Friday morning dawned too darn early--gulped down coffee, headed to the FARM breakfast only to find there wasn't anything set out--so we grabbed buffet tickets for the hotel restaurant, and started our meeting half an hour late (as did all regions). Normally, we're lucky to get half the room filled and use up most of our allotted time. This time, it was SRO, and we ran as long as we could till the next panel literally pushed us out the door. Consensus was that this fall's Gathering was the best ever and the only thing wrong with the hotel was the absence of communal dining--which we've fixed for 2010. Kept getting buttonholed in the hall by grateful FARM-goers (and potential attendees) who told me how wonderful FARM had become. We will definitely stay in Bolingbrook this year, and the consensus is that to maintain a good relationship with the hotel (mirroring FAI's with the Memphis Marriott) we'll probably meet there in 2011 as well, keeping it our home base for occasional forays every two or three years (starting in 2012) to a hotel in another Midwestern city that's an airline hub with good rail access: the Twin Cities, KC, St. Louis, Detroit/Ann Arbor, Cleveland, Cincinnati,etc.. The days of bucolic and primitive retreat centers located away from international airports and AMTRAK are over......unless we want to have an interim folk retreat during the year, sort of the Folk Alliance equivalent of a science fiction "relaxicon:" no showcasing, no pressure, no business or adminstrative meetings, just good clean informal fun and music.
Off the hook as a no-longer-Regional-Leader, I rested up and skipped lunch, and headed to a long but pleasant and productive Local 1000 EB meeting, breaking for Shabbat services in Cynthia & Dick's room. Joining us were Chico Schwall and Mara Levine. It felt like family...it felt like home. Same prayers (synthesis of Gates of Prayer and the newer Mishkan Tefillah), different "niguns" (melodies--every congregation or region seems to have its own except for the major hymns). I don't attend temple often enough, but I felt so at home and among a new family who felt as if I've known them forever. I still didn't quite feel up to real dinner, so I ordered another bowl of soup from room service, watched some politics and Olympics and dozed off, so I went back to rest up for the Local 1000 Showcase-Free-Zone song circles. Meanwhile, Steve had taken the car in to a GM dealership to determine the extent of unseen damage--and all there was were one cut and one off-kilter tire. Not bad--and with new tires, the car was better than even before we'd left Chicago. I made it into the SFZ room with no voice but a guitar and dulcimer--croaked out "The Dream Deferred" a step-and-a-half low, and skipped a verse, but still did okay. Went to bed knowing I had a full day of meetings and performance ahead.
Up early for the remainder of the L1K EB meeting--had a granola bar, DayQuil and a quart of hot herb tea and honey for lunch & dinner. Broke in time to rehearse with Steve for our 2 pm Parkington House showcase--again, though the audience was small at first, our energy level and ensemble vibe brought people in and we got a gig offer (and, we hope, entertained our hostess). Then on to set up for the L1K membership meeting--which was warm and enjoyable. Next, to Cynthia & Dick's room for Havdala service--the ceremony marking the end of Shabbat, almost always held at home rather than in temple. Again, I don't think I'd ever felt as at home at a Folk Alliance as I did with the Roths. Chico joined us at the conclusion. I begged off a repeat fried chicken dinner, as it was the first evening I had enough appetite to handle a full dinner and Steve had been craving our annual trip for ribs at the Rendezvous. Acting first upon advice to try Tops instead, we arrived at the branch across from the Medical Center only to find they served only pulled pork and burgers--no ribs. So we cabbed it back to the Rendezvous--during our wait for a table, we ran into a family from Northbrook, who'll be coming to our Newport Coffee gig this May. Small world! And the ribs? Oooohhhh my...........there's a reason why Food Network, who employs the Neelys (who run a competing joint) had its panel of critics rate the Rendezvous as the best. Hey, how can you go wrong at a place referenced in a John Hiatt song? ("Memphis in the Meantime," if you're keeping score).
Back to the hotel. I'd not been comfy with my voice at the L1K meeting closing song--I think my vocal energy'd been spent giving my all at the Parkington House showcase earlier in the day. Steve and I both had writing and blogging to catch up on too, and the semi-open writer's round in Kari Estrin's room had a line stretching out the door and down the hall. I drifted off during the Olympics and was awakened by a call that our presence was requested at a writers' round in the Roths' room. We hightailed it up there and I did "Dad's Harmonica." We then sat through a delightful set from Canadian Kerry Katherine, and then the closer from the inimitable Andy Cohen. Though he is a "blues" player, it is impossible to feel anything short of energy and exultation after one of Andy's sets. No way were we about to fall asleep. (Heck, he can spin his Gibson in the air mid-run--take THAT, Los Lonely Boys!--and not miss a note). We said our heartfelt good-byes to the Roths, who were leaving for north Texas in only a few hours and headed off to sleep (which did not happen till close to 5 am, since the Andy-Cohen-induced musical high took that long to wear off).