OYEZ, OYEZ!!!
Come One, Come All
to the
Third Annual
Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum
Members' Get-Together
(MartinFest 2004)
Last updated on Tuesday, July 06, 2004
PLEASE NOTE REGISTRATION DEADLINE OF JULY 15 (SEE BELOW)
All Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum members are cordially invited to attend the Third Annual informal Get-Together for us lovers of Martin Guitars! The setting will be both indoors and outdoors, definitely informal, and most of all there will be the opportunity to meet new friends, greet old ones, enjoy each other's company, and play the guitars which we have grown to love!
When: Sunday, August 8 and Monday, August 9, 2004, from approximately 1:00 pm to dusk on Sunday and 9:00 a.m. to dusk on Monday. But, events will continue both days at the Cheers Lounge, see below.
Where: Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
Who: YOU and your guests!
What: Jamming, a tour of the Factory, singing and playing, and lots of fun!
Here are the up-to-date details. Be sure to watch this page for periodic updates.
The Location --
Sunday afternoon: Nazareth Borough Park - The "Large Pavilion" past the concession stand on your left as you enter the Park. It's at the end of the parking lot on the left. The Log Cabin was not available this year. But, that's not all bad since the Large Pavilion is more in the shade, and no one has to carry guitars up the hill!
Monday morning: C.F. Martin & Co. - Private tour, goodies, time with Chris Martin!
Monday afternoon: Nazareth Borough Park - The "Large Pavilion" again.
The Events --
1. As indicated above, a preliminary get-together on Sunday afternoon is planned. I have again reserved the Large Pavilion all day, although most folks come from about 1:00 p.m. to dusk. This will be a private spot just for us. Electricity is available. The restroom facilities are directly across the parking lot.
2. On Monday, we will start our day with a private tour of the Martin Guitar Factory at about 9:00 a.m. We will break into groups of 12 to 15 or so and be given our private tour in 10- to 15-minute intervals in order to space out the groups.
Martin will provide a private room for us to store our guitars while we are on the tour.
3. After the tour, Chris will again speak to the assembled group in the "Sawmill" as he has for the last couple of years. Then we will be Chris's guests for lunch, probably outside in a tent that they will set up for us.
4. After lunch on Monday, we will have an afternoon of sociality and music at the Large Pavilion, again private and just for us.
Martin's quarterly employee meeting is also Monday afternoon, and they will be invited to join us after the meeting is over. As you walk through the factory and have your lunch, please encourage those you see to come!
5. As was the case last year, we will be offering instructional breakout sessions. Here is the schedule:
Sunday
2:00 – 3:00 Bluegrass Song Structure with Jody Reece (Mr Jody) and Tony Myers (Flatpickinfiend)
3:00 – 4:00 Fingerstylin' with Bill Kunsman (BILL0016SGRT)
Monday
2:00 – 3:00 Acoustic Guitar Basics with Tom Buck (Buck49)
3:00 – 4:00 The Art of Acoustic Blues with Marshall Oberholtzer (Wire and Wood)
Within the next few days, a thread for each session will be created and pinned
to the top of the Naz 2004 Topic on the UMGF with details of what each session
will cover. Please post to the appropriate thread if you will be attending so
the presenters will know who and how many to expect at their respective
sessions.
Many thanks to Tom, Jody, Tony, Marshall and Bill for giving their time and
talent to our gathering.
OTHER ACTIVITIES:
Buy and Sell -- There will be a designated area both Sunday and Monday at the Park to buy or sell guitars and other UMGF related paraphernalia such as T-Shirts. This is limited to private sales ONLY!!
Other General Info --
There is no entry fee at Nazareth Park, and there are restrooms, a concession stand, and other facilities available. We will not be providing any food or beverage, so please bring your own or use the concession stand. I have not been told that alcoholic beverages are prohibited, but if you bring beer or wine PLEASE be circumspect and responsible.
Most importantly, there is NO talent needed or required (other than a good sense of direction to Nazareth). We will try to arrange for an open mike, but both afternoons are really intended just for getting together, enjoying each other's company, perhaps sharing tips and tricks, and just plain old having fun!
You will be responsible for keeping watch over your own instruments and other possessions and for loss of or damage to the same. The parking lot at Martin & Co. is not secure (and also could get hot); however, as indicated above we have arranged for a room at Martin where we can store our instruments. Nazareth Park is a public facility, so even though we have private areas, there could be many other persons passing through.
Food and Beverage -- Since there is a concession stand at the Park, everyone is encouraged to bring his or her own other provisions or use the concession stand. The concession stand is 25 to 30 yards from either facility that we are using. It is not open if it rains, but there is a pizzeria (Mijavo's) right up the road near Martin and other places available.
Directions --
From the East: Find your way to Interstate 78 in New Jersey. Follow I-78 into Pennsylvania (do NOT get off onto Route 22, Phillipsburg). About 6 miles into PA, take PA 33 North. Continue until you see Route 248 and a sign for Nazareth. Get off at this exit and bear right at the bottom of the ramp. Go a few miles, past the huge concrete plant on your right, and turn right at the light by the Nazareth Diner. Go through the town of Nazareth and past Nazareth Park on your left. You will then see a Moravian Church on your right, quickly followed by Mijavo's Restaurant/Pizzeria. Turn right immediately onto Beil Avenue, and you will see C.F. Martin & Co. on your right at the next intersection. The parking lot is on your right.
From the West: Find I-78 East and get off onto Route 33, then follow the above directions.
From the South: Take the PA Turnpike Extension up to I-78 East, then follow the above.
From the North: Follow the directions on the Martin web site
Lodging -- There are many places to stay in the Nazareth/Bethlehem area. I have arranged a group booking at the Bethlehem Comfort Inn, 3191 Highfield Drive, Bethlehem, PA 18020, 610-865-6300, 800-732-2500. The name of the group is (surprisingly) "Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum." There are 30 rooms reserved for Saturday, 70 for Sunday, 40 for Monday and 10 for Tuesday. I can probably get more if needed, but these are based on past bookings. Most of these rooms are nonsmoking, although some smoking rooms are available. Each room has a refrigerator, phone with dataport, desk, etc. and is very nice.
The rate is $74.00 per night for single and $79.00 a night for double. This is a special rate for us (it's the same as the Martin Co. rate) and does not include the sales tax (9 1/2% - welcome to Pennsylvania!). This is much lower than other discounted rates such as AAA and AARP, so there will be no extra discount for members of these organizations. Pets are even welcome for an additional $10.00!
The cutoff date for this rate is July 9, 2004. The group booking has been confirmed, and folks are registering. Please be sure to use the "Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum" as your group and NOT "Martin" or "Martin Guitar" or similar name because the group bookings are alphabetical and they will most likely not find you! I've guaranteed all the rooms, but they will be released on July 9 to get me off the hook.
There is an in-house lounge, "Cheers," which serves bar food type of stuff as well as a full Continental breakfast. There are tons of other places around, including McDonalds, Burger King, Ground Round and a Chinese restaurant and a Pizza parlor all right across the street. There is also a Perkins Family Restaurant out the back door and upscale restaurants nearby.
Cheers is not open Sunday night, but we have been "comp'ed" with the lounge for ourselves for picking after hours. The bar won't be open, but it's OK to BYO. On Monday night, they would love to have us bring our guitars and sing. We all had a great time both nights - make it part of your plans!!
The room next door to Cheers - the Morgan Room - is also ours to use on a complimentary basis both Sunday and Monday nights. In addition, I've booked a regular guest room (with one bed removed) across the hall for a coffeehouse type of function, but I'm hearing that this may be too small. More to follow on that.
Here are some other suggestions found at the Nazareth Chamber of Commerce:
Bed and Breakfast:
Classic Victorian Bed and Breakfast, 35 North New Street, Nazareth, PA 18064, 610-759-8276.
Inn at Heyer's Hill, 568 Heyer Mill Road, Nazareth, PA 18064, 610-759-6226
Hotels/Motels (all in or near Bethlehem. most with in-house restaurants and lounges):
Four Points Sheraton, right next to LVI. A first class hotel, with an indoor pool, nice lounge and good restaurant. A strong possibility for our hotel next year!
Hampton Inn, Easton/Nazareth. Low rates, indoor pool, closer to CFM & Co. than the Comfort by a couple of minutes. If I can find a dedicated web site for this hotel, I'll add a link, otherwise search for it on www.hamptoninn.com. No lounge or restaurant, but Continental breakfast.
Comfort Suites, 120 West Third Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015, 610-882-9700
Courtyard by Marriott, 2160 Motel Drive, Bethlehem, PA 18018 610-317-6200
Holiday Inn at the Gateway, Rtes 512 and 22, Bethlehem, PA 18017, 800-360-5050
Local sights and activities:
The Martin Guitar Design Seminar, jointly sponsored by Martin and Northampton Community College, will be going on in nearby Bethlehem from the 9th through the 13th of August. This is a great opportunity to extend your stay, learn a lot about guitar design, and keep having fun!
The annual "Musikfest" is ongoing in Bethlehem. Crosby, Stills and Nash are performing on the 10th.
Other events will be posted here as they are announced (or discovered).
Winery tour - Slate Quarry Winery offers tours and wine tasting. The winery is located just outside of Nazareth.
Crayola Crayons - For the kids (including us grownup kids), the Crayola Factory offers tours every day of the week in nearby Easton, PA.
Also for kids, including grown-up kids, is Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown - rides, etc.
There are also walking tours of historic Nazareth and many other activities available.
Registration -- Registration is ongoing. At the request of Martin, the deadline for registering for the tour and the luncheon is July 15, 2004. Martin needs advance notice for arranging the tours and ordering lunch . The list of registrants is available HERE. To register, please email me at mac00028@aol.com. All, of course, are welcome for the other events of the weekend, since there is plenty of room at the Park - but I would still prefer that you register, even if it is after July 15, so that I can come up with a fair suggested donation.
Registration Fee -- By the time all is settled, I will have advanced quite a bit to cover fees. I'll post more about this later. Once I figure it out, I'll come up with a suggested Registration Fee. The Registration Fee will be completely voluntary, and I will have a Contributions Jar at the Park both days. This will be the only "solicitation" - I will not be asking anyone directly.
Photos -- Here are some pictures of the Log Cabin, the Large Pavilion, the old Martin Factory, the old Martin Residence, and the Nazareth Music Center. The Log Cabin photos are just for memories this year, but I'm too lazy to change the site where these are posted.
Your Organizers -- Right now, it's me, Mac Carter (UMGF handle is mac1588). I have quite a few volunteer helpers at this point. I'll be happy to try to any questions that you may have or respond to any suggestions.
Mac Carter, Webmaster