A note from John

12/24/02

Hello fellow Wassailers!

It's Christmas Eve again. Hard to believe it's here and I, of course, am not ready. Stuff to wrap, rooms to clean, kids to hose down...

But through it all, music!

Every moment of this day will be filled with beautiful music, full of memories, yearning, and hope. Some people love Christmas for the lights, others love it for the presents or the food, for me it's always been the music.

That's why last night was so special for me. We held our Holiday Concert at the Merion Tribute House. Thanks to all of you who came out and made the evening such a wonderful success. The place was so beautiful; a Christmas castle, with fires burning briskly in giant stone hearths, candles, huge swags of holly and pine boughs, tall evergreen trees festooned with fruit , white doves and, twinkling lights, and kids, their laughing faces beaming with the sheer joy of sliding across stone floors in their stocking feet while balancing a brownie in one hand and a juicy juice in the other. Being allowed to share my music and my favorite songs of the season in this glowing warmth is a genuine gift to me. For this gift let me thank the kind folks at the Tribute House along with Toni Nolek, Hermetta Harper, Sheryl Goldberg, Dan and Donna Rottenberk and Jeff and Edie Jacobs for their help and friendship.

As you know we also held a silent auction to benefit Camp Dreamcatcher. With autographed items from the Philadelphia Phillies and Flyers as well as signed stuff by Arlo Guthrie and Kris Kristofferson, and a host of other really cool crafts and clothes (...congratulations to Donna for being the winning bid on my old black, faux- satin Discmakers/One Long Groove tour jacket! A stylish addition to any wardrobe!), and goodies we were able to raise over $800 to benefit this summer camp for children who's lives have been assaulted by AIDS/HIV. Thanks to all who donated and bid.

This year was full of many new and wonderful experiences for me. Among them was the recent chance to write a song for a TV project about Anne Frank, the young girl who's incredible spirit and courage are documented in the diary she kept while hiding from persecution by the Nazis. Anne's heroism and message are just as important now as they've ever been, and I tried to capture them in my new song "Hope Sleeps". The words to the chorus are:

Hope sleeps
But when it sleeps it dreams
The most amazing dreams
The kind a young girl treasures
Hope sleeps
Hope sleeps
But not forever*

My Christmas wish for you is that, in this time of trouble and unrest in our world, you know the spirit of hope. That spirit is what this season is all about. Peace will come to our world. But first it must come to our hearts.

Merry Christmas!

John