The fifth presentation at the 77th annual Amos Fortune Forum summer speaker series Friday, Aug. 2, at 8 p.m. at the Jaffrey Meetinghouse will feature Gordon Peery and friends remembering The Folkway in Peterborough.

In its 20 years in Peterborough, The Folkway presented more than 1,000 performers in more than 3,000 concerts and nourished its patrons with food and drink in a rustic setting. Nearly 50 years since its opening, The Folkway remains both a memory and an influence on life in the Monadnock Region. 

After a brief look at what was going on in Peterborough before 1975, Peery will show how The Folkway ignited an enrichment of already fertile ground. Drawing on the established local arts culture of MacDowell, the Peterborough Players, Monadnock Music and others, The Folkway grew from a coffee house to an important stop on the national and international folk music scene. This presentation is a tribute to Folkway founders Jonathan and Widdie Hall and those who followed their dream.

Peery worked as a chef at The Folkway when it opened in 1975. He graduated from High Mowing School in Wilton in 1971, worked as a landscaper, a freelance writer and for a magazine publisher and also drove a school bus. He has also made and played music, most recently with fiddler Randy Miller, jazz saxophonist Paul Klemperer and singers Eve Pierce and Jazimina MacNeil.

This presentation is free, and a recording will be available on YouTube shortly after it is complete. For information, go to amosfortune.org.