Old Dead George Party III

George Lathbury lived at the end of the street where our friend Skip Folse lives. George was a musician and most of all, a very interesting character. Each year around Halloween (near his birthday) he would throw a huge party. He would invite everyone he knew and ask them to invite everyone they knew. There would be plenty of musicians there and they would go all night, just jamming and drinking and having fun.

Well, one night about three years ago around the time of the party, for whatever reason, his wife shot him three times in his bed, killing him. She's serving her time now, but the people who knew George decided to throw the annual party in his honor. At first, it was just people who knew George. Now it's starting to expand out a bit (since Diane and I never met him).

The party was hosted by Julie and Jim Esslinger at their mountain home in Clarksville, GA.

Performing at the Shylo It's old dead George, posed with an old playbill. Lying on the bed is the pumpkin-head version of George's last drag on a cigarette. Diane brought a cake she specially decorated with a tombstone on one end that said, "RIP one for George."	The spirit lives on On the right is George's brother, Roland, who flew in from Chicago for the party. Everyone who knew George agrees that talking with Roland is the next best thing to having George here.
Say cheese-y Mike Knapp is an old friend of Julie and Jim of 35 years. He's now retired from the furniture business and is seriously into photography.	Groovin' Julie Barnhardt (L) and Deb get into the music going on in the living room. Julie and her husband (also a Mike) have a big Memorial Day party at their mountain home in Dahlonega. Deb dates Stevie - one of the musicians of the evening.
Barry and Deb These two are friends of Roland's all the way from Chicago. They came here as a first stop on the way to an extended camping trip.	Ginny and Terry Terry (R) was a friend of George's since grade school, and a friend of Julie's for something like 40 years. He's also a musician - capable of carrying a tune on a flute.
Our talented hosts That's Julie Esslinger and her husband Jim performing together. Julie is a folkie from way back whose friends include Gordon Lightfoot. Jim plays piano, harmonica, and probably anything else you throw his way. He also built the cabin himself. The rocks on the decorative wall behind them were gathered from around the area.	The wild man himself Skip outdid himself. He brought the PA system, set up his keyboards, and made sure that everyone was having a good time. As usual, he introduced us to another deadly good island drink - the Caipirinha.
Tamara gets the blues Tamara Bolden got up and sang a few songs. She knocked us out with her rendition of a Janis Joplin tune.	The Trash Man I brought along a bass and a couple of guitars just in case. By request, I sang the Trash Man song. I even remembered all the words.
Stevie Stevie joined us onstage and sang some of his original rock tunes. Great powerful voice. Interesting story. Just a couple of years ago he was reunited with his long lost sister, Ellen (who was also at the party).	I got something to say.. Diane tells the story of practicing playing the "egg" shaker in her car on the freeway while we provide the musical backing: da DA da da DA (in the rhythm of "Bad To The Bone"). On the far right is Ellen, Stevie's rediscovered sister.
Dusk Dusk is a unique performer. Kind of unpredictable, humorous and witty and fascinating to watch. Big time John Prine fan. This was his first time at the ODG party, too.	The teepee Julie and Jim have a real Indian teepee that they set up next to the lake behind the house. That's where we all wound up at the end of the night.
Keep your wigwam warm Here Diane and I relax in a couple of low chairs by the fire in the teepee. Soon after this, the room was full of folks, passing around the burning sage and talking about whatever came into our heads until we couldn't hold our heads up anymore.	Good morning This is the view from the back porch in the middle of the morning when we got up. It's like the memory of the night before just got replaced by the beautiful fall colors of the day. Thanks to Julie, Jim, and Skip for inviting us to this wonderful party. Hope to see you again next year.