I’m pleased to announce that the Miner’s Creek Bluegrass Band will be playing at the Runamuk FarmRaiser barn party on Sunday, October 1st!
You might not know this about me, but I have a strong affinity for bluegrass and folksy music. I have an eclectic taste in music, but bluegrass above all else is my favorite. I enjoy it so much that I’ve recently taken up the banjo and am learning to play an instrument for the first time in my life!
Last Sunday I attended the Billy’s Belly Bluegrass Festival in North Anson, largely to support my friends Sonia and Eden from Hide & Go Peep Farm who were contestants in the festival, but also for the pure joy of seeing and listening to the music of some great bands. It was a wonderful time and I connected with a number of people there, promoting the FarmRaiser campaign and inviting the community to the big party.
I was also scouting for a band. Here I was promoting this all-important event, and I had no music lined up yet!
Enter the Miner’s Creek Bluegrass Band.
I had a very small list of bands, and the task of securing music for the barn party was made more challenging by the fact that I’m working on a shoestring budget. I’m trying to spend as little as possible on the event and the perks for the campaign so that more of my own money can go directly into securing my farm. The gofundme is fundraising for the down-payment, but there are still many other small (and not so small) costs to farm-ownership, and this is just the beginning.
I reached out to Resa Randolph, a member of Miner’s Creek, and put forth my proposal. I told her I had seen them at Billy’s Belly and loved their music, and pointed out that I had been the one assailing everyone with flyers. I told her I have a music budget of only $200─I said: I know it’s not much, but it’s a lot to me. And it’s for a good cause.
Wouldn’t you know it─Resa’s cousin Alicia is the found of the Maryland Bee Sanctuary!!! Resa went on to say that she is:
a staunch believer in letting meadows be meadows and getting rid of lawn mowers.
They were in!
Everything is lining up nicely. The acoustics in the Hilton’s barn are great; the music is going to sound amazing. The atmosphere there is welcoming and comfortable, with the rustic rough-hewn barn beams and the broad wooden planking on the floors, with hay bales along the wall and a view across the pastures looking on the western Maine mountains from the back deck. I can hardly wait to have all of my friends, family and community there with good food, good brew (we’ll have beer from Mainely Brews!) and good music.
This event is supposed to be a fundraiser─and don’t tell my partner this, but in a big way─for me─it’s become about giving back to all those who have supported me over the years. It’s about all of these connections I’ve made through my work as a pollinator conservationist and as a local food advocate, and bringing them together to share this beautiful thing that we have all created together. And we have created─not just Runamuk and an increased awareness of bees and pollinators, but the Madison Farmers’ Market and a renewed sense of community there. Together we have cultivated agriculture here in a part of Maine that is economically depressed and in dire need of rejuvenation.
I believe that farming is the revitalization that we need. I hope you’ll join me on Sunday, October 1st from 5pm to 8pm at the Hyl-Tun Farm on Rt 43 in Starks for the Runamuk FarmRaiser. I’d love to see you there!
Stay tuned! More coming soon!!!
