Since 1992
Print and digital marketing
PARIS — Folk singer Noel Paul Stookey will perform at the Paris Hill Music Festival, a featured performer in the three-day event.
Stookey will play at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12, at the First Baptist Church of Paris.
Stookey, a Baltimore native, is a long-time resident of Blue Hill, where he lives with his wife Betty and where they raised their three daughters. Stookey records there in his private studio, a converted chicken coop, where he broadcast WERU when the station started in 1988.
He is familiar to many as a third of the folk ensemble Peter, Paul, and Mary, but also is known for his solo songs and extended monologues. In 1986, Stookey joined Jim Newton, Paul G. Hill, and Denny Bouchard at the Celebration Shop in Texas.
The company is now known as Hugworks and uses original musical compositions as music therapy to address the special needs of children. The company has produced three award-winning children’s CDs used in hospitals, medical camps and homes across the country.
Stookey, in his music has emphasized his Christian faith, family life and social concerns. He will occasionally perform with his friend Peter Yarrow, also of Peter, Paul & Mary. Stookey’s 1971 composition “The Wedding Song (Where There is Love),” which he wrote as a wedding gift for Yarrow, remains popular qt wedding services today.
Stookey’s performance is part of the festival, which runs from Thursday, Aug. 10, to Saturday, Aug. 13. Other performers are Schooner Fare on Aug. 10, the DaPonte String Quartet on Aug. 11, all at 7 p.m., and the Chris Humphrey Jazz Quartet at 3 p.m. on Aug. 13. All of the concerts will be held at the First Baptist Church of Paris, 500 Paris Hill Road, South Paris.
The festival will also include a Music Expo from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 12, which will showcase local musicians in free concerts throughout the day on the Common. Vendors of food, crafts, and music will share their goods as well. Parking is free.
Dinner will be available before the concerts each evening and lunch on Sunday at the Paris Hill Country Club. Reservations are suggested for the evenings at 207-743-2371. The meals will cost $24.95 per person. The country club is two blocks from the church.
Tickets for the festival are $30 and are available at the Paris Hill Country Club, Bolster’s Decorating in Market Square in South Paris and at Books-n-Things on Main Street in Norway. They can also be bought by calling 207-743-9390.
Proceeds from the festival, after costs, will be distributed as 50 percent to future festivals, 30 percent to student scholarships, and 20 percent to the Friends of the First Baptist Church of Paris, which renovates and maintains the historic church building.
Vendors interested in being part of the expo may contact festival director Mary Beth Caffey at 207-754-7970 or mbcaffey@gmail.com. For more information about the festival www.facebook.com/ParisHillMusic or contact Caffey.
