The Adirondack Bluegrass League was officially formed on December 8th, 1972 in the Masonic Temple in Hudson Falls, NY. I became an official member on October of 1973, although I attended several meetings leading up to becoming a member. The first officers were elected and the by-laws were drawn up and accepted on February 20th, 1973. The first Bluegrass Festival held in New York State was Smokey Greene's held in Corinth.T-shirts were designed with the ABL emblem (the emblem was designed by Richard Facteau on March 22, 1973) and were sold at the festival in the ABL booth. I went to that first festival in the middle of August and camped in my tent from Thursday until late Sunday afternoon. What a blast! It effectively changed my life.
 
Several of the early bands that formed out of the ABL were "Smokey Greene and The Green Mountain Boys" with Smokey and Al Burrows on guitar, and Gary Blodgett on banjo; "The Bluegrass Bandits" with Don Towers on guitar, John Orto on mandolin, Roger Ide on banjo, Nick Barr on fiddle and Red Jenkins on bass; "The Bluegrass Rascals" with Bob Gibeault on banjo, Frank Orsini on fiddle, and Mark Chevalier and Al Burrows on guitars; and "The Back Porch Pickers" with Danny Rumpf and Hank Clothier on guitars, Chan Goodnow on banjo, Irene Clothier on autoharp and Carol Rumpf on bass. Speaking of Irene, here's a poem that was written by Irene Clothier and published in an ABL newsletter a year later:

Perhaps the members would like to know
How the ABL started a year ago
The How's, the Why's and Who was involved
Well, here's the story on how it evolved

As just an idea, it all began
With the hopes and dreams of a certain man
Can it really work? Is it worth a try?
Are there others that love Bluegrass as much as I?

Are there other Bluegrass fans around
That would like to preserve the original sound?
Could it be promoted in an area like this?
To give it a try was his greatest wish

These questions were pondered for several years
And he finally decided to put aside his fears
He asked several friends what they thought of his plan
They answered "We'll help you as much as we can."

Don Towers and Berta got right on the ball
And listed their friends as they gave them a call
And Smokey announced on his radio show
The date, the time and the place to go

There were fourteen people who braved a bad storm
And on Friday, the 8th the league they did form
In December of nineteen seventy two
Our President, Hank Clothier, saw his dream come true

A League that started with just a few
To our surprise it grew and grew
To you our members we'd like to say
We're grateful to you in every way

For your support and the interest you've shown
In making the Adirondack Bluegrass League known
For all of your help in the year gone by
A great big Thanks from Hank and I.

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In this picture taken around 1977, the High Peaks Boys played on the float shown for the 4th of July festivities in Jay, NY. Playing guitar on the left is Dave Warner, and barely visible behind him is Ricky Payro on Dobro, then on banjo is yours truly, then on mandolin is Tom Wallace, up front with guitar (he usually played bass but it was too cumbersome for the float) is Pete Richardson and to the far left on lead guitar is Pete's son, Rocky. Dave is playing his new D-28 Martin that he bought in 1976 from Peterson's Music in Burlington, Vermont, and yours truly is playing the RB-250 I got from Billy Edwards of the Shenandoah Cutups.

I don't think any band ever had more fun than the High Peaks Boys.

Yours truly, Fred Warner, founded The HPBL  in 1974, in Keene, NY. My best friend, Tom Mehrman came up with the name. I patterned the club after the ABL. The first meeting of the HPBL was held on December 21st, 1974 at the Community Center in Keene, NY. Elections for President, Secretary and Treasurer were held. Officers were: President, Fred Warner; Secretary, Valarie Mc Donough; Treasurer, Tom Wallace; and Board of Director members were Rick Payro, Dave Warner, Rocky Richardson and John Nye. 55 people showed up for our first meeting!  

As news spread of the High Peaks Bluegrass League, we, at one time, reached a membership totaling over 600 people from states as far away as Texas, Washington and Maine and the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec in Canada. Our monthly newsletters were looked forward to and the sheer work involved in producing them was enormous. My Mother, Shirley, was our staff artist. She loved doing the covers. Here's an example: