THE END OF A MUSICAL ERA?

Dear Wolfeboro Folk supporters:

Six years ago, Steve Patterson and I had an idea that sparked from our shared passion for live music. “Wouldn’t it be great if we were able to attract musicians to Wolfeboro?” The idea quickly saw reality after convincing Gregg Roark to open his restaurant, Garwoods, on normally closed Wednesday evenings for concerts. Two seasons of completely sold-out concerts quickly relieved our concerns of “Will anyone come out on Wednesday night?”

Ah, THOSE days of easy hurdles and challenges.

Since then, the series skyrocketed into a year-round operation, offering a community-focused series of events with some of the finest acts from across the globe, complimented with a pre-concert dinner of locally raised food. Despite being located in a rural community and more than tripling venue capacity, Wolfeboro Folk maintained an unprecedented 85% sell-out history.

Through the kind and supportive efforts of Tumbledown Farms’ David Guttadauro and Kelly Quinn, Wolfeboro Folk was able to call the farm’s newly renovated historic barn home, offering audience members a unique and memorable performance venue. The winter venue was quickly complimented with the picturesque summer barn located on Moody Mountain Farm, thanks to the support of owner Cecily Clark.

The series grew to not only serve local residents, but also to attract visitors, some flying in from as far as Tennessee just for a concert.

The creative partnership between Tumbledown Farms and Wolfeboro Folk was ultimately recognized by Governor John Lynch with a NH Business in the Arts Award.

But, alas, problems arose almost immediately with the crossing of the Wolfeboro line into the Brookfield community. Despite overwhelming support from Brookfield residents, the Selectmen took the position that concerts were a commercial use of the farm and not allowed within the residential-agricultural only zoning. And, thus began a year and a half of problems, hurdles, battles to keep the concerts happening.

Even with the creation of special events permits, the Selectman refused to allow the series to continue through the summer months, stating that it was required to take a break to be considered “temporary”. And, the break wasn’t permitted to be during the sleepy winter months when heating costs break the bank either, but rather during the tourist-packed warm summer months.

Ideas such as contra-dances, poetry readings, workshops, theatre, and kids events were all put aside in order to find the time to fight each battle and keep the events happening.

It’s a backwards situation to say the least. These are community arts events, after all. Not gambling, wrestling matches, or other controversial activities. And, not one complaint has been logged with police or from residents (until a recent legal challenge by Bill and Nancy Gaver over the legality of the special events permits).

Wouldn’t we be all better off had our time and energy been spent creating youth programs, literary events, or even a simple and fun barn dance?

To make matters worse, Wolfeboro Folk is a for-profit organization, but only to avoid the sometimes messy politics that come with being a non-profit. Plain and simple, Wolfeboro Folk is a labor of love. And, by multiple people. Endless hours have been put in to fight the battles, set up chairs, wash dishes, hang posters, contact musicians, house artists, park cars, haul trash, etc. If you did the math, you’d find our for-profit reward of $0.02/hour.

So why do we do it? Our reward doesn’t come from the financial end, but rather from seeing our community come together and get as excited about the music as we do.

But, we feel as though we are at a breaking point. Where do we go from here? At what point does the endless fight just not make sense anymore? We considered constructing our own barn on our property to get out from under all the struggles and truly focus on "art", but alas, the financial requirements are beyond our reach.

Our audiences have been patient, supportive, and adaptive despite being constantly plagued with “Venue to be announced”, canceled dinners, uncertainty over whether a concert will happen, etc. When is it too much to ask of our audience? Of us?

We’re obviously at a crossroads, and uncertain of what direction to head.

We’d hate to dissolve Wolfeboro Folk and our passion, but when is the struggle too much?

Tell us where you think we should head by emailing ben@wolfeborofolk.com or, better yet, come out to one of the remaining concerts, recharge our batteries with a full house, and tell us your thoughts in person.

Thanks for six great seasons of incredible music, memories and support.

Ben Anderson
Co-Founder, Wolfeboro Folk Concert Series