Again, borrowing a picture from Beth:

Everyone always says:  When one door closes, another opens. 

Well, one door has closed.  On March 8th 2008,  at the Buckeye Dulcimer Festival, Sweetwater played our last concert.  And as we call it a day, all we can think of are the places we’ve gone, and all the wonderful people we’ve met in over 22 years of playing together. 

Memories are what brings the past into the present…and we have some pretty wonderful memories to fall back on:

Being ‘on tour’ from Ohio to the West Coast…all the wonderful parts of this great country that we experienced… how we found wonder around every corner and friends with every mile.

All the festivals and clubs where we’ve performed and taught ….every class being better than the last one…with  lots of laughs and a feeling of accomplishment for the students and us as well.

Playing for the Governor at the installment of the late Dr. Susan Porter in the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame.

Going on the first Great Black Swamp Festival tour to the UK and Ireland.  Finding that the folks over there liked our music as much as we like theirs….   and finding dulcimer players in the oddest places.

Watching the Buckeye Dulcimer Festival grow and grow – becoming larger and more influential, but still keeping that friendly feeling.

Watching as our own camp, Shady Grove, became a small gem – and was a warm, family-style place for people to learn to play, and make friends as they made music.

Gosh, there are many more memories that will certainly pop up in our minds from time to time….  Way too many for this letter.  But you get the idea…

One thing we’ve always tried to do, is take the music to the people, and have fun.  We’ve tried to bring you songs that inspired you, hopefully enlightened you…and made you laugh.  And if we’ve put a song on your lips, or a smile on your face…well, that was our aim.

Hopefully, our good work is not over.  We’ll be around…each in our own way. 

Shari will be concentrating on her publishing firm.  Shelley will still be playing solo, publishing her books and vending at festivals, as well as continuing her private teaching.  Cindy will be doing her celtic radio show, The Dear Green Place on WYSO FM,  and watching her new grandson grow.

And who knows what other new doors will open?

To all our friends…well, we hope we’ve already told you in many ways how special you are to us.  You’ve all made it fun to be Sweetwater for all these years.

Thanks for everything…

Shari, Shelley and Cindy

Note:  our stage act may be over, but we've created music that will still be there for a long time (we hope!).

Please visit CDBaby... www.cdbaby.com/sweetwater

(for other selections, just add 2, 3, or 4 at the end of the url)

And our myspace page is still up - you can hear some of our tracks and be one of our MySpace friends!www.myspace.com/sweetwaterohio