O Lord, won't you buy me the Texada lands
My friends all have clear-cuts I must make amends
Work hard all my life time, and trees are my friends
So Lord, won't you buy me the Texada lands
Sung at Woodstop by Kirsty Chalmers, in the style of Janis Joplin

An evening of folk, blues and rock music, dancing and a potluck dinner not only raised community spirits but an estimated $6,000 towards the fund to buy back Texada lands, Saturday night at Beaver Point Hall.

The concert began at 4 in the afternoon, with acts like the Dwarves and Clown warming up the audience, which included many small children. The programme, beautifully put together by Susheela Meyers, included a range of performance talent from rhythm and blues to poetry and opera.

Although many of the acts were apolitical, some of the performers wove sentiments about conservation into their perfomances. Dressed in hard hat and a plaid shirt, Mike Hayes confronted the audience with a satirical logger's song,

"It's great to be a logger here on Salt Spring. We're made to feel so welcome as we go about our chores. It's great to be on the cutting edge of progress. When the trees are gone, we'll be gone, away from these barren shores."

New waves of people joined the audience throughout the evening, which reached a peak around 10 p.m. when dancing began to the sounds of the Burgoyne Bay Blues Band with Larry Shetzer. At any one time there may have been from 100 to 400 people in and around the Hall.

The large turnout resulted in a long line for the potluck dinner, a tasty selection of vegetarian dishes and salads. As some of the dishes ran low, Harry Warner announced that unless someone with a long robe and a beard could help with loaves and fishes, people should limit their servings. But, in the end, there was enough food to go around.

The stage was set with a canvas backdrop of an enchanted forest with a nymph in the foreground. Designed by Leslie Corry, the backdrop was auctioned off for $330 to an anonymous bidder, who arranged for the painting to be hung in the new community information centre.

Concert highlights included an excerpt from Paradise Lots, a parody of a meeting of the Islands Trust. In this scene, Susheela Meyers in the character of Flower, asks the Trust, "What are you going to do about the clear-cuts?" The Trustee responds, "We will observe&ldots; As you know, the Trust's mandate is to obscure and obstruct."

Susan and Ora Cogan, Black Velvet Band, Denise McCann, John and Michelle Law, Shilo Zylbergold, Nadine Shelley, Peter Prince and Lekha, and Deb Toole and Paul Verville were among other performers who donated their talent. The event, which lasted about ten hours, began as a folk festival and transformed itself into a dance party. A lively audience danced to Simone Grasky, Escape Goats, Earthmen and Carrot Revolution.

Concert organizers could not give an accurate count of ticket sales, or the number of people who attended. Although the ticket price was $12, some people paid by donation, and one man paid $7.50 to get in, explaining that was the last of his welfare cheque.