Heather... and Chip

Hello Blake! 

I've lived in the capitol city of Concord, NH since 1992. It's one of those stereotypical New England communities where everyone says "wicked" and if you're not a Boston sports fan then you might want to hide. Overall though, New Hampshire is a very outdoorsy state. People hike, fish, hunt, jet ski, go boating, snow mobile, ski and basically anything else you can think of to do outside. 

When I signed up to get your piano I was really excited because I knew that no matter what season it was, I'd have a great background for such an important item! Then I was told that I was going to be getting it in the fall! 

How perfect!

Every fall our leaves change colors and it causes a mass amount of tourists to come flooding into our state, we call them leaf peepers. Normally, I'm not included in them, but this year I was! I took the piano and placed it in various locations, in leaves and around pumpkins. I took far too many photos, which I'm known for within my friend group, and chose my favorites to display here. My photos were taken in three different places; my backyard, a park on the Merrimack River and Pumpkin Festival in Keene, NH. 

My pocket beagle, Chip, wouldn't let me take any photos without him so I decided to make him model for me a bit! He really loved Blake's piano! 

The park on the river is right in downtown Concord and I had to take advantage of the falling leaves and crisp water! 

The photos taken at Pumpkin Festival are especially cool because not only is that where I went to college (Keene State - Go Owls!) but they won back the title of World Record for Most Lit Jack-o-Lanterns this year! So cool, right? 

The festival is a huge fixture in that town, and our state, and it was great to be apart of it this year!

Oh and if you recognize Keene it might be because it was the infamous Main Street in Robin William's JUMANJI. I thoroughly enjoyed having the piano in my possession and had many come up and ask me what it was for! I was happy to tell them all about Poughkeepsie and why they needed to read it immediately! Thank you, Blake, for letting me borrow your cherished piano!

Martha

Dear Blake,

Once upon a time there was a girl and a boy and they both loved baseball. After several years of courting the boy asked the girl to marry him and she said yes. They decided they wanted their wedding to be a little different, so they chose a baseball theme. The colors were red and white; the colors of their favorite team, the St. Louis Cardinals.

We were honored to be able to have your piano at the festivities. Out of respect for the service itself, photos were not taken during the ceremony with the piano; however several were taken in Bee Tree Park where the wedding was held.

A beautiful fountain sits across from the area that was used as the alter. There was even a hidden area where the bride waited for her musical introduction. After they exchanged their vows, pictures were taken in front of the mansion that is next to the area where they took their vows. There was also an overlook of the Mississippi River that provided a beautiful backdrop for some of those photos.

The reception was held under a tent outside the home of the groom’s parents. The table decorations were baseball cards and miniature red baseball caps filled with white carnations. The guestbook was a baseball jersey with the couple’s name and the year of their marriage. The wedding cake looked like a baseball and red gift bags for the guests included sunflower seeds, Cracker Jacks®, peanuts, and baseball gumballs. We dined on hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos, and pretzels...all of the wonderful things you can get at the concession stand. The couple toasted with their preferred drink...wine for her, beer for him...in their own special glasses.

At the end of the day, Mr. & Mrs. Ballard left to begin their happily ever after.

Ruby

Ruby took Blake's piano with her to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina for some fun in the sun.

Azucena

Hi Blake,

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to participate in this fun piano adventure - and for getting it out to me while I was still in San Diego. I really appreciate it! The piano went with me to the only National Park here in San Diego, the Cabrillo National Monument. I took a picture of it next to the lighthouse.

Azucena

Andra

Hi! 

 Blake's piano has been visiting my place in the woods!

This place reminds me of Blake! 

Hopefully some of his magic will be left behind... 

Andra

Shalu

Shalu took Blake's cardboard piano on a tour of New York City. 

 She visited Strawberry Fields where she thought Blake would pay tribute to another music man.

A stop at Grand Central Station shows us the Poughkeepsie Line. 

Finally, Shalu stopped at one of her favorite yarn shops on the upper west side (Knitty City) in tribute to Mouse. 

Enjoy!

Jen

I am a member of the Poughkeepsie Street Team—readers and friends who support, promote, and otherwise flail over Debra Anastasia’s novel about a girl who falls in love with a man she meets at the train station. 

In April, 2013, I was fortunate enough to have been a stop on Blake’s Cardboard Piano tour, and as a local to the Poughkeepsie area, there really was no question where I’d take the piano for my photo shoot.

I’m sure Debra’s got the characters busy while she finishes up Return to Poughkeepsie, so I took the piano back to the station for a welcome-home visit. And we made a couple of little detours while we were there.  

It’s one thing to read a story and to visualize the scenes in your head, and with Debra’s writing, that’s easy to do. But it’s quite another to walk along the path of the character and trace his or her footsteps, seeing what they saw, hearing what they heard.

If you know the story, you know that Blake has an aversion to sunlight, and for someone who’s pretty much homeless, that’s an issue. But there are some nice shady spots at the station. 

There are so many references to stairs, running up them, down them, hiding under for shelter. And there are several different sets of stairs, but I’m pretty sure these are the ones referred to at least a few times. 

Don’t worry, like Blake, I wouldn’t leave the piano on the stairs unattended. The stair picture is one of my favorites; it’s simple, yet it speaks of the despair and loneliness that was his life before Livia. 

We found a nice shady spot with a bench. Can’t you just imagine Blake and Livia sitting there? The shade would keep Blake safe from the sun, and it’s more private–set apart from the rest of the station. I can imagine them sitting on the bench and holding hands. 

On a cold day, Blake might have stepped inside the station, although he might have been too proud to seek warmth. There are quite a few warm corners in the station, some offering a pretty backdrop for the piano.

There are some beautiful architectural elements, including a steel overhead walkway outside and high arched windows on the facade. 

There is a large, not-to-scale rendering of Dutchess County down one long hallway and a bright sitting area for the weary traveler. 

 But there were a couple of other places I wanted to visit, so I carefully rolled up the piano and headed out on foot, the way Blake would have. 

Looking out toward the Hudson River and the Mid-Hudson Bridge—or the Franklin D. Roosevelt Mid-Hudson Bridge, officially—you can see the park mentioned in the story. 

Named Waryas Park, after Victor C. Waryas, former mayor of Poughkeepsie, it sits just at the edge of the river, one block west of the station. It is peaceful and beautiful and such a surprise to find right there at the edge of the city. There’s a plaque dedicated to the former mayor that’s built into the front of this very large boulder, conveniently located at the entrance to the park. 

You may notice that within the park, similar architectural features as the station can be found. The pyramid-shaped roof and steel frame of the picnic area mimic the distinctive walkway from the street level to the tracks at the station. The streetlamps are the same, as well. 

A few blocks east of the park was a surprise the first time I found it, as I had no idea it was so close to the station. But as you approach the station, the steeple to a church is visible through the trees for at least a mile. I thought, “No way; that can’t be Cole’s church.” But after checking with the lovely author herself, I was assured that it was, indeed, Cole’s church.

Known to locals as Church of the Holy Comforter, this Gothic Revival church built in 1860 is stunning, made of local bluestone with dark red trim accenting the doors and stained-glass windows. The doors are actually red and just gorgeous. I can almost picture Cole throwing open the doors and welcoming his congregation.

At the front of the church, there is a statue of Mary holding baby Jesus, and there are wildflowers and daffodils blooming all around in the spring. The only disappointment was the fence surrounding the church.

We couldn’t look inside or even get close enough to the front, so we had to limit ourselves to pictures at the back door, which was really red! As unfortunate as the fence is, its also understandable. Some of the windows have been broken, and in the few times I’ve visited, haven’t been repaired. Which is sad. It’s a beautiful landmark in the community and it’s a shame to see it mistreated. 

We tucked Blake’s piano in the fence for one last photo before heading back to the station. 

It was absolutely wonderful to have a chance to take Blake’s piano back to Poughkeepsie, back to the train station, where the story began. 

Thank you Debra and the Poughkeepsie Street Team for their all-around awesomeness in allowing me to be a stop on the tour, and thank you for visiting!