I ran into the principal percussionist from the BSO yesterday. Little did I know he plays golf at the country club. When I told him I was the one playing the chimes there he proceeded to give me an analysis of all the songs I play (only three keys, transferring octaves, which composers I like, etc.) Oh my gosh. Sometimes you don’t see anyone there and all of a sudden someone who knows a thing or two is really listening from the golf course! 

I invited him up of course. Hopefully I’ll get a photo of him there and we can use that for promo somehow. His name is William Hudgins.

Other than that, people who remember playing as children are coming up to see the “action”. Some of them are in their 60’s, many come from all over the county. Sometimes they start crying about being kicked out when they brought ice cream up or had messy hands, but mostly the memories are very poignant. The moral of the story is every day it’s something different. I could write a book about a 96-year-old woman who comes every single day and sits on a bench with her older daughter, son-in-law and nurse- rain or shine.

I have lots of kids who come up, but it’s usually because I ran into them or their parents during the day somewhere, or they are friends. If anyone tells you I don’t play well it’s because I am at that moment giving the kids a turn. Just saying…

When it comes time to give some sort of report to the town about all this, please let me know. The stories are amazing.

Editor’s note: Overseeing the project is Berkshire County conductor and music educator, Andrea Goodman. She plays at 5:30 p.m. between “apple blossom and the first frost on the pumpkin.”