Thursday, April 07, 2011

Molasses Creek visits the Big Apple (and little apples too)



Hello followers of the Molasses Creek Tour!

When we last wrote, the band had landed in Delmar and was spending the week seeing the sights of the area. Marcy, Lou, Fiddler Dave, Amy Howard and Lachlan traveled in to New York City to get a taste of the Big Apple. Marcy and Lou traveled to Ellis Island to try and find details about the arrival of relatives to the United States, while Amy, Lachlan and David made their way from the Southern tip of Manhattan up to Central Park. Here are some pictures.


Lachlan at the Trinity Root at St. Paul's Chapel near Ground Zero




Construction at Ground Zero




Eating Chinese baked goodies in Chinatown


Indoor Ferriswheel at Toys R Us in Times Square


Lego Spaceman Spiff


Lego Statue of Liberty


Lego Empire State Building (and King Kong)


Worn out? Not yet! Waiting for the train. . .

Gerald Hampton's wife Beth flew in on Wednesday to spend a couple of days around Albany before she (and Amy and Lachlan) headed back south.

On Saturday, April 2, Molasses Creek drove North to Whallonsburg, NY near Essex for an afternoon family workshop and evening concert at the Grange Hall. The small town of Whallonsburg used to be a tiny industrial hub with several mills, a railroad depot, and a couple of hotels. When the railroad depot burned in a fire and was relocated two miles away, Whallonsburg fell into decline. Although situated on the western shore of the beautiful Lake Champlain, the region has met with economic challenges within recent times, but seemed to have a number of artists and creative folks coming back to the area to set up small organic farms, bicycle powered technology workshops, and to bask in the beauty of the rolling hills and mountains and gorgeous waters. Many thanks to Molasses Creek friend Mary-Nell Bockman for inviting us to the community. We had a great time and will definitely be heading back that way in the near future.


The Whallonsburg Grange Hall

One of the beautiful painted backdrops at the Grange

On Sunday, April 3 Molasses took the Plattsburgh ferry over to Vermont and drove to the Bee's Knees in Morrisville for a brunch concert before returning west (via the Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory) to Charlotte, VT to stay with Alison Newman.





I can never remember which one is Ben and which is Jerry. . .



Alison and her mother Susan Stuck are Ocracoke friends and neighbors.

Alison graciously welcomed the Molasses invasion and the band stayed overnight on Sunday before heading North to Montreal, Canada for a visit with another Ocracoke couple Serge and Genvieve Gracovetsky. Visitors to the Ocrafolk Festival may know Serge from his work and creation of the Ocracoke Jazz Society. The couple split their time between Ocracoke in the winter and Montreal in the summer.

Serge and Genvieve took the band to visit the old city, the underground, the Formula 1 track (where Gary got to drive!), and the Bio-Sphere, where Gary, Marcy, Lou and Gerald tried to find a proper habitat for Fiddler Dave. Although they failed in this quest, Gary did get a couple of nice looking new ears.









Caught Serge on Camera!



On Tuesday evening, Molasses Creek returned to Charlotte, VT and prepared for an early morning school residency in Bristol, VT.

Another couple originally from Ocracoke, Bertil and Alicia Kurth, have settled in Bristol and Alicia invited us to her elementary school on Wednesday for performances for the 3-5 grades and K-2 grades before teaching some Ocracoke square-dancing to the 4th graders. The kids were wonderful audiences, learning all about Ocracoke Island, music instruments, Blackbeard's history, and how to "wring their dishrag" during the promenade. At the end, Louie had 4th graders screaming and dancing to an imprompto Beatles song.

After school we did some sightseeing south of Middlebury College to visit the workshop where Bertil does his fine woodworking.

This evening we are heading in to Burlington for a concert at the Skinny Pancake. Look below for more upcoming concerts!

Who is this Character anyway?


58 TOUR SPONSORS AS OF 4/7/2011!


As of April 7 there are 58 folks who have signed on to be tour sponsors and help Molasses Creek travel along their way through New England. Each of the following folks have contributed $30 to help pay for tires, shocks, and the new roof carrier for the band. Come June each of them will receive a brand new Molasses Creek "Catharsis" album autographed from the band with many thanks. If you would to join their ranks, you can find out more information by clicking on the below image link.



Thanks again for everyone's support!


Your Molasses Creek crew!

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Molasses Creek 2011 Spring Tour Sponsors. Thanks for traveling with us! Yippee!!!


Douglas McLaughlin

Gregg Southard

Kati Wharton

Jane Stott

Ward Kelsey

David Masaitis

Mary Tribble

John and Emy Hinnant

Liz Saylor

Thomas McGivern

Vickie A. Pavlik

John and Dolores Gilbert
Rod Osborne

Kevin Driscoll

JoAnn & Walter Shaub

Deborah T. Leonard

Kathleen A. Weiss

Gary & Trisha L. Davis

Nora & Ed Pascht

Lisa Fitzgerald

Mike Sloan

Ed S Mann

Rev. Kelli Sorg

Roger Weller

Stewart Aly and Annie

John Smith

Heidi R. Bokesch

Dolores Winterstein

Jacques Patry

Steve Wright

Lisa Rauh

H. Nelson Bsitzel Jr.

Julie Archer

Jay D Myers

David Elkin

Bruce E. Smith

Jean Peterson

Jeanne McDougall

Thomas Poorman

Mark Cuddy

Virginia Hayes

Barbara Eames

Peggy Mull

Susan Dee

Alan Lewis

Bette & Patrick Tefft

Barbara Carr

Nancy Lynk

Charles and Nancy Scholes

Larry and Chrstine Deyss

Catherine McDonald

Edward Leslie

Linda Scarborough

Tom Duca and Catherine Seidenberg

Lauren Murphy
Celeste Breza

Timothy Good