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This is Durango Mango's story. We have to question-
How many other decent bands have been "shelved" because
of the lack of motivation on the entertainment coordinator's
part to look for something new for the city of Woonsocket's
biggest community event?
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On a very sad note:
As you read our commentary, please keep Lorraine Cloutier and the family of Gene Cloutier in your hearts, thoughts and prayers. Mr. Cloutier passed away recently. Although we did not know him personally, we can attest to the fact he was indeed a caring individual. He was the only person on the committee who took the time to answer your emails and make an effort to help our band get a fair chance to perform.
...After reading his obituary- we realized that Gene Cloutier was a man who freely gave his time and energy to help many people. It is our loss, not to have known him better. ...and, even though his efforts were squelched during his attempt to convince Roger Bouchard and Paul Jacob to be fair to Durango Mango- he has an extraordinary list of kind-hearted actions to his credit, which did come to fruition.
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The Autumnfest Saga
(From November 2005 Durango Mango's Schedule page)November 30, 2005-- Here's an interesting little tidbit for those of
you who have rallied behind Durango Mango and gallantly worked
to get our band a one hour (that's all, one measly hour)
performance at Autumnfest...
As we promised all of you who supported us,
the entire saga of the 6 year "pass-over"
for our band's appearance at Autumnfest,
was sent to the Woonsocket Call.
The first (yes first) letter was sent in October- we were never contacted. No one
called or emailed to say ...sorry, we can't use your letter for this,
this and that reason. So, after a reasonable amount of time, we
called the managing editor AND the city editor's office. No one had
received (or had seen) our letter. SO! We hand delivered a second one.
That one must have got lost, too, because it has yet to appear!
Interestingly however, NEW rules have appeared where the local
paper says "Write to Us!" One stipulation is; letters can't be in bad
taste or libelous.
So, there you have it, the conclusion we have drawn is, the
Woonsocket Call believes the TRUTH is either in poor taste or
libelous. (must be, they never contacted us about the second
letter, either) We sent documented proof of our treatment via
email we received from Roger Bouchard... and from the ONLY
person on the committee who favored us, Gene Cloutier.
It is rather humorous to see the same person whom we attempted
to expose as a "Tin God," use his weekly column in "The Call" to
single out one Woonsocket political candidate (two years in a
row) to slander and mock his character. The Woonsocket Call had
NO problem with Mr. Bouchard's cruel remarks and attack on that
candidate. (or the many other people he attacks in his hackneyed column)
However, when we tried to alert others who might have
experienced the same treatment pertaining to our dilemma, and
also explain to the many of you who asked for Durango Mango to
appear at this year's Autumnfest... well, it wasn't worth the print.
Another case of local media protecting a villain(s) (in this case
two) for fear of retaliation while trying to cling to their ratings.
So, in the Blackstone Valley, the integrity of Roger Bouchard and
Paul Jacob will always be safe, regardless of how they treat their
fellow man.
Again, THANK YOU for asking, we will always appreciate your efforts.
It wasn't you, it was the little Tin Gods, with the little Tin EARS! _______________________________________
The following is THE "EVIL" letter sent on October 17, 2005-
To this date- MAY 31, 2006- The Call has never
contacted us, nor printed the letter.
Now that Autumnfest 2005 has passed, I would like to have the opportunity to vent on something that has disturbed me since 1999.
To me, Autumnfest has always been a great event for the Blackstone Valley and beyond.
The people who have organized this event throughout the years deserve a round of applause.
(and I know about organizing and planning, I was on the board of one of the most prominent Country Music organizations,
the New England Country Music Club for a total of seventeen years)
I also served as president of that great club for six of those years.
I, along with a committee of 3 other people have organized family days at Indian Ranch, a two day festival
to celebrate our club's 35th anniversary in 2002, and more. These events featured several bands, vendors, games, prizes, raffles... etc.
Just a couple of events to prove I DO understand the intricacies of organizing large events.
BUT! Now, I want to go public with an issue if only to render a deserved explanation to the many people
who have asked us "why" our band, Durango Mango has never performed at Autumnfest.
Be assured it is not for lack of trying.
I began contacting Mr. Paul Jacob in 1999 for consideration of our band to be featured at Autumnfest.
(I never dream huge, Autumnfest and Indian Ranch were two venues I always wanted)
The Indian Ranch dream has come to pass as well as our band,
and the Durango Mango duo backing up two "real" Nashville recording stars-
Chris Young "Top Guns" winner* and john Arthur martinez,
first runner up to Buddy Jewell in Nashville Star.
However, since 1999 all my efforts for Autumnfest have fallen on deaf ears.
*(Chris Young is NOW, the USA Network's Nashville Star 4 winner)!!
--the 2006 competitions were still 2 years in the future-- we performed with Chris in 2004 & john in 2005--
I began my "futile and FINAL" campaign on October 13, 2004.
Remaining consistent with my several years' email messages to Paul Jacob, October 13, 2004
also received no reply. I waited until February 13, 2005 and tried again.
This time I wrote to other committee members as well,
and asked them to forward my message to Mr. Jacob.
The correspondence included everything I had sent to Mr. Jacob
-- including references, musicians' background and band information.
I also mailed a Durango Mango DVD of three shows filmed on Cape Cod TV directly to Mr. Jacob's home.
By March 3, 2005 I received this message via email from Roger Bouchard:
"This e-mail acknowledges your inquiry about appearing at Autumnfest sent to the Cournoyers.
I have forwarded this to Paul Jacob, entertainment chairman. I suggest you e-mail him directly
as he handles the entertainment aspect of the event.Pauls address is ------
Sincerely, Roger Bouchard & Sue Vadenais Co-chairs"
(the address he provided was the one I had been using all along)
At this point, a copy of the first and only positive comment from a committee member
was emailed to us by Mr. Gene Cloutier:*
"Lets see what we can do here. They have been part of Woonsocket for years,
perform many free events and are an asset to the community....
Do we have a spot we can place them in???"
Then, other people began sending emails and speaking up for Durango Mango.
Mr. Cloutier once again replied to one of the emailers:
"As far as I know Paul Jacob is in the process of getting them
a spot on the main stage for the event. Hopefully the
day and time will be OK for everyone
Also, when I spoke W/ Betty OK she indicated that
the beer tent would be an option.
I will talk to Dave Soucy (Rotary Club) and see what their sched. is like in the tent.
We are trying. Gene Cloutier"
I would like to say THANK YOU to Mr. Cloutier, unfortunately he
was only one voice. Shortly after that, when I thought...
maybe this will be the year...
I received another email from Roger Bouchard:
"Hello Betty,
Please call off your friends and associates e-mailing me and other committee lobbying
( 17 e-mails) for your group to appear at Autumnfest.
You have already been assured your group will get a
fair opportunity to appear at the event.
The chairman selects the acts for a variety of different reasons
and we are well aware of your group and its talents.
This continual barage of e-mails only serves as a distraction
to our job of putting on a quality event.
In any event, we will meet and consider all applications including yours.
Thank you Roger"
What Mr. Bouchard didn't take into consideration is,
"friends and associates" encompasses the community.
The very same people whom this Autumnfest event is built upon.
They were writing because they wanted to hear our band.
This should have told the committee something.
Throughout the years, our band has donated our performances
for several Woonsocket and Blackstone Valley Benefits.
We DO care about the community.
Why did Mr. Jacob and Mr. Bouchard choose to ignore the requests of people in the community?
I did hear Mr. Jacob offer an "excuse" on the radio concerning the "talent"
on the Autumnfest stage. He claimed that he features entertainment
that is not offered during the year in the other Woonsocket events, parks -etc.
That is just plain untrue.
I saw at least four entities including a whole band on the
Autumnfest stage this year who certainly do perform for the
city of Woonsocket during the summer months.
One last thing, I apologize for the wordiness of this letter,
but, this "until now" quietly fought battle has been going on for six years!
It's hard to capsulize in a short column...and, believe it or not,
this HAS caused some sleepless nights for me.
Our band just recently packed the Uxbridge VFW, we are proficient and professional- there is no good reason....!
Thank you all who went to bat for us, it will always be appreciated.
We love you.
Unfortunately, Durango Mango was "Blown off" just like the leaves of Autumn!
Betty O'Kay
Durango Mango
(end of letter sent to The Call- graphic was not in original)
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PS- Couldn't resist the urge to include the "rain on my parade" graphic, it is so much like Roger & Paul- those two "little tin Gods"
No, actually... THREE little tin Gods! I might as well include Woonsocket Call Managing Editor- Daniel Trafford.
Read his column sometime... He's more concerned with the visuals of Charlie Brown's Christmas tree,
and writing "fantasy" than stepping on anyone's toes. How often does he write about ANYTHING controversial? hmmmm?
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Comment;
So folks,
your efforts were received and then ignored.
Note: We thought the "chairman" Paul Jacob would
consider OUR act THIS time, with one of the
"variety" of reasons being,
the Blackstone Valley WANTED us.
It would have been nice for the
"home-grown" Durango Mango band
to have its chance
after all these years!
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After several weeks of waiting for any word at all,
we set the pen in motion again. This time we wrote
to The Call's managing editor, Daniel Trafford.
That was in March of 2006. Apparently, he felt
we weren't important enough to warrant his time.
The moral is, even though we feel like we shoveled
S**T against the tide, we made the effort to have our voice
and the voices of others heard.
So, they didn't listen, they didn't care...
but, you have to stand up for what you
believe in. Sometimes you can't change things,
but, you have to try!
It's been 6+ years- are we going to try again?
Hell, no.
My last attempt to get SOME kind of interaction with the editor of the Call--
Perhaps an explanation, or a suggestion on HOW or WHAT was required
to have my letter published... Yah, you guessed it...
NOTHIN' ... NO RESPONSE... NEVER HEARD A PEEP!
Dear Mr. Trafford,
I am very disappointed never to have been contacted or receive an explanation regarding my letter to the editor about Durango Mango's treatment by Roger Bouchard and Paul Jacob.
Of course I do have other avenues to get this matter to light and I will use those avenues to do so. I was confident my letter would be printed, so I told many folks who asked, to "watch their newspaper" for the full story. Of course, obviously that isn't going to happen, so I will utilize other means to get my message to everyone who supported us, and still do not know what happened.
I started on my own website. You will find the message as it is written here, at www.durangomango.net on our "Schedule Page." We will also bring this to light on the local talk shows, and of course on my own radio show, I answered truthfully when asked why we have never performed at Autumnfest.
Perhaps you never took the time to read my letter. But, I do know the second one was hand delivered to you. In fact, the person who delivered it, read my Durango Mango T-shirt, and commented that it was a good band. Not knowing, the content of the letter, or the bureaucratic BS we had been through for 6 damn years.
I really am not an evil individual, but when I see wrong doings, I stand up to them. Usually, I am standing for some other "underdog" but, in this case it is for my own band.
I KNOW our band is worthy of the Autumnfest stage. I also know WHY we were not chosen. It's just a matter of who works for which radio station. But, really, after six years, Roger Bouchard and Paul Jacob should have stopped acting like spoiled children, and granted a good part of the community's wishes. We never have a problem bringing people to World War II Veterans' Memorial Park during the summer concerts. We never have a problem bringing country music fans to the New England Country Music Club, CMA of Rhode Island or Rhode Island Country Horizons, Inc. when we perform.
If people like Mr. Bouchard and Mr. Jacob can use their own personal prejudices to prevent honoring the public's request on a small scale like Autumnfest, how much of their influence can they and will they use to hurt honest people on a larger scale?
I've been in that situation. I've booked 6 years of events for the NECMC. I hired bands that I personally would not be interested in seeing. But, it wasn't about my preferences, it was about being fair and honest, and presenting bands that deserved to be featured.
Durango Mango deserved to be featured. Throughout the past ten years, nobody in the Blackstone Valley turned us away when our band donated our time to help raise funds for community projects. As a matter of fact, we were asked to donate our performance for a medical benefit this Friday. Of course we will. We are always ready to help someone in need. NO ONE, can EVER take that truth away from us. We care about people. It's the Durango Mango spirit.
I'm truly sorry, I had to resort to this aggressive action, I don't like to point and whine. I'm generally a amicable person. However, when I feel I've been wronged, I must fight for my rights, and I received absolutely no assistance from the Woonsocket Call. It really does depend on "who you are and who you know," doesn't it?
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So, this is indeed "The End" of the battle for the right to perform and entertain
the friends who have asked for us by name for an Autumnfest appearance.
However, we may have lost the battle, but as long as we didn't lose your support,
and it is extremely obvious that we haven't... then, we'll just see you at another venue
at another time. Please see our schedule page to find us.
(just click the "schedule" link at the end of this page, THANKS)!
Also, we WILL be performing again this year at
WW II Veterans Memorial Park
Sunday, August 6, 2006 -from 6 - 8 PM
for the city's "Summer Concert Series."
Which just goes to show you, the CITY of WOONSOCKET knows what its community likes.
Not EVERYONE'S "taste is in his mouth!"
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