Letter to Joubert

Dear Ed,

Old friend, we miss you! It has been ages since we spoke and I wanted to Phil you in on the Gap! (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

Ed, would you believe that it has been twenty-nine years since we started the Celebration of the Arts? Amazing! It seems like only yesterday when you, Rick Chamberlain and I looked at the array of talented jazz musicians lined up on the Deer Head Inn bandstand, waiting to jam. There were so many, they were spilling out through the screen door behind the piano and the porch looked like the IRT at rush hour! And when the fateful words were uttered, I forget by whom: "We could have a helluva festival if we moved it outside."

So the next year we did, and a helluva festival it has become. Our local artists, many with international credentials, measure their yearly artistic growth by this local Rosetta stone. They always bring their best dishes to our lavish artistic table.

Every year some friends are lost and we all move up a little closer to the head of the line, richer for having known and loved them. Our most important work goes well. I know how much you value young people - like the time you put a chair in the middle of Main street to slow down the nuts that speed through our town and endanger everyone. You would be proud of the work that Pat Dorian does with the young musicians who enliven our lives and area. The COTA Cats are not only an integral part of our program, thay are the keystone of our community!

Our growth can also be measured in the amount of snow-fence that we have accumulated through the years. Bob Lehr loved discussing snow-fence at meetings. Anyway, we now have enough to seal both the Mexican and Canadian borders! I sleep better knowing this!

Some folks still don't have a clue as to what is going on here. Some quarters hold that the committee is getting rich from the Festival. I know I can always use the $100 bucks I get for performing! The other day someone asked why the same groups appear year after year. I told her it was because they lived here and were festival supporters, a requisite to performing here. She was surprised at this. Strange! It's been twenty-eight years and some are still waiting for Kenny G.

Stay well old friend and enjoy your new company. I'll keep you posted on the COTA Cats 28th - that should be a helluva party!

Phil Woods

P.S. Wherever you are, please lobby for good weather.

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The Delaware Water Gap Celebration of the Arts is a non-profit organization founded by Phil Woods, Rick Chamberlain and Ed Joubert in 1978 to foster an appreciation of jazz and its relationship to other artistic disciplines. COTA's major focus is its outdoor arts Festival held annually the weekend after Labor Day. Participating musicians, artists, and vendors are from the area of the Pocono Mountains.

Besides showcasing many nationally recognized musicians and artists who have chosen to live in this scenic area, the COTA Festival also provides an opportunity for talented, though lesser-known, musicians to be recognized.

Over a period of twenty-one years, the Festival has witnessed dramatic growth. A budget of only $300 in 1978 has grown to exceed $50,000; attendance of hundreds has increased to thousands. Yet the spirit and sense of community which has been the Festival's greatest asset, and perhaps its greatest gift, has not changed.

A major thrust of COTA has been to encourage and support the teaching of jazz music in area schools. A stage band call the COTA Cats, composed of area high school musicians, performs annually under the direction of area music educators, Tom Fadden, Kyle Glaser and Lance Rauh.. The Festival commissions arrangements and original compositions from nationally known composers and students which are performed by the COTA Cats each year. Moreover, COTA awards scholarships to help aspiring musicians underwrite the cost of college.

An initial objective of the Festival - to provide the local population the opportunity to experience the creative endeavors of local artists and musicians - has been attained, and ancillary benefits have accrued. A sense of community pride relative to the quality of the event has grown. Literally hundreds of volunteers give of their time. Service organizations participate and benefit. Musicians find that the Festival motivates them to create and to perform at their highest levels. Progress is made and measured each year. Artists in all disciplines petition regularly to become part of an event which has gained yearly in reputation and stature. What began as a local happening has become a festival attracting people from all over the country.

After 1980, the first year that income exceeded expenses, proceeds have been distributed to various community enterprises: the Borough of Delaware Water Gap for refurbishing the local park, the Dutot Museum, the Presbyterian Church of the Mountain Community Music Fund and the local volunteer fire company.

COTA's broad based mission - to improve the quality of life in Delaware Water Gap - appears to have been accomplished, if attendance and a spirit of generosity are determining criteria.

Adapted from an essay from the late Bob Lehr, former Chairman of COTA's Board of Directors.