We are the ones who fell off our chairs laughing during Buttermilk Biscuits for the fifteenth – or fiftieth time … who choked up when Ann couldn’t make it through The Storyteller … who listened with a family’s critical ear to the dozens of recordings and performances as others covered Cracker Cowman … who thought of Abram Ryan’s poem The Conquered Banner when Frank sang Let Our Colors Be … who marveled at the spell Ann wove at the Will McLean Festival as she told of Will’s imprisonment on a Pacific island in World War II … who gathered at the Willfest Circle of Song and the Florida Folk Festival gazebo as Ann and Frank encouraged and inspired others to write Florida songs. Somewhere along the line we learned Frank grew up in Clay County and Ann was born in South Florida but, as she says, got “carpetbagged up North.” She finally got home, got her Master’s Degree and works at the Lake Wales public library. During their twenty-five years together Ann and Frank have made films teaching about Florida through their songs, have given countless performances at festivals, concert halls, schools, and have recently produced a CD “Just Another Day…” Frank is a founding member of the Will McLean Foundation Board of Directors. Above all, we are the ones who have learned more about Florida than we ever imagined because they have honored the legacy of Will McLean, have intensely loved this “Florida Sand” and have mentored, directed, commissioned, cajoled, and inspired us. Thank you, Ann and Frank. Your Will McLean Festival Family