American Red Cross Tsunami Relief Funds
Since the Haitian earthquake, Americans have been opening their wallets and pouring out their hearts to the island nation. Fundraising efforts by celebrities and just plain folks are springing up all over the country. Just days after the quake, an impromptu fundraiser to benefit the Red Cross's Haitian relief efforts took place at Binghamton, New York's Cranberry Coffeehouse, a monthly acoustic folk music concert.
Folk Music: Not Only Traditional Songs
It was Saturday of the MLK holiday weekend, four days after the 7.0 earthquake devastated Haiti. Binghamton's Unitarian-Universalist Congregation's parking lot was full half an hour before Showtime. This seemed particularly remarkable since the NFL's regional playoffs were in full swing. The evening of acoustic music would be magical for many reasons. People milled around the carpeted room with its open beamed ceiling. They had come for the monthly concert of Cranberry Coffeehouse. The performers, John Kirk and Trish Miller were old favorites. They haven't missed a year since 1985. Local musicians as well as Friends of the performers, who would be invited to the stage for a song or two, struggled to find out-of-the-way places amidst the folding chairs to stash acoustic guitars, banjos and an accordion.
John Kirk is a gifted singer and musician. His instruments include fiddle, guitar and mandolin. He teaches music at Bennington College in Vermont, and Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs. Trish Miller, his wife, who also teaches at Skidmore, sings, plays guitar and banjo. A former member of the Green Grass Cloggers, she brought along her own collapsible dance floor and treated the crowd to one dance in each of the couple's two sets.