As I sit here, exhausted but excited, seeing the festival brought to a successful conclusion, I have to remind myself that less than 2 weeks from now, we'll be enjoying a wonderful coffeehouse with headliner John Flynn.

John actually lives in Delaware - he grew up in Philadelphia, and after a songwriting stint in Nashville, returned to the area but in Northern Delaware.

John graced our Festival stage three years ago (can it really be that long ago?), where along with a lot of other passionate songs, I'm pretty sure he played a new song called "Dover", inspired by a man who sued to have photos released of the coffins coming back into Dover Air Force Base.

The body count had only recently acquired a comma, and most people were still believing the rhetoric that the major operations were complete, and that if you didn't support the war, you were unAmerican.

Earlier this year, I was coming home from dropping off my son at school in the morning, and I had to turn the radio up. They were playing John Flynn's song, "Dover" on the Clearchannel radio station in Dover, Delaware. As soon as I got home I ran to my computer and wrote John an email, asking him jokingly if he had "sold out", because a self-respecting folkie isn't usually heard on major corporate radio.

It turns out that someone at the radio station had heard the song on WXPN in Philadelphia, and got it put into "heavy rotation" on their local stations.

John has quite a repertoire beyond that one song. He has 2 award winning CDs of kids songs, and 4 other CDs with songs that are on various topics, but always manage to be inspirational without being sappy.

Next April he'll embark on a train journey with his friends Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson, and joined by Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Vince Gill and others - it's called the Green Train, and it aims to improve visibility of environmental causes around the world.

It all starts at 7:30 pm, October 18, in the Wesley College Chapel, corner of Division and N. Bradford, in Dover. Admission will be $12 for members and $15 for non-members. Students are half-price, and ages 12 and under are free. We’ll have plenty of hot coffee, cool drinks, and sweet snacks. Come out, bring a friend, and see it happen.

-- Beth Fizell, DEFF Board Chair

As you look toward the holidays and plan on what 2009 will bring us, it's time to renew your membership in the Delaware Friends of Folk.

It's one of the greatest bargains out there - just $10 for an individual, and $15 for a family membership. Membership Benefits

• Discounted admission to Coffeehouses
• Discounted admission to our Annual Folk Festival
• Monthly newsletter with Friends of Folk news and area musical happenings
• Invitation to exclusive Members-Only events like our annual "Pick-N-ic" in the summer, annual membership meeting in December
• Ability to vote at our annual membership meeting each December
• The joy of being part of a great organization that supports folk music in Delaware!

Remember, we are a real live 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. That means that your donations to Delaware Friends of Folk are likely tax deductible, but we know you’ll check with the experts before trying to rip off Uncle Sam. We are beginning to work in a few other directions, like sponsoring workshops and perhaps other educational efforts. Got a few extra dollars? Got some ideas on how we might use them? Let us know.

When you join the Delaware Friends of Folk, we give you several membership options, some of which combine an element of philanthropy. We have

You can also choose to add a donation to your membership renewal. All Donations will be acknowledged in our Newsletter and in the program for our next annual Folk Festival.

Thank you for supporting independent Folk Music on Delmarva!

We'd like to now thank those who have supported the organization over the past year in this way:

Silver Support of Friends of Folk:
-- Mark Cyr

Bronze Supporter of Friends of Folk:
-- Dan Beck
-- Linda Hardman

Friend of Friends of Folk:
-- Marsha Mills
-- Paul Esposito
-- Alan & Kae Mason

-- Beth Fizell, DEFF Board Chair

The volunteers who made this all happen deserve a bow and a tip of the hat. They did a wonderful job preparing the site, arranging for entertainment, preparing backstage food for the artists, running the DeFF concessions, ensuring tickets were sold, developing the program, obtaining publicity, photographing each and every artist, putting up signs, selling DeFF merchandise, managing security and parking, provide first aid, leading kids activities, coordinating the volunteer effort, staffing the gate, selling ads, ensuring top notch sound and lighting, cleaning up the site, selecting vendors, collecting food and funds for our charities, obtaining insurance, arranging for mosquito control, running the Folk Hero contest, and more. We had about 100 volunteers working to make our event the best and their work is sincerely appreciated.

Don’t forget that the festival staff appreciation party will be on October 25th beginning at noon. During this event, we will stow everything away for next year and enjoy the fall weather with good friends. Please bring a side dish to share with the group along with your favorite drinks. DFF will provide grilled chicken, plates, and utensils.

The last meeting for the 2008 Festival will be on Wednesday, November 5th beginning at 6:30 at Sheridan’s in downtown Smyrna. This meeting is designed to explore improvements for next year. We can’t sit back and relax for too long, however, since October 2 and 3, 2009 will be here before we know it. In fact, the first 2009 festival meeting will be on Wednesday, March 4, 2009. I hope you will join us and become part of the organizing team that makes the Delmarva Folk Festival magic happen.