37th Anniversary of the New England Fiddle Contest For all those fiddlers and fiddle fans who braved the early rains, the Peace Train Foundation board wishes to thank you your perseverance. The early rains moved out, and the day found a wonderful afternoon of fiddling. There were fiddlers ages 1 (yes 1) to 89, and the 89 year old won the 60 and older Senior Division. That is a wonderful accomplishment and shows that you are never too old to fiddle. Almost all the record 60 fiddlers that preregistered were able to make it to the contest, and for those that did not, there were several “day of” registrations. The morning crowd needed umbrellas and canopies, but the crowd in the afternoon grew and enjoyed the nice cool weather.   Due to the possibility of late day rain, the contest rules were adjusted so each fiddler played only two rather than three tunes and the Trick and Fancy Division time was shortened to keep the contest itself shorter. The dry afternoon allowed the contest to complete, including the new band competition, in which everyone participating had a lot of fun. This was followed by a rousing 45 minute jam at the end. The Scores have been posted - please visit the Scores Page to see the results. As so often happens at fiddle contests, especially the New England Fiddle Contest, which is the first New England contest of the year, old friends get to reacquaint, and new friendships are formed. Musicians create a special bond which can last for a long time. Regarding the audience, for which all this music is intended, there were those hardy few souls who weathered the morning showers and the crowd that grew after the rain stopped. We truly thank you all for coming to see a wonderful display of friendship and fiddling from fiddlers of all ages. We hope that you enjoyed yourself at the contest. Photos will be posted soon. The Peace Train Foundation wishes to thank the sponsors who helped make the 37th Anniversary of the New England Fiddle Contest possible. These include the Greater Hartford Arts Council, the Town of Manchester, Connecticut's Bristol Old Tyme Fiddlers, Corey's Catsup and Mustard, and the Great Harvest Bread Company of Manchester. The Peace Train Foundation is a non-profit organization that requires contributions and outside funding to allow the contest to be held. If you would like to contribute or have suggestions for potential funding, please send an e-mail to information@fiddlefest.org, We again thank you all for coming to the 2011 New England Fiddle Contest and hope that you will come back next year and bring friends. The Peace Train Foundation Board Peace Train Foundation P. O. Box 245 Poquonock, CT 06064-0245 The New England Fiddle Contest is a production of The Peace Train Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation formed in 1972 for the purpose of promoting arts and culture in the Greater Hartford region. Your contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.  Contributions can be made securely online or they can be mailed to:  Peace Train Foundation, Inc, P.O. Box 370296, West Hartford, CT  06137-0296 Download Acrobat Reader