You Gotta Have HeART!

As the holidays arrive and the calendar year begins to wind down, the HeART and Health Program at the Mater Dei Nursing Home found its residents gearing up for a performance day with friends and family.  One of Appel Farm’s artists, Pauline Houston-McCall, has been conducting a music and songwriting program for a number of weeks now with the residents at Mater Dei.  Pauline incorporates music, singing, songwriting, and yes – even dancing – into her program.  What started out slowly and uncertainly, has blossomed into a weekly event that the residents really look forward to and are actively engaged in.  The staff also takes the time to stop by what is now called the “Hootenanny Cafe” which is less of a “place” and more of a “feeling” amongst those that participate.  There are no boundaries here – anything goes as long as people are having fun, singing along and doing what makes them feel good.  Under Pauline’s direction, the residents have been preparing for weeks to sing as a group, use movement to express themselves and feature solos and songwriters within Mater Dei.  For those who are unable to attend the group session, Pauline makes a special visit to share music with them at the bedside.

On Saturday, November 21st, the residents of Mater Dei commenced for a performance with friends and family highlighting the work they have accomplished over the last few months.  The event was kicked off by a DJ while the residents visited with their friends and family.  Pauline brought her husband to accompany her in showcasing the work of the residents.  All the participants were given shakers and tambourines to play along with the music as they sang and danced.  The Hootenanny Cafe was alive and kickin’ with group singing of a wide variety of songs, some of which were written as a group and some by individual residents of Mater Dei.  Dottie displayed her usual enthusiasm for getting out of her wheelchair and dancing as well as singing a duet with Paul.  Paul then entertained us with one of the songs that he wrote.  Family members also joined in.  For example, when handing out the shakers and tambourines, one family member went to his car to get his own tambourine and delighted everyone by having an impromptu jam session with the guitarists.  A great grandson also dazzled us with his dancing ability.  Finally, one of the residents, Mary, graced us with a song on her harmonica.

A staff member of Mater Dei told us, “I have observed this program on several occasions.  Pauline is amazing!  She addresses each of the residents by name and knows exactly what portion of her program appeals to individual residents.  I have seen the quietest resident respond to Pauline.  There is a great deal of singing, dancing, clapping and participation.  Most importantly, all the residents smile!  This program is a God-send and Pauline is an angel!”

By Ann Mokris, HeART and Health Coordinator

Solar, baby, solar!

Solar, baby, Solar!!!

Kermit the frog not-with-standing, it IS easy being Green!!!  We are thrilled that in a matter of a few months, Appel Farm will have its very own solar array that will reduce it’s energy emissions by over 50%!!

This is so exciting for all of us at Appel Farm because incorporating solar energy at our facility is a responsible and important step in our commitment to environmental stewardship and preservation.

Having a solar array will be a wonderful opportunity for our GREEN Corps (Get Ready for Environmental Education Now) campers to learn about photovoltaic systems and how easy it is to incorporate solar power wherever electric energy is being used.

Our new solar array will be a ground-mounted system occupying about 2 acres of land, east of our main facility, and donated to us by Albert and Pei Min Appel. It’s a long story, but without the Appel’s generosity, we would be unable to achieve this milestone in our conservation efforts.

The array will be installed by Eastern Energy Services, a regional leader in solar power equipment, through a “power purchase agreement.”  Appel Farm will have no upfront costs for the photovoltaic panels, nor will it be responsible for its maintenance and upkeep.  Eastern Energy will sell us our electric energy at roughly 50% of what we currently pay to our utility company – saving Appel Farm over $36,000 in the first year, and over $1,000,000 over the term of our contract with them!

Appel Farm is also very grateful to Upper Pittsgrove Township Mayor, Jack Cimprich, and past board president, Ronnie Cimprich, for their assistance and financial support in the planning and application portion of this effort.

Let the sun shine!!!

Good day, sunshine!

Mark Packer, Executive Director

Is it nature or is it art?

If you really pay attention, you can find wonder in things that are often overlooked.  These mushrooms sprouted by the dance studio last week.  We are in awe of nature’s exquisite design.  Thanks to our multi-talented financial wizard, Sally McRae, for capturing these beauties with her camera.

Comcast New Social Media Seminar

 We are all wrestling with the explosion of social media. Do we twitter, facebook, Digg, RSS, ning, bling, WHATEVER?  What does it all mean? Is it just information overload for people with attention spans the size of a gnat?

 Media giant Comcast had a group of us over to their spiffy, and LEED certified (!), new digs in Philly on August 4-5 to talk about all of this media noise, and what it means to non-profits, and communication strategy in general.  Boy, did we get an earful from some major leaders in the field, like Andrew Bleecker, who ran the sensational social media campaign for President Obama, and Tom Mattzie, founder of MoveOn.org, one of the early leaders in online fundraising tied to political causes, and Julia Angwin, tech writer for the Wall Street Journal- not to mention that she’s a Pulitzer Prize-winner. 

 We also heard from Frank Eliason, or “Famous Frank” as his colleagues call him. “Famous Frank” is the guy who ventured into Twitter-land a couple of years ago to deal with some negative stuff flying around cyberspace about Comcast. With single-minded purpose, his “How can I help” message is helping Comcast turn its “big bad boy” image around and “Famous Frank” now has upwards of 27,000 followers and 10 people in his department who twitter constantly.  Comcast also has Scott McNulty, chief blogger, and some visionary leadership that sees the future shaping up in the media world.  

 Sit down, kids, cause this stuff is here to stay. 

What we non-profit execs learned was a whole new way to look at the world and to reach the people who care about what we do. No, it really isn’t just a lot of noise, it’s about what we should be doing anyway. Building relationships, and treating our customers with respect and honesty.  The social media phenom is brilliant because it truly allows people, including us, to have a voice and to connect with others who care about what we care about.  Going viral can sometimes be dangerous, as we learned. Do we let our followers in to our websites and start creating their own content and messages? What happens if we lose control? Big questions that must be answered.  But the message from our speakers was clear. The rewards far outweigh the risks.  Be who and what you are, and always remember Frank’s mantra. “How can I help?” seems like just the right thing to say at any time.

 Thanks, Comcast. I’m following you now! 

Dee Billia, Director of Marketing and Public Relations
Appel Farm Arts and Music Center

Chickens Cross Road at Appel Farm

The big guy and the girls

At the Farm we have plenty of wildlife that is part of the landscape. Snapping turtles sunning themselves on the logs at Lake Inferior, mice that occasionally drop in (and I do mean drop) at the office for a quick “Hi! What’s that food in your file drawer?”, and snakes that live around the perimeter of the grounds. This week we have been treated to some special visitors. Yes, Albert Appel’s chickens have come across the road to check out the second session campers!

They can be seen pecking around cabins, studios, the parking lot. Just about any place where there might be a tasty morsel or two. Yep, the big guy and his two “lady-friends” travel as a team. And Mr. Rooster is likely to crow about anything during the day. Who says that roosters only crow at dawn? This guy needs to get in touch with daylight savings.

They look like they might head right back over the road to quieter territory at Albert’s house, but for now we are enjoying our visitors. It’s just more welcome guests to our great big Appel Farm family.

President Speaks to ArtPride

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests. 

Thank you very much for joining us today for the annual meeting of ArtPride New Jersey, which includes two sessions this morning –

We are honored to have with us today our extraordinary Chair of the Arts Council, Carol Herbert, and Arts Council members Arthur Factor and Judy Leone.  We’re also very pleased to have with us the Executive Director of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Steve Runk.

 Ladies and Gentlemen, not since 2003 has the nonprofit arts community stood so perilously, so precariously, on the edge of a precipice that could lead to the eventual elimination of funding to the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

 The Governor’s proposed budget reduces the Council’s budget by 25% from the current year’s allocation of $19.25 million to $14.44 million in 2010, and most disturbingly, below the $16 million poison pill provision of the 2003 legislation that created the hotel/motel occupancy fee – the vehicle by which the legislature intended to protect the arts, history and tourism, from the vagaries of economic decline. 

 Make no mistake about it, by reducing the Arts Council budget below $16 million, the gauntlet has been thrown down and the legislature must either restore funding to this threshold, or allow the occupancy fee to be rescinded following the signing of the new budget.

Clearly, only the first option is an acceptable one for us.  If the legislature takes no action, there will de facto be no money allocated to the Council in 2010 because there will be no fee collected to fund the council, the historical commission or tourism.

 Our efforts in the short term must be focused on the legislature, with a single message that every assemblyman and senator must hear:  “The arts, history and tourism are part of the economic solution.  We are our own economic stimulus package for the State of New Jersey!”

Many of you are battle tested and perhaps, battle weary, but we must harness all our strength and resources to make our collective voice heard.  This has always been our strength and our salvation in these times of doom and gloom.  It is our optimism, our passion, our sense of imagination and creativity that has made our grass root efforts successful each time we have been tested.

And so I ask you today to carry the message back to your boards, your staff, your volunteers, your patrons, your vendors, your unions, and all who benefit from the economic impact of your organization’s work, and urge them to use the ArtPride website to write to their legislators, and if they have a personal connection with a legislator, to personally ask for their support of restoration.

 We know that the leadership of the legislature asks each lawmaker to provide them with a list of their top 2 or 3 funding priorities.  In order for us to prevail, a preponderance of legislators must indicate that we are one of their priorities. 

 Each of you here today, and those who are not, bear the burden and the responsibility to ensure that our message is heard.  Whether you represent an organization with a budget of $10,000 or $10 million dollars, it will be the cumulative effect of many voices -  from all corners of our State  – that will carry the day. 

 John Adams remarked that “People and nations are forged in adversity.”  After 20 years of adversity, we are forged like steel.

 Thank you for your commitment, dedication and passion.  We will prevail.

Don’t Forget To Eat!

 

Crunch time for the Events Coordinator!

There are 8 working days until the With A Little Help From My Friends Benefit Concert. Not that I’m counting. The following is a glimpse into my first few hours of work today. And it’s only going to get busier.

 

My Desk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1) ARRIVE AT WORK

“Good morning, Matina. Good morning, AnnMarie. Good morning, Heather.”

Where’s my intern, Brian? Oh, yeah he’s out today. Why did I agree to him having the day off before the workday tomorrow? Oh, well.

2) CHECK EMAIL

Message
Jason, go ahead and write that blog you volunteered yourself for yesterday. Doh!

Message
Jason, have you scheduled housekeeping for all the spaces we’ll be using for the benefit? We talked about that yesterday. Didn’t we? Wait, that was someone else. Yes. Did it. Done.

Message
Jason, I won’t be here for the benefit concert staff meeting. Let me know what you want me to do that Sunday. You can have my job.

3) YAHOO! MAIL
From Facebook – “Cristy posted a link on your Wall.”

4) FACEBOOK
Dave Matthews Band on Fuse TV all next week. Awesome!
I don’t get that channel. The opposite of awesome.

5) DON’T FORGET TO EAT

OK. What do I need to accomplish today?

Dumpsters. Check. PortaPots. Check. I hope we have enough golf carts. Who NEEDS a walkie-talkie and who THINKS they need a walkie-talkie? Oooh, another volunteer registration! Yay! Where should I assign them? Recycling crew? No. That reminds me, where are we going to place all of the trashcans and recycle bins? Achoo! Stupid allergies. Should I make a new map? If Brian were here today, I’d make him do it.

Wait, where is the box office?

Head outside on the grounds for 30 minutes with Sean and Heather to discuss where the Box Office is going to be. Information booth is there, camp booth over there, food vendors are gonna be…doh! – can’t put them that close to the stage cuz their generators might be – Achoo! – noisy. Speaking of generators, I need to call the electrician and ask him if we can get 208 volt, 3-phase, 60 amps of power for the stage lighting. I don’t even know what that means! Now, what did I do with his phone number?

“Achoo! Achoo!” Ok, that’s enough! Time to head to the IGA and pickup some Claritin. It’s lunch-time so I should get something to eat before I head back. Ooh, I’d better drive down that dirt road to the Meadow field and make sure it’s clear for trucks on June 7^th. A little muddy, but it’s good. Back to the office.

Hmmmm…Who is that coming up the stairs? “Butch, I have a question for you. What kind of pipes and/or electrical lines are underground at the corner of the driveway? I need to know if we can auger holes there to set up the Box Office sign.” (6 minute conversation ensues) Call the electrician – no answer. Man, I really should have gotten some food. My stomach is….oh! crap. I still gotta write that blog.

Jason Blacketer
Starving Events Coordinator

You’re Going To Want This Guitar!

A few years ago our friends at Comcast donated a bright red electric guitar to Appel Farm.   Some among us immediately had visions of taking their place among the pantheon of rock guitar gods such as Clapton, Page and Gilmour.  Upon realizing that would mean putting 10,000 hours of practicing it was decided that the next best thing was to write all over the guitar!

Well, not quite.  We took it back stage at our Festival in 2006 and 2007 and had performers autograph the guitar in silver ink.  Janis Ian was the first to sign it and she may even have supplied the silver pen. 

Following her lead were such luminaries as Joan Armatrading, Leon Redbone, Chris Smither, North Mississippi Allstars, Duncan Sheik, James Hunter, Danielia Cotton, Adrienne Young and members of Fountains of Wayne, Toad The Wet Sprocket and Slo Mo.

This guitar has since endowed my office with a sense of hipness but the time has come to part with this one-of-a-kind trophy for a greater cause.

On Sunday, June 7th, Appel Farm will host With A Little Help From My Friends, an outdoor music and arts celebration to benefit the Rising Young Artists Camp Scholarship Fund.  An exciting part of that event will be a Silent Auction in which concert attendees will have an opportunity to bid on many exciting items and help raise funds for the cause.  On that day you will have a chance to bid on this guitar and maybe take home a piece of musical history!

Come early and check out the guitar and other items in the Silent Auction.  I am looking forward to seeing who will become its proud owner!

Sean Timmons
Artistic Director

————————————–

Advance tickets for the concert are available now:

Friends Lawn Seating:
$28.50.  Ages 17 and under are admitted FREE of charge.

Blankets only upfront, close to the stage.  Further back and each side of the tent will have plenty of space for low back lawn chairs etc.  All with a good view of the stage,

“Undercover” Tent Seating:
$45.00.  Ages 17 and under $20.00

The tent will be centered a short distance from the stage (with “blankets only” lawn seating in front of the tent).  Folding chairs with padded seats will be arranged in rows under the tent.  Seating will be by general admission for patrons with required wristbands.  Limited availability.  Advance purchase advised.

Of Hot Summer Nights And Music To Match!

Summer in New Jersey can be sweltering! As a fair–skinned Irishman, I’ve learned the hard way to cover up from the sun’s rays. When I first came here I could not get used to the heat and humidity combination. Even the arrival of sundown did not mean there would  be any let up from the steaming heat of August!

And yet, I was always drawn to New Orleans. The music. The Food. The “laissez les bon temps rouler” attitude. First it was The Neville Brothers, Dr. John and The Meters. Later on, I discovered The subdudes.

In the New Orleans gumbo tradition, The subdudes mix up musical genres – blues, folk, gospel, R&B and funk – to produce a hearty sound of their own. It’s infectious music that spills off the stage and into the crowd. It’s hard not to get caught up in the moment when the guys on stage look like they’re having such a good time! They don’t have another agenda. It’s all about the music they’re playing right here, right now.

For The subdudes it’s always been that way. They got together in 1987 for a one-time gig at Tipitina’s in New Orleans and the music rolled on for nearly 10 years. Following a hiatus, they kicked back into gear in 2002 and the party has been going ever since.

So, it’s spring in New Jersey and the dog days of summer are just around the corner. What better way to pay homage than to spend an evening with a band from the city that knows how to take the heat and turn it into a fiery musical expression of joy!

The subdudes are passing this way and we’ve asked them to stop by on June 12th. We’ll crank up the air conditioning!

You’re invited!

Sean Timmons
Artistic Director

Enjoy subdudes videos here:

http://www.subdudes.com/video.html

Camp Alumnus – Phil Roy

Songwriter, Performer and Gourmet Chef!

I get to hear a lot of new music from submissions sent to us at Appel Farm.  Much of it is very good.  There are so many people out there vying for attention and looking for the opportunity to communicate with an audience.

A few years ago, I received an unsolicited CD by Phil Roy, who was unknown to me at that time.    In the absence of any biographical information I was unprepared for the power of the music I was about to experience.  Out leapt fully formed musical gems such as Melt, which was about to hit the radio airwaves and form the soundtrack to the summer.  This was well crafted, sophisticated music that did not come off as derivative of the surrounding culture.  If only there was a slot left on the Festival line up that year.  No, that would have to wait until the following event (2001). 

Phil’s next album did not disappoint.  Highlights were Hope In A Hopeless World, God Is Not Sleeping and the radio-friendly, Undeniably Human. 

I caught Phil’s showcase at the South By Southwest Music Conference in Austin, TX in 2001.  I had the advantage of knowing in advance what that music industry audience had in store.  You could have heard a pin drop.

Phil Roy attended Appel Farm’s summer camp as a child, so he jumped at the chance to come and play a benefit concert in support of the camp scholarship fund. 

“I became a better guitar player,” he says of his time at the acclaimed summer arts camp. “I think I became a better person.  It was a fantastic summer. In ways it led me to go to Berklee College of Music in Boston which was the starting point of my professional music career.”

Upon graduating from Berklee, Roy moved to Los Angeles and within three months his band was signed to Warner Brothers Records.  His experience with the record business in the 80s was mixed, and in 1987 he signed a publishing deal to write songs as a staff writer in LA and his career skyrocketed.

Since then, he has penned songs for artists as diverse as Ray Charles, Mavis Staples, Joe Cocker, Paul Young and Los Lonely Boys.

This decade has seen Roy concentrate on his career as a performing songwriter, with three critically acclaimed albums under his belt to date. In 2008, Stephen Holden of the New York Times described his second album, Issues and Options, as “one of the year’s two or three most satisfying albums by an American singer-songwriter.” 

Recording and touring artists are facing huge challenges these days as the music industry goes through radical changes.  Phil is one of the few who has risen to the challenge with his own unique solution.  A man of many talents, his Not Leaving The House tour invited audiences into his home for a four-course meal and an hour-long concert.  In addition to performing, Phil was also the gourmet chef and as word spread, these monthly happenings had lengthy waiting lists for would be attendees. 

Next up for Phil is a new album, In The Weird Small Hours, which is almost completed.  It promises to be another exciting installment in a compelling creative career.

Please join us on Sunday, June 7 as we welcome back an outstanding former Appel Farm camper to our stage!

Sean Timmons
Artistic Director