehmah," which allowed for their personal memories of Jan to be shared. This article provides an example of another possible way to recognize those who have left us, an example upon which the board can reflect.

There was a lot of email over the past month about this issue, and rather than interrupt the production of the newsletter to respond to each and every email item, I decided to consolidate all my responses into a single summary report, as follows.

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Here Are Some (Hopefully Helpful) Clarifications to Recent Discussions About Newsletter Articles Regarding the Passing of Folk Project Members

1) Newsletter minutes in the newsletter are a summary and not the complete minutes

Please note that the minutes that appear in the newsletter are not intended to be a complete report of the minutes, they are merely a summary. The full minutes are filed by the Secretary in the Folk Project back office at sites.google.com/a/folkproject.org/backoffice, available for all FP members to read. The space allocated to the minutes in the newsletter is limited and is merely meant to cover only the most important events that happened at the meeting. Some months, maybe only 50% of the events discussed at the meeting are reported in the newsletter summary. The summary of the minutes is an unreliable way to communicate information to the FP membership. Better ways to communicate important information to the membership are through the FP newsletter, Constant Contact email, the FP website, and, of course, the official minutes themselves.

2) Committee board reports are not the same thing as submissions to the newsletter

I was somewhat confused when Evelyn sent out an email stating she had sent me requests three times to put notifications about the passing of members in the newsletter. When I went back to discover what happened, it turned out that the first two of these requests were just the posting of her committee's reports to the board and not newsletter submissions at all. The "third" request was sent to me directly but was unfortunately sent the day the November newsletter was being proofread and therefore too late to be acted on.

Note that if anyone wants to submit an article, please send it as it should appear in the newsletter to newsletter@folkproject.org by the 15th of the month. I always confirm the receipt of such submissions as they come in If you don't get a confirmation within a day or two after submission, please send it again. My backup email address is g_otto@comcast.net.

3) Discussion about how to communicate the passing of FP members and friends to the FP community has been ongoing for several months, without resolution

For the past two years, it has been the practice that notices about a member's passing be displayed with a black border in the Good of the Order section (something like the black-edged cards used with postal mail in earlier times). If there was additional information--such as a memorial service, concert, or dance to which members were invited--that might appear in a separate standalone article.

Recently this practice has been disrupted by two factors: the reluctance of Christine to include such notices in the GOTO section, and an increasing number of such notices. As a result, the question of how to handle these notices has been the subject of discussion at board meetings going back to July, with some board members supporting their inclusion in the newsletter and others objecting. We currently do not have a consensus about this matter.

In the September newsletter report to the board--where I apologized to Christine for putting a note about a member's passing in the GOTO section against her wishes--I suggested that a possible alternative would be to develop a separate "In Memoriam" section independent of the Good of the Order. This idea was supported by Mike Agranoff at the October meeting. At the same time, Nancy Kelner and Liz Pagan lobbied me to include an article they wrote called "Remembering Jan Viehman" in the next newsletter. They both insisted that not only would Jan have loved to see her name in the newsletter, she would have insisted upon it! So, as a test of the "In Memoriam" concept, their article was included in the November newsletter for the board to study and reflect upon.

Is this an article form the board will support going forward? Are there other forms that would be better suited to shorter notes. Or should we standardize on the simpler and shorter formal note "We note the passing of Folk Project member 'so-and-so'" that is used by other organizations?

4) Articles should generally be written by Folk Project members

Below are items about the passing of FP members that have appeared in the Good of the Order over the past two years. Note the perspective is from the point of view of a friend and Folk Project member. It is not recommended that such reports be written by family members of the deceased, who already have enough to worry about because of the passing of their loved ones and who might not know us all that well. I recommend that such notes be written for FP members by FP members.

Here are the notices:

The Project notes with sadness the passing of Man Mohan Sandi. Mohan and his wife Ev Simpson were Minstrel regulars for three decades and in the ‘90s warmly and graciously hosted our 4th of July parties and Evenings of Music in their beautiful Mt. Lakes home. Our hearts are with Evelyn and her family at the loss of this wonderful man.

We are also sad to note the passing of Roy Everett, who, for the past 22 years, has been the president of Albert Music Hall. Roy was a brilliant, accomplished, and truly sweet man who nurtured Albert Hall into the cultural institution that it is today. Donations may be made in Roy’s memory to Albert Hall, PO Box 657, Waretown NJ, 08758, and a tribute show will be held in the spring.

The Folk Project mourns the death of Andy Goessling, a beloved world-class multi-instrumentalist who graced the Minstrel and Getaway stages over the years as a solo artist, a member of the Shockenaw Mountain Boys (a subset of Railroad Earth), and as a collaborator with other performers. He’ll be remembered as a genuinely warm-hearted man who always had time to listen and talk to fans and friends, and for his disarming humor, and as a mentor to young musicians. Andy was a founding member of the Blue Sparks from Hell, Kings in Disguise, Secret Admirers, the hugely popular Railroad Earth, and played with countless other musicians. Andy is survived by his wife, Alison Boardman Goessling, who has been instrumental in training Minstrel staff to use the soundboard over the years.

Longtime Folk Project member Jim Rohe peacefully died on January 31, 2019. He succumbed to leukemia after living with it for more than a year. Jim will long be remembered for being a Story Teller and member of the wonderful Rohe Family Band. The complete obituary for Jim can be found at compassionatenj.com/tribute/details/52/James-Rohe/obituary.html.

Evelyn Mauer sadly shares the news of the passing of former Folk Project volunteer and friend, Bruce McAlpine. She recalls how Bruce was “a really sweet guy and a genuine “Sensitive New-Age Guy.

Nancy Kelner reports that long-time Folk Project member Jan Viehman has passed away in California. Jan was a cat lover, a singer-songwriter, and a talented quilter. She will be missed.

Lindsey Meyer notes the passing of Ron Renninger, saying that “he was a guitar player’s guitar player and a wonderful songwriter, a kind and caring soul with a playful sense of humor and language.

Sincerely,

George Otto

Folk Project Newsletter Editor

newsletter@folkproject.org