Final Pickin’ Party brings curtain over annual event

By Bill Dungjen
Sun contributor
Twenty years ago, Patrick and Mary Kay Niemisto invited around 15 of their musician friends to their house on Baatz Road in southern Leelanau County to share music and a potluck supper and friendship over the Memorial Day weekend. Since then, they have seen their children grow up, they have heard a pantheon of musicians perform on the back deck of their house, and they have watched the small group of musicians expand into a who’s who of local, and not so local, talent. Beginning at 2 p.m. on the Sunday before Memorial Day each year, the Niemisto’s house transforms into a music festival of the finest kind — until this year, that is, the twentieth and final gathering.
Photo by Don Miller

Patrick teaches music at Glen Lake Community Schools, although the designation of music teacher pales in comparison to the enormity of the work that he does. His program has expanded to include songwriting, recording and trips to foreign lands for cultural exchange (see “Travels in Deutschland” in our May 22 edition). Meanwhile, Mary Kay works with the developmentally disabled, and shows nearly saint-like understanding of her husband’s passion for music.
The Pickin’ Party, as it is commonly known by those who attend, traces its roots from the now defunct Tuesday night Open Mic at the Cedar Tavern. This open forum for music was a Mecca for many of the area’s finest musicians and offered a low pressure, friendly venue for amateur and professional musicians alike. That inclusive, non-judgmental, feeling is what you find at the Pickin’ Party. When you walk onto the Niemisto’s property that last Sunday in May with an instrument, you are immediately viewed as a possibility, even if no one has heard what you can do with that instrument. When you do get to play in front of the crowd — and every effort will be made to give you your moment — you are given a warm reception and much encouragement. It is a particular honor to play on a stage that has held some of the areas finest; all of the incarnations of Third Coast, Michael Camp, Louann Lechler, Dick Anthony, Dick Costlow, Jay Webber, Kirby, Robin Lee Berry, Cabin Fever, Claudia Schmidt, Mary Anne Rivers, Stygian Shore, The Turtlenecks, Joel Mabus, members of the Beach Bards, Brant Leonard, Wrangler, and so many others.
The weather in northern Michigan in May is often questionable. Rain, sleet, dark of night; it can be gloriously sunny and warm for the daylight portion of the show, but once the sun goes down the acts on stage for the evening can see their breath and feel their instruments de-tune as the temperature drops. None of this stops the show. The faithful come, despite the weather, to fill the yard with lawn chairs and blankets. They’ll sit until the last act takes a bow and make their way home under the spring stars.
The Pickin’ Party is a uniquely northern Michigan event, no admission fees to pay, all of the food provided by the guests, and no grand administration, just friends and family who pitch in to make this a wonderful event. The Pickin’ Party has expanded to such an extent that expenses are now on par with a wedding. The large canopy rental, the portable toilets, the waste disposal all cost money and the guests are offered many chances throughout the day to contribute to a coffee can that is escorted around the property by a variety of well-meaning shills.
Over the years, the Niemisto’s have opened their property for camping for out of town guests and those who may overindulge. This has moved the start of the event to several days before the Two o’clock Sunday start. Camp trailers and tents begin to roll in during the week; portable toilets and the large canopy tent for the potluck food show up well in advance of the first note played on stage.
The music on stage is only part of the act. Throughout the property, under camper awnings, shade trees and especially in The Wah, Patrick’s former horse barn, which has been converted into a comfy lounge complete with restaurant booths, the musicians who aren’t on stage gather trade tunes in pickup groups. The Wah is packed with musicians long after the stage has emptied and the majority of the audience has gone home. No grandstanding or musical perfection. There you find a genuine, almost palpable love of making music. In The Wah you find traditional instruments blending with modern music, you hear multi-tiered harmonies and improvisational solos, you see generations of musicians joining in to create a remarkable sound.
The Pickin’ Party has become legendary in its 20 years. So much so that there are legions of locals who have the last Sunday in May permanently blocked off on their calendars. Hundreds of people wouldn’t dream of doing anything else with their Memorial Day Sunday. The crowd of more than 500 this year was greeted with what began as a rumor and grew into the bittersweet announcement that the twentieth Pickin’ Party would be the final Pickin’ Party. These folks, many of whom have been coming to this event for years and years, had to come to grips with the idea that next Memorial Day weekend, they would have to find something else to do, some other way to entertain themselves and their families.
Considering that we live in northern Michigan and that Memorial Day marks the beginning of the summer tourist season, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find alternatives for entertainment. There are multitudes of picnics and events that occur each year that weekend, events that we’ve all been unable to attend because of our perennial commitment to the Pickin’ Party. Entertaining ourselves will not be the problem. What we will find next May will be the absence of the feel of the Pickin’ Party. I imagine that it will be like a phantom limb for many of us. We’ll reach out to touch the friends that we always see at Patrick and Mary Kay’s house, we’ll listen for the sound of red hot bluegrass floating out of The Wah, we’ll look for the favorite potluck foods that we’ve all come to expect and find ourselves wanting. There will be a void for many of us, one that we’ll have to fill somehow, one that we’ll never quite get over, but one that will resonate with the sound of great music performed by great friends.