Guest Writer #4

My featured Guest Writer today is John...

Since 1994...
August, 1994, Woodstock 2 brought a great number of people to upstate New York.  On that same weekend, I flew in a packed plane to Albany, though my final destination lay a bit farther east, in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts.  In addition to the music at Tanglewood and pleasant village of Lenox, I explored Hancock Shaker village, home of a cleverly constructed round stone barn.  About a month later, while visiting the Brandywine Arts Festival in Wilmington, I spied a painting of that barn, but couldn't convince myself to buy it.  Later that day found me at Chadds Ford Days and I was most fortunate to find a depiction of that Shaker edifice and meet the artist, Andy Smith.  I bought that painting and still to this day, proudly display it in my home.  Since then, Andy's art has become an important fixture on my, now rather full walls, with work depicting everything from the Gettysburg battlefield to a textured wall with candle from the Ephrata Cloister, from rural scenes of barns and pastures so familiar to Andy from his explorations of Lancaster County and other venues, to a portrait of a puffin, my favorite bird, a gift for my 60th birthday.  His artistic talent is only outdone by his compassion and caring: for his community, the young athletes he coaches, his friends, and to the greatest degree, for his family.  Linda and he are a true partnership, working together to share Andy's talent with us fortunate patrons.  Thank you, Andy and Linda for doing so!

Thank you John!  I can really say his walls are full from floor to ceiling and he always says, "I don't have any more room" as he picks out another one he has fallen in love with!