CHESTERVILLE – Over a dozen musicians gathered for the first Open Acoustic Music Jam at the Chesterville Center Meetinghouse on Sunday afternoon, July 14, 2013, while neighbors and friends enjoyed the music and the historic building.
Musicians arrived from a wide radius including Camden, Weld, Greenville, Norridgewock, Madison, Vienna, Farmington, Temple, West Farmington, and Wilton, with a few summer visitors from as far away as Virginia and Georgia. One Chesterville native and two part-time Chesterville residents participated in the music.
Musicians ranged in age from teenagers to seniors.
Despite 90-degree temperatures, 40 or so visitors also stopped by throughout the afternoon as the fiddlers, guitarists, banjo players, an accordionist, a cellist, and a flutist improvised together and explored their collaborative possibilities.
Meanwhile, the Board of the Chesterville Center Meetinghouse, a non-profit non-sectarian corporation maintaining the historic building, served a bountiful picnic lunch with grilled items, salads and desserts, and visitors enjoyed socializing.
At the end of the afternoon, the majority of the participants took turns on the stage for an impressive impromptu concert featuring their own musical specialties. The concert met with an enthusiastic response from the audience of about 30.
“We think this first-ever Chesterville Acoustic Jam was a great success,” said Rob Rogers, one of the organizers of the event. “Several of the musicians said they would love to do it again, and the audience for the concert was really impressed.”
“I thought the quality of the music was just outstanding. If we do this again, I hope everyone in Chesterville comes, because you don’t see a concert like this every day – especially a free one,” said Cyndy Stancioff, who is also a board member,
The Chesterville Center Meetinghouse is available for community or private events, with a priority given to residents of Chesterville. The board of the Meetinghouse aims to preserve the building in the belief that it will only grow more valuable as a community gathering place in years to come, as one of the last historic buildings in Chesterville.
For more information on using the Meetinghouse, contact Carolyn at 778-3767.
