A legend died today. Good night Pete

As part of the Cleawater Organization for many years, I knew Pete Seeger and have many stories I can tell, but my favorite involved my children.
Every summer after the river festival season we would meet for a weekend at the Union Settlement Camp iin Beacon, N.Y. to discuss the season, the environment and to have fun.
One day the adults were playing new games on the lawn of the camp when suddenly we realized the kids were not there.
I volunteered to look for them.  As I approached the dining hall I heard singiing.  When I opened the door I saw Pete sitting on top of one of the wooden tables with about ten kids (two of whom were mine) sitting on a bench in front of him.  Pete was playing his banjo and had the kids singing along with him.
When the adults started to arrive he ended it.
As an aside, about a year ago I asked my daughter if she remembered Pete as she had been quite young in our Cleawater years and her response was "Yeah, he hit me in the head with a sail".  
He was always just one of us when we would gather after a festival to socialize and sing.  He was a very special person and his legacy of environmental activisim and music was his gift to us all.
I write this through my tears.

Thank you for sharing your story. He was an amazing man.

Turn Turn Turn, sung by Judy Collins, music by Pete Seeger, lyrics by Ecclesiastes.

My Brother-in-law Phil, who was here at Lakeside last week, wrote this on hearing of Pete Seeger's passing.....

REMEMBERING "ST. PETE"
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From Towne Crier founder, Phil Ciganer:

In the early '70s, when I came to the Hudson Valley to open the Towne Crier Cafe, I heard Pete Seeger lived nearby, in Beacon, and I hoped to meet the great man. Sure enough, when one of our first scheduled performers was detained by car trouble, Pete showed up and volunteered to “fill in.” That, I soon came to learn, was “typical Pete."

It was the beginning of a relationship that spanned four decades. As we got to know each other, I became involved with the Clearwater organization and Pete’s passion to reclaim the Hudson River. “Phil,” he said, “if you want to change the world, you start at home.” My role for the next four years was to help turn their annual folk picnic into what has become the Clearwater Festival—Great Hudson River Revival.

One year, I was instrumental in booking Pete at the New Orleans Jazz Festival. As we landed in New Orleans, I worried that I had blundered by bringing a folk icon with his banjo to a loud party of a festival. But sure enough, Pete charmed them immediately with his spirit and won them over with his songs. That’s when I realized how much he had come to mean to us all.

Pete graced our stage many, many times over the years, sometimes on behalf of a specific cause—but always in the name of music and its power to build community and change the world.

It’s no exaggeration to say Pete was a major reason we moved to Beacon, and he made us feel right at home with his neighborly visits. In fact, Pete “played” the Towne Crier even before we opened, setting up an impromptu stage outside with some musical friends during the city's annual Spirit of Beacon Day.

Although he was ailing, Pete took to the Towne Crier stage in November for “The Weavers at 65,” a fundraiser for the Beacon Sloop Club. He seemed genuinely joyful that night, in his hometown, among friends, never tiring in his mission.

We knew then, as Pete knew, his time would not be long, that this day would come. Like all of you, I mourn his passing, deeply. But I celebrate his long, vibrant, meaningful and fruitful life.

Pete was that rare person who lived up to his ideals. Ever humble ("I don’t like ‘big’,” he once told me), unyielding in his convictions, he had a song to sing, and he sang it. It was about the hammer of justice, the bell of freedom, and love between his brothers and his sisters all over this land.

Thank you for sharing this SunFan.

Pete made a difference even when he was not there.
In the height of the cold war my son and I toured the Soviet Union.
I had many heated conversations with our Intourist Guide regarding freedom and democracy as opposed to the Soviet system.
One day I was leading singing on the bus and started Irene Goodnight, which was one of Pete's signature songs. The Intourist Guide was obviously very surprised as the Soviets thought he was friendly towards them. She asked how we could and would be allowed to sing somethiing of his. When I told her I knew him and had worked at festivals with him she found it unbelievable. It was certainly an eye opener for her to see freedom in action.

Pete knew lots of people from everywhere. He was well loved and will be missed. End of an
era basically. The last of the old folk/Political singers of that era. Boy did Hoover hate him.

Z