15.07.09 The Rock

We’re home! I know we promised to write from Newfoundland, but time flies when you’re an hour and a half ahead. First off, we would like to give a huge thanks to everyone in Newfoundland who helped make the most of our stay. Special thanks to Karen and Steve for opening their beautiful home to us. We also want to pass gratitude on to the good people of Portugal Cove United Church for their heartwarming hospitality and inviting us to take part in their service. Finally, a gigantic thank you and lots of love is sent to our festival volunteer, Frank Collins, who was amazing in supporting us and helping us during our stay. From restaurant recommendations to last minute transportation arrangements, we knew we could rely on Frank! We are so lucky to have had someone with such dedication and consideration. We will always remember Festival 500 as a milestone for Six. An essay could be written on our ten days out east, so we’ll stick to the highlights.

As we drove out of London at 7:00 AM on Friday, Brad remembered that we were supposed to bring a flag for opening ceremonies. Luckily for us, we travel with a resident seamster, also known as Kristin's husband. He was able to put together arguably the best flag ever made (biased opinion). We've also begun the process of converting Six into a UN approved country.

Six attended several workshops at the festival, including some by Rajaton’s Soila Sariola, where she and Brad danced up a storm - workshop related of course. Following the workshop, Soila was gracious and agreed to listen to a couple of our songs. She responded kindly with enthusiasm and encouraged us to continue in growing as a group. We were featured on CBC television following a concert on Monday afternoon, which lead to us being invited to sing live for CBC radio one on Wednesday.

The most exciting part about being in St. John’s was the exposure for Six and the opportunity to sing for such enthusiastic audiences. We met some great choirs (Mark: “special shout out to Boston and Redlands”) and had a memorable visit to the city.

Our trip could only have been made better if we had seen whales on our whale watching trip. However, four seal noses and a puffin will have to suffice! There are so many memories, I’m sure we will think of more people to thank and fun times to recall as our sleep patterns return to normal. Thanks again to everyone who has been supporting us! Our next project will be a CD released hopefully in the next year. Meanwhile, stay tuned for more music and pictures!

Julia ♥ and Mark (the sound guy)

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