Welcome to the VFSS News page, where you will find all of our News posts, past and present. Scroll through to find our monthly newsletter, and to catch up on recent news. Don’t miss the carrot cake recipe!
Claire Joanne Huff was a long-time member of the VFSS, host of many years of board meetings, conscientious treasurer, and source of a range of traditional and sometimes slightly subversive songs at our retreats, song circles, and open stages. She passed away on July 27 with her children by her side. Her husband Jerry was…
Here is our newsletter for September, 2025. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page if you are not already on our mailing list.
Here is our newsletter for August, 2025. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page if you are not already on our mailing list.
Here is our newsletter for July, 2025. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page if you are not already on our mailing list.
Here is our newsletter for June, 2025. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page if you are not already on our mailing list.
The VFSS is getting a brand new website! The new site will be an interactive home for previously unavailable archival material, recordings, and updates on all things VFSS, and stands ready to bring our online presence into the 21st century. To help pay for this immense undertaking, the VFSS is hosting a benefit concert, featuring…
Here is our newsletter for May, 2025. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page if you are not already on our mailing list.
Here are the folks lined up to perform featured sets at our upcoming in-person and online events in May:
Here is our newsletter for April, 2025. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page if you are not already on our mailing list.
Here is our newsletter for March, 2025. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page if you are not already on our mailing list.
Here are the folks lined up to perform featured sets at our upcoming in-person and online events in March:
Here is our newsletter for February, 2025. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page if you are not already on our mailing list.
Here are the folks lined up to perform featured sets at our upcoming in-person and online events in January:
Here is our newsletter for January, 2025. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page if you are not already on our mailing list.
Here are the folks lined up to perform featured sets at our upcoming in-person and online events in December:
Here is our newsletter for December, 2024. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page if you are not already on our mailing list.
Here are the folks lined up to perform featured sets at our upcoming in-person and online events in November:
Here is our newsletter for November, 2024. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page if you are not already on our mailing list.
Here are the folks lined up to perform featured sets at our upcoming in-person and online events in October:
Here is our newsletter for October, 2024. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page if you are not already on our mailing list.
March 4 1952 – September 18 2024 I am sorry to report the loss of my dear friend Lyn van Lidth de Jeude this past week. Lyn had a long history with the Vancouver Folk Song Society, in fact, that’s how I first met her. In the summer of 1975, she was secretary and her…
Here are the folks lined up to perform featured sets at our upcoming in-person and online events in September:
Here is our newsletter for September, 2024. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page if you are not already on our mailing list.
It’s that time again! The Friday Climate Strike March, Sep 20 at 12 noon. Vancouver City Hall to the Art Gallery. The VFSS has been designated a spot to stand on the roadside and sing to the marchers — there will be a lot of kids! — as they go by. Same place as last year:…
Here is our newsletter for August, 2024. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page if you are not already on our mailing list.
Here are the folks lined up to perform featured sets at our upcoming in-person and online events in August:
Here is our newsletter for July, 2024. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page if you are not already on our mailing list.
Here are the folks lined up to perform featured sets at our upcoming in-person and online events in July:
Here is our newsletter for June, 2024, plus a followup with a couple of corrections. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page if you are not already on our mailing list.
Here are the folks lined up to perform featured sets at our upcoming in-person and online events in June:
Here is our newsletter for May, 2024. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page if you are not already on our mailing list.
Here are the folks lined up to perform featured sets at our upcoming in-person and online events in May:
Here is our newsletter for April, 2024. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page if you are not already on our mailing list.
Here are the folks lined up to perform featured sets at our upcoming in-person and online events in April:
Here is our newsletter for March, 2024. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page if you are not already on our mailing list.
The Lazy Jacks shanty crew is singing on Sunday, March 3 at the Old Hastings Mill Store Museum. Singing starts upstairs at 2 p.m. until we run out of shanties. So please come along to add your voice or even take a turn to lead one of your favourites. Admission by donation to the Museum.…
Here are the folks lined up to perform featured sets at our upcoming in-person and online events in March:
It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. Madeleine Mary DeLittle, who died peacefully surrounded by her family on January 16th 2024 at the age of 70.
Here is our newsletter for February, 2024. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page if you are not already on our mailing list.
Due to weather and road conditions, VFSS is cancelling its in-person event at the Friends’ Meeting House this evening (January 17). Instead, we will be meeting online on Zoom, starting at 7:00 pm. The Zoom link is the same as the one we used for our last few online sessions, and is being sent to our Zoom Info…
Here are the folks lined up to perform featured sets at our upcoming in-person and online events in February:
At our recent Winter Solstice gathering, the 2023 VFSS Recognition Awards were presented to Leona Axbey and Steve Deering.
Here is our newsletter for January, 2024. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page if you are not already on our mailing list.
Here are the folks lined up to perform featured sets at our upcoming in-person and online events in January:
Here’s our newsletter for December, 2023. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page.
Here are the folks lined up to perform featured sets at our upcoming in-person and online events in November and December:
Here’s our newsletter for November, 2023. To receive future monthly newsletters, go to our email subscription page.
Here are the folks lined up to perform featured sets at our upcoming in-person and online events in October:
Here are the folks lined up to perform featured sets at our upcoming in-person and online events in September:
As of August 2, the Harmony Jam is returning to the VFSS Wednesday gatherings, starting at 7:20 pm. The Harmony Jam is a singalong that opens our Wednesday night sessions. We are keen to sing together again after the Covid hiatus. Everyone is welcome to join in on these well-loved, easy-to-learn singalong songs. Just get…
Here are the folks lined up to perform featured sets at our upcoming in-person and online events in August:
One of the highlights of the VFSS’s 64th Anniversary Celebration on June 21 was the delicious carrot cake donated by VFSS member, singer, songwriter, and baker extraordinaire, Linda Chobotuck, who wrote us to say: At the anniversary I had one request for the lyrics to the song I sang, but three requests for the carrot…
I have known Ben Hechter for enough years that I no longer remember where or when we met. Our friendship included cycling and long conversations on many topics (education, politics (local, national, world), religion, architecture) at a “best” coffee bistro. Unsurprisingly, the friendship also included a common interest in music.
[Updated on July 30 to include Harmony Jam warm-up singing at our in-person events.] There are lots of changes to our event schedule and formats starting in May: • More in-person events at the Friends’ Meeting House.• More opportunities to hear and perform 15-minute sets at the in-person events.• Monthly online song circles combined with live-streamed performances…
This week we received sad news about one of our members. I’m writing to let Roger’s friends, colleagues, comrades, and neighbors know that he died yesterday (April 26) of complications from covid. I do not want folks to feel sad or sorry for me. I feel I have been incredibly blessed to have loved and…
During this evening’s online song circle, we played the first minute of a recording of Allan Davison singing Queen Eleanor’s Confession (Child ballad 156) at the Christmas Song Circle on December 17, 1973. And, we were honoured to have the song introduced by Allan himself, despite his claim to not remember ever singing it! The…
Christina Ray has received the 2022 Vancouver Folk Song Society’s Recognition Award for many reasons. Her contributions to the VFSS and service to the VFSS for over 30 years have been rich and varied. She was a Board member for several years in the 1990s. Since then, she has pioneered Harmony Jam which has brought…
Our master tech and President, Steve Deering, deserves accolades for delivering our first successful live-stream-to-Zoom event. It was attended by 30 people live at the Friends’ Meeting House and 22 people watched on Zoom. We hope to have more of these events in the future. If you are tech savvy and can give Steve a hand, I’m…
Monday, 27 February 7 pmMel Lehan Hall – St James Community Square3214 W. 10 Ave. (at Trutch) Vancouver Admission Free Rika Ruebsaat’s new book, My Paddle’s Keen and Bright: Summer Camp Stories, has just been published. In honour of the occasion Rika will be leading a camp songs sing-along together with reading stories from the…
Due to the extreme cold (for Vancouver!), hazardous driving conditions, unreliable bus service, and parking challenges at the Friends’ Meeting House, the VFSS has decided to cancel this evening’s in-person Winter Solstice gathering, and host a full-participation Zoom session instead. We hope you can join us there! The Zoom session opens at 7:00 pm (Pacific Time) and the evening’s…
Hi, Folks! We hope you can join us for our traditional Winter Solstice song circle on Wednesday, Dec 21, either in person at the Friends’ Meeting House at 1090 W. 70th Ave. in Vancouver or on Zoom.
During the September 21, 2022 online song circle, we played the first minute and a half of this recording of The Banks of the Similkameen, sung by Phil Thomas and accompanied by Barry Hall on the banjo, recorded at the 10th anniversary gathering of the VFSS in July, 1969. Here’s the full recording:
Here’s our schedule of events for the next three months: Wed., July 6: In-Person Song Circle at the Friends’ Meeting HouseWed., July 20: 63rd Anniversary Celebration!Wed., Aug. 3: In-Person Song Circle at the Friends’ Meeting HouseWed., Aug. 17: Online Song Circle on ZoomWed., Sep. 7: In-Person Song Circle at the Friends’ Meeting HouseWed., Sep 21: Online Song Circle on ZoomFri., Sep. 30 — Sun. Oct. 2: Annual Retreat at Camp Alexandra …
Here’s our schedule for the month of June: June 1: In-Person Song Circle at the Friends’ Meeting House, 1090 W. 70th Ave., Vancouver, BC June 15: Online Song Circle on Zoom, featuring The Burnaby Mountain Mamas (Pat Howard, Janie Benna & Rena Pinteric) We hope you can join us at one or both events! Regarding the June 1st…
Continuing with our cautious and gradual resumption of in-person gatherings, here’s our schedule for the month of May: May 4: In-Person Song Circle at the Friends’ Meeting House May 18: Online Song Circle on Zoom, featuring: Cliff Rice All the same Covid safety measures that were in place for our last two in-person gatherings will apply…
The feedback from those who attended our test in-person event on March 2nd was all positive, so we’re going to do the same in April: April 6: In-Person Song Circle at the Friends’ Meeting House, theme: Let’s Sing Together! (again!) April 20: Online Song Circle on Zoom, featuring: Elizabeth Dunn All the same Covid safety measures that…
During the March 16, 2022 online song circle, we played the first minute of this recording of Three Strong Winds (Jim Edmondson, Christina Ray, and Ellen van der Hoeven) singing The Family of Woman and Man, recorded at a VFSS Retreat in 1991. Here’s the full recording: Here are the lyrics:
Important Announcement: We are holding an in-person song circle on March 2nd — Let’s Sing Together! In light of the recent relaxation of some of BC’s COVID-19 public health orders, the VFSS Board of Directors has voted to proceed with a plan we have been working on for several months now. On March 2nd, we plan to…
At the February 2, 2022 online song circle, VFSS Secretary Jim Edmondson made the following announcement: I’m excited to introduce a new tradition into the Folk tonight. For 2021, the Folk Board is presenting three VFSS members with a well deserved recognition award. We decided to call it the Al Cox Award for outstanding service…
Riu Riu Chiu Can you learn one of the 3 parts of this 16th century spanish villancico before we meet again in person? Beware, the catchy tune and rhythm with an extra beat thrown in at the end of phrases can quickly become an endless loop in your aural channels.
During the 2021 Winter Solstice online song circle, we played the first two minutes of this recording of Al Cox leading Children, Go Where I Send Thee, from 48 years ago at the Christmas Folk Song Circle on December 19, 1973. Here’s the full recording (which still doesn’t capture the whole song, but that’s all…
You are all most welcome to attend our annual Winter Solstice event, which is online once again this year. We can only hope next year will be brighter for us all. On Tuesday, December 14, if you are on our Zoom email list, you will get the usual email with the Zoom link, and an…
We are sad to share the news that Al Cox, one of the founding members of the VFSS, passed away peacefully on September 22. Al’s beautiful voice can be heard on many of the VFSS archival recordings, both as frequent MC of events and as a performer. Eli, his daughter, wanted the VFSS members to…
During the September 1, 2021 online song circle, we played the first couple minutes of this recording of Gretchen Grinnell singing Who Killed Cockie Robin?, from the first anniversary of the VFSS, July 20, 1960. Here’s the full recording: Marian Buechert has been sifting through boxes of VFSS archives to organize them and digitize some of…
The first meeting at the Folk Song Circle as the VFSS was then called was at the Alma YMCA on the first Wednesday of July 1959. The five people who were responsible for founding the Folk Song Circle were Albert Cox, Jeannie (Cox) Moss, Phil and Hilda Thomas, and Rolf Ingelsrud. Of those founding members,…
On Sunday, September 26, 2021, the VFSS held its first online Retreat. Sixty folks attended by Zoom. For archival purposes, here are links to all the information that was emailed and/or posted on our Home page before and immediately after the event. Overview, Schedule, Session Details song suggestions for the Folk Revival of the 50s…
What does the VFSS mean to its members? The VFSS Vision 2030 Committee is out to find the answer and asked members to submit a song that they believe represents what is important about the VFSS. Mary Sherlock wrote:
I had completely forgotten creating this video for Youtube four years ago. Proof positive that we’ve been digging shanties for a lot longer than any TikTok dilettantes. I love the robust, spontaneous crew singing from the crowd at The Friends’ that evening. Someday, we’ll be doing that again, folks!
Admin. Update, June 29, 2024: To ease an upcoming website migration and eliminate duplication, all the posts related to Charles West’s Pickers Circle project prior to April 2021 are no longer available from this website. Those posts can all be found at https://pickerscircle.ca/blog/.
Linda Chobotuck says she’s been lurking around the VFSS since it met in the Granville Island Community Centre. She was lured in by then-president Anna Holbech Bjarnason. [Ed.: Our records show that Bjarnason was president in 1980.] “I grew up in a folkie family with a mother who came from a parlour-singing tradition and was…
Barry Hall grew up in what was then called the [Vancouver] Folk Song Circle during the 1960s, first attending at an early age and wowing everyone with his prodigious talent on banjo. In 1964, he was asked to record an album for highly respected Folkways Records (now Smithsonian Folkways). As you can see from the…
VISION 2030 Workshop: Thanks to everyone who sent in their replies to the question: What is one experience connected with the Folk that really stands out for you? Why? We’ve received some great stories and would love to hear from more of you Folk enthusiasts! We’ve extended the response window to Sunday Aug 9th – please reply to: vanfolksong@gmail.com and put ‘VISION 2030’…
Each year the snow geese migrate from the Arctic and pass through Ladner where they pause to refuel at Reifel Isalnd Bird Sanctuary. I was inspired to write this song about them. They are a seasonal marker for me, and I love to go and watch them in their hundreds as they rest and feed…
Burnaby Mountain MamasPat Howard – banjo , Janie Benna (harmony) and Rena Pinteric (on mandolin).
Casting about for a way to share some of the good cheer and community that we experience at our Folk Song Society Wednesday evenings, I came upon a recording of a full songcircle that I made back on April Fool’s Day, 2015. Since our songcircle that would have taken place on April 1 would have…
Casting about for a way to share some of the good cheer and community that we experience at our Folk Song Society Wednesday evenings, I came upon a recording of a full songcircle that I made back on April Fool’s Day, 2015. Since our songcircle that would have taken place tonight (April 1) would have…
Casting about for a way to share some of the good cheer and community that we experience at our Folk Song Society Wednesday evenings, I came upon a recording of a full songcircle that I made back on April Fool’s Day, 2015. Since the upcoming songcircle we will be missing would also have taken place…
Casting about for a way to share some of the good cheer and community that we experience at our Folk Song Society Wednesday evenings, I came upon a recording of a full songcircle that I made back on April Fool’s Day, 2015. Since the upcoming songcircle we will be missing would also have taken place…
Casting about for a way to share some of the good cheer and community that we experience at our Folk Song Society Wednesday evenings, I came upon a recording of a full songcircle that I made back on April Fool’s Day, 2015. Since the upcoming songcircle we will be missing would also have taken place…
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