Festival at Sandpoint shines with plenty of great music, moments
You read it here first … the Festival At Sandpoint ended the year in the black!
This year's FAS was the best I can recall. We had great weather — OK a little cool for Ronnie Milsap — and a solid lineup.
Dyno Wahl once again proved that pound for pound, she is the best executive director the FAS has ever had and probably the tops in the Pacific Northwest.
The highlights of the first week were covered very eloquently in last week's column. It bears noting the opening night pops concert was wonderful and the depth of talent we have in this region is amazing.
The week before the FAS started, Ryan Adams was far and away the most popular draw in pre-concert ticket sales. He also drew pretty well the night of the concert.
The only problem was … Ryan Adams never really, officially checked in at the Festival. His altered state was obvious to most and annoying to others.
Best joke of the night: "What does the Festival At Sandpoint tent and Ryan Adams have in common? They both, apparently, are on grass."
The night after Ryan and Company left Sandpoint to start an eight-city tour, the band broke up and Ryan checked into rehab, or make that a hospital, to treat an inner ear infection. His Web site says inner ear. My hunch goes back to the joke.
Adams reminded us all that the road to stardom isn't always without pain. It was obvious to most he has talent.
He could take a lesson from Ronnie Milsap. Milsap, who started his career with Elvis Presley, spent nearly an hour and a half recounting an epic musical career in front of an appreciative audience. The blind musician cracked the audience up with his humor and wowed the crowd with his talent and showmanship.
Milsap, in short, was everything Ryan Adams wasn't. He connected with the audience. He enjoyed being here. He performed.
Natalie MacMaster was a Celtic wonder and was a tremendous dancer even though she is six months pregnant. She was great at the Panida a few years back, she was awesome last week.
There's a certain magic that takes place at our Festival. It partially manifests itself in the fact that a little North Idaho town can put on a world class music festival. The technical and lighting portions of the Festival have always been top notch. There's also magic in attracting the legions of volunteers every year as well as finding sponsors.
This year there was a special electricity in the air every night. There was anticipation about the music. There was the joy of seeing friends and relatives. There was the "Oh my" of the activity along Festival Street and the sheer amazement that this venue is really just a dressed up football/soccer field.
Viva la Festival!
If you want to look into a person's soul, try handing out complimentary wine glasses at the Festival.
The premise is pretty simple: One free wine glass per person. Person samples wine. Person keeps the wine glass. I caught on pretty fast.
After a few minutes of passing out the complimentary wine glasses on Sunday, I soon found out people misunderstood the "one glass per person" rule and some were intent on making their entire stemware collection a showcase of this year's wine glass.
I'm pretty easy going about such things. Several of my counterparts were not.
By enforcing the "one glass per person" rule we forced fine, upstanding citizens to lie to us to get an extra glass or two. Here are a few of the best:
"No I haven't already picked up a glass, maybe my twin sister already came through."
"I need another glass because I can't put port into a glass that had been filled with red wine."
"My blind, deaf and mute grandmother can't make it over to the wine." I didn't ask what grandmother hoped to get out of the concert.
It was so funny for a while that Paul Krames, a fellow glass putter outer, was bringing people to me so they could repeat their excuses.
"Tell him that one," he would ask. "This is David Keyes and he will put your excuse in the paper."
The finale packed the field and put the Festival to bed for another year in grand style.
Spending some time with Judy Baird and some of the chamber folks gave me a few nuggets of knowledge.
This week, Judy will meet with writers from: Sunset Magazine, Lake Life, Premier Essentials, Travel America, www.gogolfandtravel.com, Cleveland Plain Dealer and Acura Style Magazine.
Stay tuned. The local public relations push is gearing up once again.
The chamber looking for volunteers to finish off the summer season. If you would like to know more about your town and your county, consider volunteering at the chamber office.
Call Judy at 263-2161.
Want to know more about the best yard/estate sale ever held in or around Sandpoint? Call 255-4802 to learn more about Sandpoint Rotary's HUGE yard sale to be held this Saturday. Watch the Bee for more details.
It looks like Wigley's is closed for good on Church Street. Anyone know why?
E-mail of the week:
I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalog: "No good in a bed, but fine against a wall." — Eleanor Roosevelt
Last week, I stated this woman was the ugliest woman I had ever seen. I have since been visited by her sister, and now wish to withdraw that statement. — Mark Twain
The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible. — George Burns
Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year. — Victor Borge
Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint. — Mark Twain
What would men be without women? Scarce, sir … mighty scarce. — Mark Twain
By all means, marry. ! If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher. — Socrates
I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury. — Groucho Marx
My wife has a slight impediment in her speech. Every now and then she stops to breathe. — Jimmy Durante
The male is a domestic animal which, if treated with firmness and kindness, can be trained to do most things. — Jilly Cooper
I have never hated a man enough to give his diamonds back. — Zsa Gabor
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat. — Alex Levine
Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first. — Mark Twain
My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying. — Ed Furgol
Money can't buy you happiness … but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery. — Spike Milligan
What's the use of happiness? It can't buy you money. — Henny Youngman
I am opposed to millionaires… but it would be dangerous to offer me the position. — Mark Twain
Until I was 13, I thought my name was shut up. — Joe Namath
Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life. — Herbert Henry Asquith
I don't feel old. I don't feel anything until noon. Then it's time for my nap. — Bob Hope
I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it. — W.C. Fields
We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its way through Congress. — Will Rogers
Don't worry about avoiding temptation … as you grow older, it will avoid you. — Winston Churchill
Maybe it's true that life begins at 50. but everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out. — Phyllis Diller
The cardiologist's diet: If it tastes good, spit it out. — Unknown
By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he's too old to go anywhere. — Billy Crystal
David Keyes is publisher of the Daily Bee. His column runs weekly.