From list at tomhunter.com Tue Oct 21 20:45:16 2008 From: list at tomhunter.com (Tom Hunter - The Song Growing Co.) Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:45:16 -0700 Subject: Many a Musing from Tom Hunter's Song Growing Co Message-ID: <003801c933df$741b9ca0$0202a8c0@SGC> Greetings to you from The Song Growing Co. This is very difficult for us to write. Some of you may not have heard that Tom passed away on Friday, June 20th of this year. In May some friends set up a blog (tomhunterblog.blogspot.com) where there is a lot more information. When Tom found out that he was dying, he urged folks to "keep it going" -- and people are. There have been numerous tributes and more are planned. There was an hour devoted to Tom on KGO radio in San Francisco, church services have been held all over the country, and tribute concerts have been put on in CA, OR, and WA. (If you are among those who participated in tributes to Tom, we'd love to hear about them.) Washington Sate Governor Christine Gregoire has declared Friday, October 24th "Tom Hunter Day: A Day For Singing!" The proclamation will be presented to us (Gwen, Aeden, & Irene) at a tribute concert at the Washington Association for the Education of Young Children (WAEYC) annual conference in Tacoma, WA this Friday. (The text from the proclamation is at the end of this email.) We're very grateful for Sandi Dexter's work with the governor's office to make this possible. Jeanne Herrick, who mentors teachers in Rochester, NY, has created a beautiful DVD slideshow tribute to Tom and to early childhood education featuring Tom's very important song "As Human As They Can Be." It will be debuted at the Friday evening concert. There will be a tribute concert at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) conference on November 7th in Dallas, TX. We will be attending this event also. The DVD slideshow will be shown and will be available to purchase. Circle of Songs with Hugh Hanley (www.hughhanley.com) has offered to help us sell Tom's CDs and essays in the exhibit hall during the conference. We'll be at the booth most of Friday the 7th so please stop by to say hi. Tom's recording called "Love Heals" will be re-released in CD format next month. It's a CD of songs for the spirit -- some that use explicit religious language and some that don't. Many of them have really hit home lately. Here's an excerpt from the liner notes: "Each [song] also reflects the belief that love really does heal -- not by making everything 'all better' or even 'okay' but by being present to comfort and embrace, challenge and change." There are several other CDs, a booklet of essays written by Tom, and a book by Bev Bos of chants, fingerplays, and stories (appropriately titled "Chants, Fingerplays, & Stories") available -- go to www.tomhunter.com/store.htm to learn more. The DVD slideshow will be available to purchase on our website soon. We plan to re-release in CD format Tom's LPs and cassette tapes that haven't been available for a while and are hoping to publish more of his essays. We will let you know when they are available. That's all for now. Treasure one another and keep it going! -- Gwen and Aeden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tom Hunter Day: A Day For Singing! WHEREAS, Tom Hunter nourished the hearts of teachers, parents and children for decades around Washington State, the United States and overseas; and WHEREAS, Tom Hunter was a brilliant folk singer, song writer, minister, minstrel, educator, and champion of teachers and children; and WHEREAS, Tom Hunter had an encyclopedic knowledge of folksongs and when no suitable song existed, was most willing to write a great one; and WHEREAS, Tom Hunter was widely beloved for his ability to celebrate teachers' everyday interactions with children; and WHEREAS, Tom Hunter encouraged generations of children to sing and value community; and WHEREAS, Tom Hunter was a loving husband and father, son, brother and stalwart friend to many; and WHEREAS, we honor Tom Hunter's teachings, generosity, vision and talents, by keeping his music and stories alive, and continuing his legacy of singing out loud. In short, following Tom's wise advice to KEEP IT GOING; NOW, THEREFORE, I Christine O. Gregoire, Governor of the State of Washington, do hereby proclaim October 24, 2008, as Tom Hunter Day: A Day for Singing! in Washington State, and I urge all citizens to join me in this special observance. Signed this 30th day of September, 2008 Governor Christine O. Gregoire -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE SONG GROWING CO. 1225 E. Sunset Dr., #518 Bellingham, WA 98226 (360) 738-0340 fax: (360) 734-0295 songgrow at tomhunter.com www.tomhunter.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 9313 bytes Desc: not available Url : From list at tomhunter.com Tue Dec 9 17:25:52 2008 From: list at tomhunter.com (Tom Hunter - The Song Growing Co.) Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2008 14:25:52 -0800 Subject: Many a Musing from Tom Hunter's Song Growing Co. Message-ID: <003201c95a4d$190d1840$0302a8c0@SGC> Greetings to you all as we head deeper into this years' holiday season. This has been an especially sad season for our family and those of you who knew Tom. Mixed with our sadness is also deep gratitude for the love that has sustained us. At the end of this newsletter you will find a special gift from Tom that is particularly relevant. As you may know, for the past 17 or so years, he directed and MC'd the First Congregational Church of Bellingham's annual Christmas Eve telling of the Christmas story, and each year wrote a new song for this event. Nearly 1,200 people attended annually and it became a tradition for many people, regardless of their beliefs. We think that you will find the song Tom wrote and sang last Christmas Eve absolutely amazing. We are pleased to announce new products for sale at our online store - www.tomhunter.com/store.htm ... (NOTE: If you place an order by the end of Wednesday, December 17, odds are really really good that it will arrive in time for Christmas. Orders placed after the 17th are kind of iffy.) 1) Jeanne Herrick, a mentor of teachers in Rochester, NY, spent many many hours creating a beautiful tribute DVD featuring slides of Tom and the work of early-childhood educators. It also features Tom's powerful new songs "As Human As They Can Be" (the title song) and "You Will Know," plus a loving song written under the maple tree this summer for Tom by musician/educator/friend Judy Bierman. 2) In our ongoing quest to "keep it going," we've released "Love Heals" as a CD. It's a recording of "songs for the spirit" that features Tom's beloved First Congregational Church of Bellingham folk choir. We will give a portion of sales to the FCCB to support its mission. The concept behind "Love Heals" has been especially important to us because of the healing power of Love that we've experienced this year. Although the title song was inspired by a young man dying of AIDS, the message is universal. As Tom wrote about this album, ".love really does heal - not by making everything 'all better' or even 'okay' but by being present to comfort and embrace, challenge and change." We have been comforted and embraced, challenged and changed by the events of this year and we are extremely grateful for your love and support. Thank you. - Aeden and Gwen A gift from Tom to all of us: There's a Death in Every Christmas by Tom Hunter ?2007 It's a time so full of happiness, of joy and peace and hope That if you bring up negatives, you feel like such a dope. So then we tell the story without what happened when They all left from Bethlehem to go back home again. Jesus' fam'ly went to Egypt; they had been forewarned That Herod, feeling threatened, was killing the first born. The magi went a different way so they could avoid The danger brought by Jesus' birth - a silent night destroyed. CHORUS: There's a death in every Christmas - it's hard to admit. To have a happy story, dying doesn't fit. Unless, of course, the love that's born is big enough to go Into mangers, into tombs, to show us what it knows. The fact is, when we're honest, it's not a time of joy For those without the wherewithall to buy that shirt or toy. And how 'bout grief and sadness when someone dear has died? Christmas can be lonely with no good place to hide. CHORUS So maybe Jesus born that night came first to face the dark, To walk where light is hard to find and hope's a distant spark. So then if we ignore what's hard - like death and fear and doubt - We miss the power of God's love, and what this birth's about. CHORUS -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 9313 bytes Desc: not available Url :