HEART OF JOY FOLKSCHOOL: Living History Folkshop A Success!

 Heart Of Joy Folkschool is officially launched, as of October 17-18, 2008, with our first event - a living local history-based folkshop, held at the Outdoor Education Center in Glen Helen, the nature preserve adjacent to the village of Yellow Springs, Ohio.

A group of us had been planning the event for months, talking about what a folkschool is, or can be; talking about the history of the folkschool movement; talking about elders and multiculturalism, simplicity, community harmony, and the importance of elders.

All of these discussions found expression through the folkshop, in one way or another. Friday evening we opened with a three-part program of "theatrics:" Kay Reimers' audience-involvement scene based on the mid-19th century controversy over whether the brand-new village should allow a railroad station or not. We, the modern Yellow Springers, had a ball reading our lines in turn, and hearing typical Yellow Springs town-meeting dialogue coming out of characters more than a century old. Kay has a great ear for dialogue. Robin Jordan Henry, descendant of freed slaves who settled in Yellow Springs, gave a dramatic reading based on family stories of her ancestors' escape from slavery. There's quite a tradition of abolitionists and underground railroad safe homes in this Quaker-values village, and so Robin's reading meant a great deal to her audience. For the third theatrical we traipsed out into the dark, led by flashlights, to sit on wooden benches before a theater wagon, to watch Bill and Phillipa Gay and their assistant, "California," perform an authentic old-time Medicine Show. We loved it, and we all sang along on the choruses of familiar old tunes and listened to the deadly symptoms of various diseases and the spiels touting the even deadlier-appearing cure-all nostrums.

After everyone left Friday evening, I stayed a while to put the beans in to soak overnight, for the bean soup I'd be making the next day. I was back at the O.E.C. by 8:30 a.m., cutting up carrots and celery, to add to the huge pot of simmering beans. As I cut and chopped, I sang and did a little yodeling (you'd be amazed at how much yodeling can help your cooking along); and in between I could hear the hum of friendly conversation from the quilters and weavers and knitters and our spinning lady.

By the time the bean soup was nearly ready, as judged by Jim Rose, our "living treasure" master puppeteer, it was time to get the cornbread put together. I threw in the towel on cooking it from scratch. I had buttermilk, eggs, and butter - so I sent my friend Marianne out to pick up cornbread mix. People were perfectly happy to keep doing what they were doing - needlework indoors; and outdoors, there were  several other activities: Bill Gay had trailered in a pair of draft horses and was grooming them, to get them ready for harnessing and driving; Joe was busy sawing boards and gluing and planing, making breadboards for us to serve the cornbread on at lunch; and Sarah had her paper-making operation set up and ready for demonstrations.

Finally I got the cornbread in the oven, with the batter poured into two incredibly huge oiled cast-iron skillets. Jim Rose helped me get them lifted and positioned. Marianne and her boyfriend, a lifelong farmer who decided to come to the folkshop because there were draft horses there, began to set the tables for lunch. We pushed several tables together so we could all sit down family style. Finally we were gathered, and holding hands, singing a little gratitude song before we ate. It was just right. Just as the theatrical had been just right, so was lunch, all together, just right.

After lunch there was dish-doing and so forth. Jim Rose and little Bonnie, 5 years old, began playing with Jim's marionettes, and we were all entranced for a good while. Smiles lit up the room, and lovely laughter from all of us just encouraged Jim and Bonnie to keep going. We nearly had a disaster when Bonnie stuffed the baby from Jim's PUNCH AND JUDY show into the crocodile's jaws....But we all remembered what Bonnie had kept saying: "They're ONLY puppets."

I got a chance to wander around and see what all the groups had been working on; to go outside and try my hand very briefly at driving a team of work horses; to visit with Sarah the papermaker, and Joe, the woodworker. The activities wound down for the afternoon at last, and there was some good quiet time. Then a dancer showed up, zucchini in hand, to add to the supper fare; and the Gays, who had taken the horses home, came back to load up the theater wagon onto its trailer, and to have some supper and then call the dancing. More musicians showed up-  Karl and Deborah Colon of CHANGELING, Joe Cook - jack of all trades and instruments, Bill Gay on the big bass fiddle, and me on recorder; and more dancers arrived. We had ourselves a lovely supper of leftover bean soup and cornbread, with zucchini on the side, and mulled cider to drink; and then we had ourselves a dance, and a lovely musical experience as well.

The event took place only a few days ago, and now people are asking when the next one is. I'd say that's a good sign.

NOTE: For more information about folkschools, you can go here.

And here's a newly-related blog: