"He walked out of the mist and saw a sight and heard a sound that reminded him of his past"

Nope... that isn't a passage from either a famous novel or even one of those romance ones.. Rather it was the feeling I got standing on stage looking and hearing and playing music that hasn't seen the light of day OR night in over 18 years. The emotions ranged from overjoyed to "what the heck was THAT?" musically speaking that is.

Bill and Cathy bravely opened their home to us... and set up for a great afternoon and evening of family friends and fooling around!!

Below are a few pictures that tell the tale... or scare the bejeebers out of ya!!

The farm on the Arkona Road was ready to rock. The people had gathered to witness one of two things... Either history in the making OR the biggest disaster since the Titanic! LOL

We got the gear set up and started to pick off the easiest songs that we had practiced the week before. We are from the left... Ross, Sylvia, Bill and Dennis... Maple Sugar comes back to life like the Phoenix of old...

Ross or "Rosco" as we liked to call him kept us on our toes with some great tunes including his fav... Fox on the Run... NOT.. anway the guitar work was sounding fine... the voice was pure Ross!

Now when I was standing over in my corner and listened to Sylvia sing I swear the clock hadn't moved a second. Her voice still had a lot of the power and those same little nuances that I remember and hear in the album. Was she practicing or something?? ;)

Now here is another guy who spent a lot of time practicing... Bill had that drum kit humming and fired off some songs that I had long gone forgot that he did. All that and being a great host too! Cool!

Then there was me hanging out at the end of the line faking it all the way! It was a weird sensation playing songs that I thought had been lost to another place and time only to find out that a lot of them were simmering just under the surface. I am still grinning. .

Peter sits back and makes sure we all are sounding right or comes to the rescue when things go amuck. He is an integral part of the group through the years.!

This is a picture of two trouble makers!!! LOL put a fire cracker in their hands and make sure you keep your eye on them! A sneaky pair. of course it is Sylvia's hubby Gary and Ross's better half Judy. As for my better half... Arlene was on the other side of these pictures... and Bills better half Cathy was just moving so fast that she missed gettomg a pic taken.

The playing headed off into the night... the lights came on and shed a neet glow over things. By the way it is very hard to hold a camera still without a tripod!

Once the darkness came the camera got put away and we enjoyed the rest of a set and them sat back for some fireworks... lots of fun watching them go off and the kids with their sparklers. Of course the antics of Judy and Ross and Gary with those fire crackers was worth the price of admission! We played one last set... well I should say we attempted to play and then called it a night. We could have called that last set a lot for other words but instead quit while we were behind! Got to thank Bill and Cathy for putting on a fantastic afternoon and evening for the July long weekend. Arlene, the kids and myself really enjoyed ourselves. I am sure the rest of the people there did too. Mind you with my poor eyesight I wouldn't be able to tell if they were cringing or not! ;) Being allowed o play again was a release of some pent up pressure and I feel great now. the fingers are a bit tender yet. The door to the past was opened and the mist has cleared somewhat. It was a wonderful trip down memory lane with some great friends who till recently had been as lost as the music but now are as close as ever. fun party and cool music Later Dennis

© 2004 Dennis Ische