Remembrances of
Larry Hoey
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Remembering Larry Hoey

Dan & Mary Garvin - St Paul, Minnesota
djgarvin@mmm.com - mgarvin@mmm.com

So many things have already been said by people who knew Larry for years -- it's hard to know what to add.  We knew Larry for such a short time.  Mary and I first met him at DCFF in 1997.  We were all on staff that year, Mary actually sharing a session with Larry.  That first weekend, I remember we started to discuss dances -- exploring each others interests, recalling old dances we hadn't done in ages, finding out where we had danced and who we knew in common.  We even found we had an art scholar friend in common.  I think you can safely say that we clicked, as have so many others who knew Larry.

From that time on, we saw Larry quite regularly, but only at camps or festivals.  Milwaukee Holiday Folk Fair, Madison Folk Ball, Regional June Camp, DCFF -- it's almost shocking to realize that we might never have known Larry if it weren't for these events!  I can't think of anything else that could stress the importance of having these regular, yet special, events -- bringing people from different areas to form one community.  Each time with Larry gave us another opportunity to explore our common interests and share our individual pleasures -- be it on the dance floor or in the kitchen at Sister Bay Village Hall, teaching each other different dances.  This last DCFF, we thought we had him talked into coming to the Twin Cities for our fall workshop and were really looking forward to seeing him here and showing him the new Tapestry building.  I think Mary put it best when I broke the news to her after Paul's call -- we weren't done with Larry yet.

I was happy to see all the memories and references to Larry's musical side.  I frankly did not realize that he was such an accomplished musician, nor did I comprehend the breadth of his interests.  But I was aware of this musical side, through a last memory from DCFF this year that I will share.  At the Friday night dance party in Sister Bay, when Izvor was playing Ajde Jano, I stood near the stage and joined in with the singing, doing the lower part.  After  a couple of verses, Larry came over and joined me in this singing session.  Afterward, the pleasure written all over his face, he told me that "I really feel like singing when you guys are around".

How could we ask for a happier memory ...

Dan & Mary Garvin - St Paul, Minnesota
djgarvin@mmm.com - mgarvin@mmm.com
 


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