12 responses

1. Shane Hoffmann | 10 April 2012

   Thanks for the great story about us (St. Joseph Island Coffee Roasters) in the news section. It is always great having “pop-in” company to break up the day for us. Looking forward to another summer of fun and music throughout all of the Algoma Trad events.
2. Jed Roman | 1 February 2012

   I had the pleasure of being at a performance by Shane and his friends at the Fiddler’s Picnic in Osceola, NY a couple of years ago. I’m not a regular follower of this type of music, but I must say that I was so moved that day by what I heard. It’s relaxing and happy music and I was impressed with the humble personalities of Shane and his two friends. The rest of the music industry could learn a great deal from these folks.
3. Sarah Devon | 26 August 2011

   Wow, I can’t believe camp is over for another year. I always have so much fun and it’s so sad when we all say goodbye. Thanks Pat and Julie for the thousands of hours you put into this camp so that we all have an amazing time. You guys are incredible!
   See y’all next year <3
4. Sarah | 25 August 2011

   Camp 2011 was a success – as always.

   And from the outside looking in you could never understand it and from in the inside looking out you could never explain it. It’s a place of wonder and awe; where dreams come true. For one week you are suspended in time, unaware of the day or of the hour just living in the moment instead of living by the moment. The sun sets and it rises and you still haven’t slept, the music is always playing and the laughter is never ending.

   Secrets are shared, friends are made, old ones united. Stories are told, hands are held, girls are swung on the dance floor. Elderly people and young ones too. Songs are sung, dances are called, tunes are learned. Strings are broken and replaced.

   Its a whirlwind of magic, of laughter, of sleepless nights, of sore fingers, of full stomachs, of best friends and family. Where the place you only visit once a year is your home away from home.

   The dining hall with its familiar smell, the creaky hinges attached to the worn out doors. The dusty floor, the beautiful piano and the old comfy couches.

   The cabins with their well used foams, the spiders on the walls, the grass on the floor and the clothes scattered all around.

   The barn with its beloved cracks, the sun streaming through in just the right places. The wooden floor full of splinters waiting to happen and the music coming alive.

   It is the place where you conqur the unthinkable, where you find talents you never knew you posessed and where you eat more food than you thought was possible. it’s where laughter is a must, where sleep is a musn’t, where music follows your every step and where you watch your step on the stairs.

   Its the place where you look around, at the smiling faces of the young and the old, at the tapping feet, at the sun through the barn cracks, at the best friend sitting right beside you and as you try and take it all in, tears form in your eyes becuase you realize -this is your family, this is home.

   Because after all; home is where the heart is. And our hearts are at AlgomaTrad.

   Thanks to everyone who makes camp a succes…
   Is it too early to say 348 days until Trad 2012? nahh.
5. AlgomaTrad | 31 July 2011

   aine schryer o’gorman

   2 weeks till camp…soooooo excited!!!!!!!
6. Sarah | 5 July 2011

   AlgomaTrad is the place your heart aches for all year. It is the place friends become family, where nights turn into mornings and where memories are made and never forgotten. In just one week you find within yourself talents you never knew you had and the strength to carry on with only a few hours of sleep. AlgomaTrad is the smile seen on the face of students who master their new tunes, it’s the sun shining through the beloved cracks in the old barn, it’s the music heard across the dining hall and the dancing feet that never tire. It’s the one place where freedom from the stress of work and life fades away because you become so engaged in the music you forget what you left behind. 7 days on an island in the middle of no where flies by and before you know it, the tears are falling and you are saying goodbye to a family you never knew you had. You are already counting down the days until the start of camp next year and you are eating your last meal together.

   Bring on AlgomaTrad 2011 – I am ready for another week of memories, of tunes, of laughter and of making new friends for life. Just a little more than one month to the place we long to be all year!Hope to see you there friend.
7. Brendan Keenan | 15 May 2011

   Hi Gang-I saw/listened to/met you guys last week when you did the house concert in Cedar, near Traverse City. I play the bodhran with Rebecca and Don Lessard and frequently with Ruby. Your family put on an amazing and inspiring show. Lessards and Ruby have always spoken so highly of you and now I see why. Thank you for your performance and the continuing work you do promoting music, the arts and the creativity of our youth.
8. Sarah&Hollie | 6 May 2011

   Three months ’till camp! So excited for algomatrad!:)
9. aine(julie&pat) | 31 March 2011

   everybody register!!!
   ALGOMATRAD IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
10. AlgomaTrad | 20 March 2011

    WOOOOOOO CAAAAAAAMMMPPP-CAMP,OH YEAH,OH YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
11. Sarah Devon | 14 March 2011

    WOOO CAMP!!
12. tradmin | 7 March 2011

    AlgomaTrad was BY FAR my favorite experience of 2010… I can’t wait to go back and CREATE again this summer. One of the coolest things about camp is that afterglow that lasts all year long, where you feel like now you’re related to all of these crazy people forever!