Hello Ron,
We had met briefly @ McCarrick on Friday, April 29th, when you performed for the residents. My Father, Jim, thouroughly enjoyed your concert. He is longtime, avid country music fan. We grew up listening to Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Sr., Jimmy Rodgers, Willie Nelson, Buck Owens, Ernest Tubb...... all the great ones~! Now-a-days, I have no interest in 'modern country', (to me, it all sounds the same; prefer I old-time artists, namely, Johnny Cash~!).
When the Beatles, The Yardbirds, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, CCR, and other bands circulated in the mid-late 60's, my sister & I, along w/ my 4 brothers, began listengin to rock 'n roll. My Dad would amaze our shcool friends, ('n later, our boyfriends+girlfriends) w/ his in-depth knowledge of dozens upon dozens of rock 'n roll artists, their songs, and the many the lyrics he could sing. It was quite a sight to see~! Over the years, dating back to the 1st concert I took him to in the late 80's, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, he and I have been to at least 30 concerts~!!!
We saw Eric Clapton, John Fogerty, George Thorogood, Willie Nelson, Junior Brown, Bill Kirchen, and others :)
As for myself, I've been to 300 "+" concerts along the east coast, w/ all of my friends over the years.
The last concert my Dad & I attended was a birthday gift to him April 2009: Willie Nelson, opening act, Ray Price @ The State Theatre, New Brunswick. I had also taken him Dec. 2008 (State Theatre), to see The Brian Setzer Orchestra' Christmas rock 'n roll concert, (I love Setzer & the Stray Cats). My Dad's birthday is 4/24, and this year on Easter Sunday my dad turned 82. It was the first day we were able to bring him out for a few hours since he arrived medical medical transport from Robert Wood Johnson Feb. 8th. He had been failing for the past 2 years, w/ countless falls, accidents, injuries, and trips to the emergency room, several stays @ intensive care. It was a significant amount of stress on my Mom, and her health.
It is difficult to see him in this transition, having my Mom living alone; however, our family is large, and very supportive. There are 16 grandchildren, more than 1/2 of them are able to drive, along w/ my brothere-in-law, and sister-in-laws who are fabulous. It is rare that a day (or two) goes by, without a visitor coming to see my Dad :)
In the big picture, you can't sacrafice one parent's health, for the other. This is truly what was truly occuring. We had no inetntion of admitting my Dad into longterm care, although we needed to be proactive, and had put his hame on a wait list for McCarrick, Feb. 2010. The Dr's orders @ the hospital after his horrible accident @ home, Feb. 4th, which sent him, once again in the ambulance to the Emergency Room, had him 4 days in Intensive Care. It was the Dr's written orders that transported him to McCarrick for physical therapy, as well as occupational theraply and speech therapy. We had to decide before the 5 weeks of therapy elapsed, if he would transition from the care center's therapy section, into the longterm care portion of the facility. This was my Mom's decision, soley up to her to be the one to decide. Again, a very difficult and painful decision, but the Dr. in the hospital stated that my Dad requires a medical staff. He cannot be left unattended, for any length of time, not even a few minutes.
On a positive note, my Dad is receiving the medical attention he truly requires, and my Mom can at least sleep thoruhg the night. My Father has made many new acquaintences, he loves the meals and eats very wel. His favorite activity, by far, is any type of music, sing-a-longs, kareokee, and the live musical performers, such as yourslef. I've taken video clips on 1/2 a dozen occasions, as well as 100+ photos. Withouth our family's request, the staff seem to seat my Dad in the front 'n center for most of the musical performances, and they go out of their way to 'hand him the microphone', during kareokee & sing-a-longs~! Your Johnny Cash songs made his day, indeed :)
I hope you enjoy the photos; I was only able to forward a few, as the majority of them were my Dad and his friends in the front row. My apologies, as the solo shot of you is somehwat blurry, but I belive you said, 'hello ya'll~!",
.......and I began to laugh, and the camera shook I'll try to send a follow-up e-mail, w/ a video clip, but in the past, my pc consistentely sends me an error msg, stating the attachment is too large to forward. I'll give it a try, but should you not receive the attachment, or a 2nd e-mail, you'll know I had the same issue w/ sending.
Cheers~! Eileen Hagerty
For Ron Crites
Letter Of Recommendation From Jim Thatch
Hunter County Library
July 15, 2009
Ron Crites performed at the Main Branch of the Hunterdon County Library on Friday
evening, May 8 of this year. I would like to offer this letter of recommendation to anyone
interested in booking this talented musician at their venue.
My name is James Thatch and I am the Program Coordinator for the Hunterdon County
Library as well as the head of the Public Relations Committee. Our Meeting Room was
filled to capacity on the evening of Mr. Crites performance and the audience was treated
to a very professional show of country classics. He is very comfortable in front of a live
audience and is very interactive as well, which is part of what makes his show so popular.
He has an impressive catalog of songs that he can perform and showed the audience his
skill playing the guitar as well as the banjo. Library patrons at the end of the performance
had nothing but good things to say and a good many insisted that I invite him back to
perform in the future.
If you would like any more information, please do not hesitate to contact me using the information below.
Sincerely,
James Thatch
Program Coordinator
Hunterdon County Library
(908) 788-1423
jthatch@hclibrary.us
