March 10, meeting…Barry, and Hilary Cole; Barry shared that his Mother very recently, in February passed on; Barry and Hilary, on behalf of the Fiddlers our sincerest condolences and sympathy in the loss of your Mother / Mother in Law; nothing harder than losing a loved one; we know many are thankful for her 98 years; and that she will be very much missed; may God give you all peace in your time of sorrow as you reflect on her life; and all she meant to so many.
A typical North West Western Washington fading of winter day of rain here and there invited us to brave the elements that promised more of the same; to our mutual destination in M/V at the Sr. Ctr. There big smiles emerged at the door with hands unable to gesture occupied with instruments; eyes focused on the circle of chairs our faithful musicians proceeded to their favorite spot to be for the evening of musical sounds they were to share; coffee on; goodies being unpack-aged for ready hands at break. Music stands up, mic’s and stands up; clock approaches 6:30 p.m. we are ready!
A 15 min. meeting brought good participation to the floor; always a positive when we can openly share ideas on how we can be better; discussion points included:
1) Meeting at an earlier time for those having to drive a long way in the dark of winter; with the change to Daylight Saving time upon us, and with gaining more daylight in the evening we agreed to revisit the idea in the fall.
2) Re – establish play – outs in Nursing Homes, and Retirement Communities; with the Governor’s obscure restrictions of masking and Covid being unclear; and to avoid any breaking of mandates in place; we will wait till March 31st. and Sarah will make calls to the facilities aforementioned for clarity on playing at those venues.
3) Denise noted; we have a great audience at the Sedro Woolley Sr. Ctr. play-out; and we want to give them our best; she would like to stand up and face the audience to sing and play her instrument; that it seems more professional; noting that I stand to sing; we discussed it and I feel we need to talk a bit more about that; I agree with Denise; I recall in the past we sat and took turns playing, and we always came to the mic and faced the audience at our Jams and play-outs; however we left the discussion with those that want to sit and play their turn or stand up will work; as I look at the video’s below they substantiate Denise’s thoughts; in the video some sat on a stool and sang up front at the Mic; so I suggest we consider at S/W next time that we try it out; place a mic and music stand in a place in front for those wanting to stand; realizing not all can stand; be it a bad back…etc… hope this helps in doing the best we can; Thank you Denise for bringing this important issue to our attention!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
4) Fred brought up this years Fiddle Camp; It’s July 10 -14th. at Moses Lake, info… https://fiddlecamp.wotfa.org/ https://fiddlecamp.wotfa.org/
The meeting ended; 11 ready in the audience instruments poised, ready, who will start? Mic in front of Dwight off we go! The adventure of the unknown tunes to be heard precedes us, building the suspense of the evening; we hear sounds and tunes unheard by many before; proceeding around the circle of 13 musicians; we hear from Barry, Steve, Peggy, Gary, Forest, Carol, Denise, Sirrku and her dancing Ewe; and can she rhythm dance! Welcome back Sirkku! Then we hear from, Danny, Rich, Fred, and Sarah. 8 p.m. arrives, we break for coffee, and sweet treats; conversions continue; and at 8:p.m Sirkku, and Fred are wondering when we are going to start; Suirkku says “they are waiting for you to say come back” So we reflected on how Chuck Page used to sheep dog us, and give us the Sargent command to once again take our places! We smiled, and Fred called the come back cry; and off we went tapping our feet to our finish at 9 p.m. All helped place back chairs and pick up; which made for a speedy departure to our cars, and our home bound intent; happy to once again reflect on our music and song in the night together. Happy Campers! See you all soon. : o )
“May your heart always be joyful. May your song always be sung.” Bob Dylan
March 24th, Jam. at M/V Sr. Ctr. had a pretty good turn out of 11 musicians and about 11 in Audience Sarah shares; also that there was a good variety of music; so all had a nice Jam.