Oh My! It has taken *days* to even find words this year. This Labor Day Jonifest, as Wally predicted, was beyond all imagination. The amount of love, caring, and genuine community that was in abundance throughout the Fest was truly amazing and so incredibly special. I have many thoughts and wonderful memories: First, thank you from the very bottom of my heart to the "committee" that made it all possible: Maggie, my right-hand woman and Cordial Culinary Queen: You are the salt of the earth, and I am so blessed to have you as my dear friend. From the first moment I called to talk you into doing another Fest to the last dish that was dried, you were right there to organize the food and make sure that everyone had a stomach filled with wonderful delicacies. Thank you. Heather, Divine Diva of Decorations: Every year the nametags and hall decorations just get better and better. You are the most creative woman and it was AWESOME to have all the Joni-related touches, the "Blue" tablecloths, the "Roses" on the table, the Chinese lanterns, and much, much more. Thank you. Anne, Musical Mistress of Manipulating Melodic Modes: It was a great gift to have you join the worker bees this year. Your organizing of musicians for Saturday made everything go so smoothly. Thank you for your beautiful harmony. I really wanted to make this a short post, with perhaps a few highlights for me, but I find that each and every one of you touched me in such a deep way that, at the risk of this post droning on for waaaaay too long, (actually it will probably take and entire digest!) I must do what a FestMama has to do. In no particular order whatsoever: Sharon: I am SO glad you let me help you change your mind when you decided not to come to Jonifest! What a beautiful soul you are. Every time I looked up, there you were ready to help with whatever needed doing. I so appreciate everything you did, and especially the moral support before, during and after the Fest. Thank you. Stephen: It was so great to finally meet you and see what was no surprise: that you are a wonderful, sweet, (and handsome)! guy. It was great to spend time with you, and taste your delicious cooking! You can be my chef anytime at all! Thank you. John: Speaking of chefs, when Stephen is on his day off, you are on!! What an INCREDIBLE Friday lunch! You are so wonderful to bring cheese and chocolates from Holland to share with everyone at Jonifest. Thank you for your beautiful spirit, your amazing generosity, and the huge amount of love you exude at every moment. Claud: Your sweet, calming presence kept me sane throughout the weekend. Every time I started to go into "overwhelm mode" I just looked your way, and relaxed once again. Thanks for your MTV pics, your beautiful singing, and your warm smile. Mags and Brian: It is so joyful to see the two of you together, and so happy. Thanks for the potato salad, and may you make many more in your lifetime together. Mikie: You are AMAZING to bring all that shrimp to Topsfield! Everyone really loves it, (except me, of course!) and it is definitely a Labor Day tradition. Do you *really* think I would possibly have Jonifest without it???? ;-) Thanks Mikie, my honeybunch! Gregg: I've been listening to your CD's nonstop since Jonifest ended. Your sweet, sweet JT sounding voice just fills my soul. I don't know if you are aware, but I think every single person in that room fell in love with you the minute you got up on stage. Your enthusiasm and joy of music and performing, and your truly good heart was infectious! Thank you especially for the wonderful Millworker, and singing with me. Les Ross: You are my fairy godfather!! Almost the minute I asked for some things to be brought over from the UK, you had purchased them for me. I am SO excited about my Maddy CD!!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making me cry at your Amelia Sunday night. It touched me very deeply. Kerry: It was SO awesome to see you here after meeting you in Saskatoon. I'm so glad you took the plunge to come out here. Thank you for being my Saskatoon connection, and always having a smile on your face. Lori: FINALLY!!!!!! It took 4 years to get you here, but I'm so glad I didn't have to drive down to DC to drag you here this year, as I surely would have done. Just to let you know, my friend, there will never be another year that I will let you get away with staying home on Labor Day weekend. Thank you for your determination in getting here. Marcel: It was great to meet you in person, (even if you do make trouble with the New Orleans shrimp!) It was great to hear your music in person and meet Soizic. Thank you for your music and your willingness to turn around (and around!) 8 times in the same block to get here! Jim: I'm so glad you came this year. Thank you for all your help in lugging shrimp and other assorted things, (and peeling them!) driving such a distance to get here, and of course, taking great pictures of the event. Thanks also for the new percussion addition. Hell: I *still* can NOT believe you came all this way just to hang with a bunch of crazy Joni-lovers! It was AWESOME to have you here, and I hope you keep attending every year this crazy Ashara person has the Fest! Thanks for your wonderful hugs, and that very cool NZ accent! Patrick: Four Jonifests together, and many more adventures in New York, CT, and who knows where else? Thanks for always staying up until I go to sleep, and getting up to have breakfast with me. And thanks for always having a shoulder to cry on when I hear a Joni song that moves me to tears. Bob Muller: You are a bundle of energy!! I never saw you stop once. Thank you for helping to set up the hall, and most of all, being the best Master of Ceremonies we could ever hope for!! You are an amazing, generous guy, even though you are SOOOO irreverent!! LOL!!!!! Kay: So great that you finally made Jonifest after threatening to come for so long! Thank you for the beautiful music. I'm so glad I finally got a chance to hear you. Jody: It was wonderful to finally meet Scott of Scott and Jody. I'm thrilled that you and Scott found a wonderful house near me. I have lots of great plans to put you to work next year! LOL!! Thank you for all your help with the t-shirts. Steve and Pearl: I'm so glad you made it this year! It was wonderful to see the pictures of your daughter's wedding. Next year, I hope you play for us. Thank you for sharing your photos and coming back "home." Bob Murphy: What would I ever do without your incredible irreverent sense of humor and your grill-hauling, cooler bearing, trash collecting truck? Thank you for making me smile and lugging all the heavy stuff. Ric: It was a great joy to see you here in the mist of your very difficult situation. I hope your Joni gave you some much needed renewal. Thanks for all the great giveaway goodies! Donna: So glad you got your Texas Tush here to Topsfield. I loved hearing your accent. Thank you for suggesting that I drive Saturday night. Stephanie: You realize that you will never live down the "cult" joke. Next year, we will NOT let you leave the Jonifest cult, no matter how much you kick and scream! Thanks for being such a good sport. Pauline: How great that you found us, and only had to drive "around the corner" to get here! It was great to meet you. Thanks for making the effort to join us. Marilyn: How I loved seeing you up on stage this year! Thank you for letting us know ahead of time how we could meet your needs. It was a great joy to watch you sing up there. Susan: It was great to meet you on Thursday before the Fest, and have a chance to connect. Thank you so much for all the coffee, chips, tea, and other yummy stuff! Leslie: I was so touched by you and Steve doing the Dawntreader for Maggie. Awesome! Thanks so much for the Map of the World, and the Martinelli's. Steve M: I'm so glad you made it again. Your mandolin playing adds so much to the overall music. Thanks so much for very cool mandolin lesson. You are a patient and gracious teacher. Wally: Your warm and generous personality is always a highlight for me. You are so respectful and helpful with everything that needs to be done, and I truly appreciate that. Thank you for bringing the very cool seed necklaces for us. Jimmy: Your antics all through the many weeks before Jonifest helped to keep me sane. You are such a warmhearted wonderful man. Thank you for being so gracious this year when you got kicked out of the big bed. ;-) Kakki: Another 4 year veteran! You are an awesome woman and it is so great to see you year after year. I hope those nasty mosquito reactions are calming down. Thank you for keeping the Martini tradition flowing. Willy the Shake: After hearing about your wild New York escapades, I never expected such a sweet, quiet and endearing man. What a gift to meet you. Thanks for making it here, and the truly beautiful card. Amy: My buddy and partner in crime: It was wonderful to not only have you return to Jonifest this year, but to fully take part, and even join the list! I've known you forever, and sung with you countless times, but I have never heard that side of you sing the way you sang at Jonifest. I am completely blown away. Thank you (and Gregg!) from the bottom of my heart for the absolutely *perfect* ending to Saturday. Chuckster: God, I am SOOOOOO glad you changed your mind and decided to attend after all. It was so great to have you sing with me. Thank you for "putting on a harmony." Russ: So great to finally meet you, and hear you play. Thank you so much for playing "Come Again Sweet Love" for me, and bringing back Madrigal memories. Nikki: SO cool to see you on stage this year!!!!!! YEEE HAAAAA!!!!!!!!! You go girl!!! Thank you for having the courage to step into the incredible woman you are. Rose: Wonderful photographer, and biggest JMDL cheerleader. Thank you for bringing the spirit of Nu Joisey to Topsfield! Steve: It was great to hear you play in person instead of on video. Thanks for livening the Jonifest this year with your short shorts and Ganja tunes!! ;-) Victor: Is there a song you don't know? A lyric you can't remember? Please let me know how you remember all that! Thank you for jumping in on flute for Eno Sa Grado. Yael: What a beautiful spirit you are. Thank you for driving all that way with Jim just to come here for the weekend. It was great to meet you. Jeff C: I love having the chance to see you again. Thank you for the beautiful book, and sharing of yourself. Chris: I'm so glad your car finally made it here. And even though you didn't set up the webcam early, it was a BLAST to see the videos you did manage to capture! Your bass playing was awesome. Thank you for being the techie guy, and I really look forward to seeing what's in store for next year. Catherine: I SO wish we could have spent more time together. I love your wit so much on the list, and really look forward to seeing you in Toronto. Thank you for the great lengths you went to to find Petco. :-) Kate: Your singing and guitar playing is so wonderful! I'm so glad it was easy to talk you and Jeff into coming. I enjoyed having you here so much. Thank you for the wonderful California avocados and Salsa. Yum! Jeff B: It was so delightful to have your harp playing, singing, and guitar playing this year. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for that beautiful song about your daughter. It touched me very deeply and I can't wait for the CD to come out! Sue: You FINALLY gave up on those silly little kids that expect you to be fresh and ready for the first day of school. I'm so glad! Thank you for the touch of Michigan you gave to me. Alison: Your high enthusiasm and party-girl attitude gave me the strength to stay up with the big guys this year. I have not gotten only 8 hours of sleep in 3 days for a VERY, VERY long time! Thank you for sharing your energy with me and letting me walk you down the aisle. Les: Without you, none of this would even have happened. I can't believe how it has grown and blossomed. Thank you for your vision and your humble work behind the scenes. And last and most importantly, my undying gratitude and love to Sal, the man who is behind me 100%, my rock, my love. Thank you Sal for everything. All my love to all of you, with LOTS of hugs, Ashara
