LOVE FROM ABOVE
Project Troubador’s 14th Annual Grove Festival, June 28th, 2003
by Eliot Osborn

    Sometimes all you need is for the sun to shine. Such was the case for this year’s Grove Festival, our annual outdoor event on the shores of Lake Wonons- copomuc in Lakeville, CT. After a monsoon like month, in which one storm after another rained down upon every wedding, picnic, and community car wash for miles around ( the ground so wet that the thought occurred to just plant rice ), Saturday June 28th was so blissfully sun drenched it certainly felt like Project Troubador and it’s mission were receiving the approval of a higher authority.

    For those of you who are too far afield to know anything about the Grove Fest, it is essentially a chance for us to “mirror” what we do in the various countries Project Troubador visits. Reflecting as closely as possible what happens when a Troubador trip magically arrives in a small village in Africa... or anywhere else... the evening offers our neighbors, members, and supporters the opportunity to experience strange and wondrous things ... ethnically centered performances that are not common to this area... in a setting where it is common for friends and neighbors to gather. So named because of a stand of white oak trees which predate the first European settlers and dramatically envelop the concert grounds, the Town Grove is a focal point of activity, doubling as the local swimming hole and an outdoor “hang‘’ for area youths and those who just want to come down to the water’s edge.

    While the whole process that results in the Grove Festival is more than six months in the making, the actual rhythm of lift off picks up a groove 24 hours before showtime during stage construction, powered annually by Nic Osborn and a loyal crew of “Fest Heads”, swingin’ and bangin’ with a measured abandon. By the time the first wave of revelers begin trundling in - blankets and lawn chairs a draggin’, Charlie Kiel and a loosely assembled regiment of horn blowers and drum smackers are shaping the growing anticipation into a funky “second line“ rhythm. With assistance from a picnic table, Mark Alexander readies the “Mortal Beast and Deities”, mythically oversized puppet figures that he and several local actors will embody as they romp through the crowd during set changes.

    Over the past 13 years, Louise ( our Executive Director, whose brainchild the Grove Festival is ) has dovetailed her programming to match the needs of the audience. So that late arrivals would not miss anything important, The Joint Chiefs, a local trio featuring Louise, myself and “serial harmonizer” George Potts opened the festivities while everyone was getting settled. To tune folks into a regional act that they should be aware of, the Chiefs were followed by the Cajun’ stylings of The Back Porch Rockers, who hail from these parts, but  “get their gumbo on” like they were born on the bayou. As twilight faded and the younger members of the audience started to do the same, the Taiko drumming group Taikoza unleashed a mesmerizing drumming-meets-martial arts display of this ancient Japanese discipline. And then, in what was the unmistakable high point, The Congolese band Rumbafrica stuck a fork in the evening with a ferocious Soukous sound that just set the whole town shakin’ ... mama, papa, sister, brother... tinker,tailor, candlestick maker... all kickin’ up dust and dancin’ like there was no tomorrow.

    This final crescendo, as it was last year and as we certainly hope it will be the next, is a major moment in our small town. For Louise and I, it has an epic proportion that underscores why we, and all the volunteers who take tickets, recycle bottles, and otherwise pitch in, keep pumpin’ our collective selves into this special night. Since logistically and financially we simply cannot afford to take y’all with us when we travel, The Grove Festival remains our only opportunity to somehow illuminate how Troubadoring makes “a world of difference” work for itself... here, there, and everywhere. As always, we are extremely grateful to the town selectmen and the staff of the Town Grove for allowing us to make use of this precious resource. The Grove Festival is partially underwritten by The Salisbury Bank and Trust, WKZE, area businesses, Project Troubador members and The New England Foundation for the Arts. In addition to the more than 30 volunteers ( and we still could use you..! ) special thanks belong to Salisbury Volunteer Ambulance for their on site presence, Salisbury Winter Sports for the use and installation of their fencing, and Hal Lefferts for redefining what savvy stage management entails. Plans are already forming up for our fifteenth next year... the last Saturday in June, which next year means June 26, 2004. We’ll hope to have your face in the place...