The Folk Song Society is very active and
has a large membership. They put on numerous events during the
year but my favorite are the two music camps, one in the fall,
and one in the spring. Last week I drove 8 hours south from New
Hampshire to attend my second "Fall Fling," in Green
Lane, Pennsylvania, a rural community north of Philadelphia. Camp
Green Lane consists of cabins and bunk houses, tennis courts,
dining hall, and lots of open space surrounded by trees. There's
plenty of room for lots of simultaneous workshops. I led a "Fiddling
for Beginners" workshop. There were two other workshops led
by others on old timey fiddling and string band music. Aside from
fiddling, there were classes on harmony, rounds, country songs,
celtic music, arabic music, tie dye, and much more.
The food was just about the best I've ever had at a folk music
camp. Everyone that attends is requested to spend time in the
kitchen, in food preparation, serving, or cleanup, and the personal
touch pays off. Every meal seemed to me to taste better than the
one preceeding it, and by Sunday brunch there were so many tasty
choices on the menu that I didn't even have room in my stomach
to sample the main selection, which consisted of a "custom
made omlet," with numerous do-it-yourself omlet work stations
ringing the dining room.
The late night jams were fun. There were certain designated "jam
cabins," and the early-to-bed types had quieter lodging available.
There is a tradition of an all night jam at a gazebo with bonfire
next to it. I made it to 3 AM with the music still going strong
despite the on-and-off rain. There was a Saturday night "open
mike," in the dining hall with lights, sound system, and
MC, followed by fresh pizza and more snacks. Musical tastes were
eclectic, ranging from celtic, swing, folk rock, blues, old timey,
to sing alongs. There was probably more singing than instrumental
music during the weekend. The only thing I missed was dancing.
There was very little, although there is more at the spring event
hosted by the same organization.
Fall Fling is family oriented, with lots of kids around. Some
of them participated in music and others enjoyed organized play
activities. The tie dye workshop was very popular and the entire
camp was festuned with tie dye creations drying in the sun. I
hope to be back again next year!