History of the Bluewater Folk Society
Roots for the Blue Water Folk Society were planted when a small group of local traditional music affectionatos decided to have a "Local Folks" concert in August of 1996. A year later this activity moved to a street stage at the Lexington Fine Arts Fair. In addition, professional folk performers were added to the emerging "Music in The Park" concert series, sponsored by the Lexington Promotional Committee, This organization was the beginning of what is now the Lexington Arts Council. That year, Mustard's Retreat and Rich and Maureen DelGrosso performed at the harbor stage also during art fair weekend. This combination came to be known as the Lexington Folk Festival and carried on through 2001. Other professionals appearing during this time included Joel Mabus, Beat¹s Settin' Home, Claudia Schmidt, Kitty Donohoe, Patricia Pettinga and more. During that time the number of local performers participating on the art fair stages grew from four to twenty.
Some of these performers began playing together casually and in between songs the conversation turned to a relic from the 60's, a coffeehouse. As a result, in 2000, after summer music was over, the Traditional Music Coffeehouse was born and located at Trinity Episcopal Church in Lexington. Open mic concerts began in January of 2001 and a number of talented local players showed up, along with a warm and friendly audience. To provide a framework for these events, the Blue Water Folk Society was also founded in 2001. This coffeehouse continues today and currently features six open mic concerts on the second Saturday of each month from October through March. Other coffeehouses have appeared in the area and been successful as well. Professional concerts began to be added on the fourth Saturday of some months.
By now the Bluewater Folk Society had grown in membership and active participation which set the stage for a summer music festival. The first Thumbfest was held at a summer camp near Port Sanilac on the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend in 2002. Since current events include the coffeehouse series (professional and open mic) and Thumbfest, it began to look like the society might have some longevity. As a result it has now moved to a more structured organization to help insure a more balanced sharing of work while planning and executing these events. A nonprofit Michigan corporation has been formed and federal tax exempt status (501c3) acquired. Our membership now exceeds 200 of which about 80 have assumed active rolls. We are proud of what has been accomplished and look forward to more great music and good times.