The Woody Guthrie Free Folk Festival 2007
The 10th annual festival ran from Wednesday, July 11 to Sunday, July 15, 2007.
Book lovers at the pancake breakfast. Laurel Cockrell enjoys the book with Jesse and Katie Johnson.
Annie Steiger, Dr.Jonathon Coren and Dorothy Hearn of the
Oklahoma Chapter of Huntington's
get ready to sell the cartoon books at Mary Jo's pancake breakfast, and
boost their chapter's funds.
Dr. Guy Logsdon, retired professor of American folklife and
Woody Guthrie expert
took an instant liking to This Toon is Your Toon and purchased multiple copies,
including one for
the Smithsonian collection and another for the Woody Guthrie Foundation.
Such a reception for the book was extremely gratifying.
Tom Stiglich donated his original drawing - the one that
graced the book's cover - of Woody,
which we matted and framed before donating it to the Woody Guthrie Festival. It
became a raffle prize along with a signed guitar and a Woody Guthrie quilt. Of
all the people who traveled to the Woody Fest from all over the country (and
bought raffle tickets), the winner of Tom's picture was Bertha Hodges (pictured
with her husband.) The neat thing is that Bertha is an Okemah resident, so Woody
will hang on a wall of the town where he was born!
Arlo Guthrie on stage at the Woody Fest with his dad illuminated behind him.
Three buskers drifting through Okemah were invited on stage to
play one of their own songs at the final concert with the house band, and this
impromptu gesture sort of typifies the generosity and informality that is a
hallmark of the festival.
The lads were pretty good, incidentally.
Some of the performers at the final Sunday afternoon concert.
Woody Fest 2006
We had the best time in July of 2006 at the Woody Guthrie, and realized that the spirit of Woody Guthrie lives on in the generously donated performances of nationally known singers, musicians, poets and writers, the tireless work of the volunteers, and in the warmth of the people of the small town of Okemah. (It did hit 105F, but those folks were warm anyway.) Money raised in the course of the five-day festival goes to keep the festival going and to the research foundation for Huntington's disease.
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Butch Hancock
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Woody Guthrie sculpture and mural in Okemah |
This pancake's your cake, This pancake's my cake
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Rad of the House Band
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Woody's sister, Mary Joe Guthrie, selling her folk art posters of her brother's life to raise money for medical research. Stephanie is on the right.
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Don Conoscenti/Joel Rafael at the Sunday concert in the Crystal Theater.
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The Ded Ringers |
New York poet George Wallace with David Amram in the background |
David Amram |
