Linda Kennedy and I pulled off our free concert to end the Summer Reading Program (Make a Splash @ Your Library) in grand style last Tuesday.
Our program included several really fun arrangements by Kathryn Cater and Sandy Duffy Norman of the harp/flute duo, Rosewynde. All are from their 2006 recording, Walking Tune, including “Banks of Sullane/Paiste Fionn,” “Drowsy Maggie Medley,” and “The Ash Grove.” Listen to the entire track of “Banks of Sullane” and you’ll know why we enjoyed playing this music so much.
We always tell stories as part of the concert. I told a selkie story, “The Seal-woman’s Sea-Joy” (from the second volume of Songs of the Hebrides, by the Rev. Kenneth Macleod and Margery Kennedy-Fraser), as well as a true story about Hyak, a captive wild book-loving orca who once lived at the Vancouver Aquarium (by Kelly Balcomb-Bartok in Whale Tales, collected by Peter J. Fromm). 
I hope someone sends me photos of Stuart wearing the huge Orca costume. He played his part perfectly. I will definitely post photos if they come to me.
For our final story, we did a reader’s theater version of “The Man Whose Mother Was a Pirate,” by Margaret Mahy (in A Treasury of Pirate Stories). Our colleague, Brandi Anton, played the pirate mother, and Linda played the little man in the brown suit. I narrated and played the parts of the little man’s boss, Mr. Fat; the farmer; the philosopher; and the sea captain. Brandi has a great deal of experience as a pirate (one of her Society for Creative Anachronism alter egos), and she was fabulous. She and Linda are great co-conspirators in committing random acts of whimsy.
Here are some photos from the concert:
We had a good crowd of over 50 people of all ages. The kids danced to the jigs, and everyone happily sang along on the Mingulay Boat Song (much like in this version, though lacking the Scottish accents!):
