Folk ‘n’ Blues T-shirts emerged from the backs of closets and dresser drawers after a prompt in our last issue.
Along with the shirts came photos and a lot of memories – of hearing Buddy Guy and Down the Line, designing a shirt with a quill pen and tracing paper, and dancing. Always dancing. Long Live Folk n’ Blues!
Jenny Hope Nolden’79
I found this in my youngest daughter’s closet (she is 22). I’m wearing a T-shirt from the 1974 Folk ‘n’ Blues Festival. I loved the F & B Fest and looked forward to it every year. Great music and friends in front of Middle College.
Glen Burnett’99
Glen Burnett’99 wrote in to say that he drew the 1996 and 1997 Folk ‘n’ Blues T-shirts. “I drew ’97 using Mayan glyphs that I found in a book in the Beloit library. The following year, another Beloiter from Guatemala gave me a strong reminder of what is now called white privilege, and told me it was offensive for appropriating Mayan culture. And here I had just thought they were so cool…”
Craig Ryan’77
I was very surprised to see the T-shirt I designed on the back cover of our Beloit alumni magazine! I clearly remember drawing the design with many revisions using tracing paper, a quill pen, and black India ink. I was frustrated at the time because my go-between for the festival wanted me to add more text than I wanted. In the end, we worked it out, and I got a red shirt in payment for my work.
My design is the yellow shirt with the turtle-shaped banjo. I decided on this theme because during my freshman year, a good friend played the banjo, and I really liked our turtle mascot. I believe it was 1976, when we had the trimester schedule, and many of us loved Beloit in the summer.
Kristen Langness Marino’94
So my mom went and made all my Beloit T-shirts into a T-shirt quilt, including Folk ‘n’ Blues (and Spring Day) shirts from 1990-1994. There are a number of non-Beloit shirts in there, but many other Beloit shirts, including one that I made when I worked for Student Activities, shirts from my field term in Costa Rica, one from Anthro Club, and the best Beloit sweatshirt ever (wish it would come back).
Shefali Kulkarni’07
During a bout of spring-cleaning, Shefali Kulkarni’07 found her 2005 shirt. “Folk ‘n’ Blues was amazing in 2005!” she wrote. “I remember it was raining and muddy, but the music was awesome, and we all danced under the tent all night! It was this Folk ‘n’ Blues that got me hooked on [the band] Down the Line, which every now and then I listen to and fondly remember my Beloit days.”
Matthew Quinlivan’86
Matthew Quinlivan’86 wrote to say that his freshman year Folk ‘n’ Blues T-shirt has survived three Beloit reunions so far. Here’s the latest, from 2016, when the class of 1986 celebrated its 30th. From left are Matthew, Paul Timpane, Andy Ross, Jerry Moore, Paschal Sciarra, and Paul Foster. “We’re on the lawn of good ol’ 810 College St., our former Beta home,” Matthew writes. “If you ask us, I think we all might recall Buddy Guy playing his fantastic blues as our favorite Folk ‘n’ Blues experience.”
