Bardu Festas (Published in Draugas 11/10/12)

THE BARD FESTIVAL – A CELEBRATION OF SONG FOR THE HEART AT CAMP DAINAVA

A commemoration of the life of  Ramunas Underys

By Ann Petroliunas

Born to a Lithuanian father and an American mother 31 years ago in Chicago, I spent the better part of my life rejecting all things Lithuanian—pickled herring, accordion music, and polka steps, and even that song they sang me every birthday around my grandmother’s dining room table.  At 19, my father took me to Lithuania for the first time, and I found a part of me I hadn’t even realized was missing.

Over the next 10 years, the more I embraced my heritage, the dearer the Underys family became to me.  Those who were once the distant relatives on my aunt’s side, with whom I shared an occasional Christmas eve, became my aunts, uncles, and cousins.  I learned to eat pickled herring, dance the polka, and despite my floundering language skills, the words to many more songs than the standard birthday tune.  As more guitars and Lithuanian songs started appearing in my life, my love for Lithuania grew.

It became a running joke at the summer camp we volunteered at in Lithuania.  Vitas Underys would introduce me through as many relatives as possible.  “This is my sister’s husband’s brother’s daughter.”   I still laugh every time, but it’s really not so funny.  I’ve come to realize that as Lithuanians in North America, we are all brothers.  We are all sisters.  We are all family.  And high on the list of things we share, after height and a love for sour cream, is music.  We can all sing.  Or at least pretend to. 

On the weekend of October 19-21, over 160 members of that family gathered at Camp Dainava in Manchester, MI for The Bard Festival, to celebrate the life of  Underys in the way he should be remembered.  In song.  Much like my first trip to Lithuania, I didn’t know what to expect.  The average age was not 60.  Instead there were 4 generations represented, some contributing to the weekend with guitar chords, other with their infant coos and cries.  The camp was not stark and shabby as my father warned me from memories of his youth, but warm, well cared for, and inviting thanks to the care this Lithuanian family has puts into maintaining its home away from home.  I was not isolated by my limited Lithuanian language skills.  And while I may have missed some of the jokes, or the details in the speeches of organizers, Vitas, Taura, and Vija Underys, the music spoke to all, regardless of our command of the Lithuanian language.

From the moment we arrived, we felt Taura’s creative touch and attention to detail. We were greeted by a large banner with a logo, specially designed by Taura for this occasion, baskets of fruit, candy, and homemade “baravykai” (pastries shaped like mushrooms). All who participated in this special weekend, found a mug in their rooms with the Bard Festival logo and their name on it (cleverly thought out, to be used in place of nametags), a bottle of water, and a bag of trail mix. Taura organized a long list of volunteers, who provided refreshments for each evening, as well as all of the meals.

Over the course of the weekend, voices from all over the US and Canada came together to fill the hall in the camp’s Damušis building as well as the hearts of many who still mourn the loss of their brother, husband, father, uncle, and friend, . He touched the lives of many with his music throughout his lifetime and his spirit shared the space many times that weekend in the guitar chords, drum beats, and lyrics that echoed through the camp. 

Vitas Underys estimated that 95 % of the attendees had never been to a folk music show before, yet no one seemed out of place. The stage saw touching performances by: Jonas Beržanskis, Michael Hough, and David Tamulevich  (Ann Arbor, MI), Lina Kuliavaitė, Liudas Kuliavas, Marius Polikaitis, Tomas Strolia, and Vija Underytė (Chicago, IL), Eugenijus Dicevičius (Cleveland, OH), Vitas Underys (Detroit, MI), Romas Zableckas (Evans, CO), Saulius Gylys (Kalamazoo, MI), Rimas Polikaitis (Manchester, CT), Aliukas Gylys (New York, NY), Rūta Pakštaitė Cole (Purdys, NY), Jonas Nakas (Stevensville, MI), and Audra Balytaitė, Stasys Kuliavas, Mindaugas Gabrys, Valdas Ramanauskas, and Vaidotas Vaičiūnas (Toronto, ON).

As talented as each performer that stood before us was, this festival encompassed more than those who braved the spotlight.  Saturday morning came with a booklet of Lithuanian folk songs and one of  Ramunas’ own.  The hall filled with laughter and tears as the entire family sang together, on key and off.  Any break between performers was filled by a member of one of the many choirs represented starting the audience in a new song.

In the afternoon program, the bards gathered for an impromptu session of singing, with ad lib accompaniment. Sitting in a circle, the bards took turns leading a song (both English and Lithuanian). Everyone else, sitting in the outer circle, were invited to sing along or simply revel in the talent of all of the musicians/singers. 

I was not the only person there with a story of finding Lithuania in my adult life.  Saturday evening brought folk singer David Tamulevich to the stage with a story of his first trip home.  An American musician with roots in Lithuania, he spoke of finding his grandparent’s hometown through letters and travelling there.  His voice filled with tears as he recounted sitting at the table in the village of Zervynas and being told “Now you’ll drink the water that your grandfather drank.” He continued his story in songs both in English and Lithuanian, sharing with the audience that he too carried Lithuania in his heart. Following David’s and Michael’s performance, were the performances of all of the other bards, a program of almost four hours. The audience had no complaints, however, and received each performer with great enthusiasm and loud applause.

Saturday night brought a different kind of homecoming.  As 20 or so men circled around the piano, singing folk songs and lifting their mugs, Jonas Nakas commented, “ I never thought I’d see all of these faces in this camp again.”  Music has the power to do that.  It united them with their brother  in their youth, and reunited them, late at night, in a hall some of them hadn’t seen in decades. Their big bellied laughs filled the hall with sounds of longing for the days spent singing these same songs, so many years ago. 

The weekend program ended on a reflective note with a song sung by the Pensive Christ sculpture and a visit to the chapel in the woods. Ramunas was remembered while singing several hymns. Taura read a passage from Kahlil Gibran about friendship – that wondrous of life’s gifts, which has sustained their family through their sorrow and made possible this weekend’s celebration of Ramunas’s life.  With arms around each other, as a loving family, all sang the closing song written by Ramunas, whose words still echo in our hearts:

“Ei, ei, ei drauguži, eisime kartu, tuo skaidriuoju ir baltuoju stovyklose keleliu…”