PCFS: A Page in History by Glen Morningstar Jr.
In celebration of the upcoming 30th anniversary year of Paint Creek Folklore Society
Article 3…Paint Creek Folk Gathering/Folklore Society expands its communication to Statewide Folk
Societies and the Library of Congress
Picking up from when the 1976/1977 officers for Paint Creek Folk Gathering were appointed…these officers
took up the challenge to "get the word out further" in the social and music circles in Rochester and surrounding
towns…President Tom Radcliffe, Vice President Glen Morningstar, Secretary Cheryl Creamer and Co-
Treasurers Lee Rosano Sadovsky & Steve Diebold.
On July 8, 1976, the first letter to Paint Creek Folk Gathering was written by Vice President Glen Morningstar
to begin a monthly news and information publication, "Hello Paint Creek Folk". This first newsletter was
mailed to the Paint Creek members and included a list of paid members and their vitals. This was to encourage
communication between the members which by June 28, 1976 numbered 17. These newsletters included
the information previously mailed in the meeting invitation postcards used for the April-June 1976 meetings.
All Paint Creek meetings, locations, subjects, news about members and Paint Creek activity highlights from
July, 1976 to September, 1977 are collected in these first newsletters and housed in the Paint Creek archives.
In August, 1977, the Paint Creek officers collaborated on a banner newsletter to both communicate to the
members and as well communicate to other folk organizations in Michigan and surrounding States. An appeal
to the members was made to "name the newsletter". Tom Radcliffe's entry of Keepin' Tabs was selected and
Vice President Glen Morningstar constructed the prototype and with the officers' approval, launched the first
issue of Keepin' Tabs in October, 1977.
Issues of "Keepin' Tabs…a word or two from Paint Creek Folklore Society" were sent to folk societies in Detroit,
Grand Rapids, Lansing, Holland, Indianapolis, Dayton and the Library of Congress. We were particularly
excited when the Library of Congress sent us "official" documentation letting us know they enjoyed our
newsletter and were archiving the copies we were sending. Keepin' Tabs became the glue that was helping the
membership stick together and the thread that connected Paint Creek with other similar music, song and dance
groups. Here's a list of the Keepin' Tabs editors over our many years…
Oct 1977-Aug 1979 Glen Morningstar Jr.
Sep 1979-Aug 1981 Tom Radcliffe
Sep 1981-Sep 1986 Judi Morningstar
Oct 1986-Jun 1988 Judy Dyki
Jul 1988-Sep 1994 Shel Decker
Oct 1994-Mar 1999 Robin Kaufman
Apr 1999-Aug 2001 JoAnn V. Bush
Sep 2001-Jun 2003 Jim Foley
Jul 2003-Current Mary St. Clair
Our hats off to these folks who have and continue to handle this BIG task that's a key ingredient to our longevity…