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Jim Blum in the WKSU studio
Lake Erie
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September 19th to 22nd, 2002
Here On the Shores of Lake Erie
Madison is a small town in Ohio, situated on the shores of Lake Erie. It is a verdant area of farms and woodlands
and vineyards. It represents the Ohio I have pictured in my mind since reading the letters collected from veterans
of the Union Army, sent off to fight in the American Civil War. Nowadays, most people think of the city of Cleveland
when the state is mentioned. Cleveland, of the heavy industry, of the burning river of the 1970's. As interesting
as I find those references to be, I had a much more bucolic introduction.
Through the music I have had the great fortune to meet many exceptional people, one of whom was the sole raison
d'être for our trip to this area. Her name is Kelli O'Neil and we have corresponded for a number of years.
Kelli has proved a tireless and inspired organizer on our behalf and I was looking forward to meeting her. She
is a gracious and generous person who shepherded Dave and I around the area and through the schedule with an ease
I can only marvel at. This included The Harpersfield Vineyard Folk Festival, two concerts in clubs, and a particularly
enjoyable radio interview at Kent State University, WKSU with Jim Blum.
I brought back a lone bottle of wine from the Vineyard as a souvenir of our trip, but I also came back with many
memories that will remain.
One memory is that of the American flags hung from every second lamppost for miles down a particular stretch of
Highway 20. This highway runs along the edge of Lake Erie, past the stacks of a nuclear plant. We were there just
after the commemoration of the 9-11 attacks. I wrote a song about being in Ohio at just that time.
The memory I hold most dear is sitting in companionable silence with Kelli on a bench overlooking Lake Erie, well
after midnight. We could hear the wind high in the trees, and see it manifested in the ranks of waves crashing
down on the shore. Off on the horizon the ore boats, lit up like Christmas, were butting their way eastward - down
lake to Ashtabula. I waved to them in the darkness.
Dave and I would like to thank Kelli and her family for their kindness and generosity. That kindness represents
all the best in America, flags and nuclear plants aside.
David and Kelli, cottage steps, Maddison
back
home
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photos by David and Kelli O'Neil
David and Dave, Harpersfield Vineyard FF. KO
Guitars packed for the drive home
Nuclear power plant, Ohio
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