The year 2008 will be the 27th year of Strawberry Music Festivals. In this season we will present our 49th and 50th festivals at our beautiful home, Camp Mather, bordering Yosemite National Park.

We've reminisced in past calendars about how many of us in the Strawberry community have been growing up and growing old together. We are "Strawberry Seniors" and while we all agree this is a privilege we share, we have duly noted the subtle and not so subtle changes the aging process has presented us. Well, to put it all in perspective, we have fourteen year old Grace Kistler-Fair who took significant time at the Fall 2003 festival to fill out a Strawberry Survey and well, give us a whole new way to look at ourselves. A Strawberry veteran, Grace's mom, Raydelle, explained to us that Grace has been coming to both festivals every year of her life, her very first time at Strawberry she joined us in-utero.

Grace's answer to survey question number five, "Any suggestions or comments to improve the festival in general" was so caring and thoughtful, after we picked ourselves up off of the floor, we knew we had to share Grace's insights with all of you. Here's Grace's response: "I was thinking that it would be nice to have senior activities (50 years old and up) at Birch Lake. The older people need to have fun too. : Here are some activities I think they could do: Make your own cane, decorate your own toothbrush cup, spend time with the younger kids…etc. Nothing strenuous. : Just a thought…"

The Strawberry Staff salutes Grace's thoughtfulness and is comforted by the awareness that this younger Strawberry generation (with Grace as their leader), will continue to provide the kind and creatively stimulating festival experience we all know and love. Thank you, Grace!