Dear Fiddlers,

Sarah’s due diligence has produced results for those wanting to get back playing at the Retirement / Nursing Home Communities; our opportunity to play post Covid is here; we look forward to a good turn out practicing, and sharing soon;  the June Calendar is early on purpose to allow you time to prepare your calendar; it may be amended when we know of other play dates; but to date a calendar is below, and also attached; if you have any problems reading it please let me know.  Dates and times of play are determined by the Retirement / N.H. facilities; we have to work within their time frames due to their daily routines and their schedule; so we appreciate your understanding this important detail. Please note that parking can be a challenge at Mtn. Glen; so allow a bit more time to find parking. We look forward to a good turn out and sharing some good music at our May Jam, and June Schedule of play! Creekside has entertainment the day before, and after us; so we want to do well, have a good turn out there so that we can be invited back!

Our next Jam is May 26th. Jam ..at Mt. Vernon Senior Center from 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm

WOTFA Dist. 4 JUNE 2023 Calendar

SUNDAY	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY
				1 S/W Sr. Ctr.11:30 – 12:30 A.M.715 Pacific St, Sedro – Woolley	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9 Mt. Vernon Sr. Ctr. 6:30 – 9 P.M. Meeting /Jam1401 Cleveland Ave	10
11	12	13	14 Mtn. Glen, MV2:00 – 3 P.M. 1810 E Division, Allow time to park!	15	16 Creekside 3:00 – 4:00 P.M.400 Gilkey Rd, Burlington,	17
18	19	20	21	22	23 Mt. Vernon Sr. Ctr. 6:30 P.M. Jam 1401 Cleveland ave	24
25 Zion Lutheran Church4:00 P.M. 7215 Valley View Rd, Ferndale	26	27	28	29	30 Laconner Retd.Inn 3- 4:00 P.M. 204 N 1st St, Laconner

 

May Review:

Hugs, and smiles greeted many as they made way thru the handicap equipped door past the front desk lighting up the Sedro Wooley Sr. Ctr. last Thursday May 4th; as Jack, wife Judy, Dwight, Diana, Fred, Sarah, Denise, Debbie, Forest, Peggy, Steve, and Gary gathered together to make ready! Our Early Birds Jack and Judy arriving about 10 ish. moved tables, set our chairs in order; and were having coffee when Fred relieving Sarah from Set up duties ( a much deserved relief ) came thru the door at 10:35 am with the first arm full off mic’s, all was set to go at 11:05 am;  with Forest and Dwight’s help we were proud to have things ready ahead of time; ready for a 11:30 am on time start; even had time for Debbie with her great smile to test her mic at the piano and have everyone sing you are my Sunshine; more smiles and hugs continued as the time approached; happy to see each other conversations lingered a bit; and our start was a bit tardy; grace was given as we promised to do better next time;  ole timers said the musicians use to get there at 11 am to tune their instruments and be ready to go; with those encouraging words tucked under our arms; we vowed a better start in our future arrivals and kickoff!  With salsibury steak and mashed potatoes, and conversation our audience was wisely brought into the moment with Denise’s encouraging folks participation song of Don’t Fence Me In; Thx Denise, which delighted everyone! Great music was enjoyed by all; with closing time approaching Dwight suggest we remember Gordon Lightfoot who recently passed, with his, Gordon’s song: Early morning Rain; which we did as our closing tribute song. Pack up after our great lunch was easy; hugs and goodbyes for now gave promise to another day and time of music! Thank you all so very much for everything!

Dear Fiddlers,  Dwight shares:

“Fred and others; to supplement Glen Campbells ‘try a little kindness’ I would strongly recommend Christine Lavin, her song ” And the moment slipped away”  It can be found on YouTube.  A beautiful song about NOT letting an opportunity to be kind to someone slip away. Dwight Holmgren”       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM2DgcPGxPA         3 min 41 sec.

Thank you for sharing Dwight!  Christine has a clear great voice; good guitar sound;  yes good to be aware of “opportunities to be kind!  “Don’t let it slip away”!  Great; seeing faces beam at the acts of kindness and love;  one of my favorite sayings is Love Wins the Day!  Pretty song!

To our delight and surprise 16 musicians blessed us with their presence at our M/V Sr. Ctr. Jam Fri. May 12th; welcome newcomers  Mike, Irene, Tom, and Fred, and returning visitor Mark, our regulars were Carol, Sirkku, Rohxann, Diana, Sarah, Fred Robbins, Peggy, Steve, Barry, Rich, and Dwight; thank you all for playing and helping!  Our 15 or so in the  Audience enjoyed the new folks; and tunes, we appreciate them all very much!  Thank you to all who brought goodies and all that donated to our coffee and Student fund; that helps a lot!  We love it when we have kids learning music!
Asking anxious Musicians to sit through a 15 -20 min. meeting once a month is a little like asking your child to finish his vegetables before he gets desert;  be that as it may we endured to the finish line with the Chairs agenda; even with hoots to get going…Alleluia!  And the chair appreciates you holding out as long as you could;  for we did have this to share: Talking points discussion: 6:32 – 6:50 pm.

• Email address; Fred Announced if you would like our news and calendar give me your email address.
• Sarah play -out Calls: Called 4 places, Mtn. Glen, Mira Vista,M/V, Country Meadows Village,S/W, and Creekside, Burlington; results thus far are: play – out Glen.5/15 ,1:30 ; this is a trial; if we do well they will schedule more  for us!  Other possible  play – out to be determined; Mira Vista currently has some covid cases; Country Meadow Village would like us to come ;to be determined; waiting for return call from Creekside.
• Play – out: Zion Lutheran Church 7215 Valley View Ferndale, WA. Sunday June 25th. arrive 3 pm, play 4 pm. Directions … I-5 N, Take exit 266 toward WA-548 N/Custer/Grandview Rd. Go for 0.2 mi., Turn left onto Grandview Rd (WA-548). Go for 3.0 mi., Turn right onto Valley View Rd. Go for 0.8 mi.,  Then 0.77 miles to Church. https://www.mapquest.com/directions/list/1/from/us/wa/bellingham/to/us/washington/zion-lutheran-church-303838061
• Drum Discussion, Fred was contacted thru. our M/V Sr. Ctr. Newsletter add; inquiry, to play quiet small drum set; discussed; consensuses that it would not work well, Fred to reply to inquiry.
• Teachers update:  Diana continues teaching Rohxann, may continue with her Brother Ronald when his hand/ arm heals.
• Treasure report: Sarah said all is well; trying to build up funds through play- outs to help get more students learning instruments!
• Moving Forward: As we move forward if you have any concerns, lets discuss them here; a couple came up recently;
  1. Arriving 1/2 hour before start time; to help set up and tune your instrument; important that we Start on Time.
  2. Refrain from playing music when others are tuning up; if I’m playing the piano; say to me Fred hold up for a bit I need to tune up here; just ask!
  3. Play agreed to song for opening and closing; Red Wing, all agreed will work for our opening and closing tune!
  4. Also in fairness in playing time; we alternate from one end of the line to the other our starting player; to give equal chance to all to get equal turns to play.
  5. Thank you all very much for your participation and cooperation in our music gatherings; we need you and appreciate each and everyone of you!

“A mother holds her children’s hands for a while, their hearts forever.”  —Anonymous  “A grandma is someone who plays a special part in all the treasured memories we hold within our heart.”—Anonymous

Dear Fiddlers,

I needed to stop back into Mtn. Glen today to give the Activity Lady a phone number of my piano tuner; and some of the folks there commented on how much they liked our coming there;  one lady asked me about Sirkku’s Ewe;  they were quite taken with how Sirkku could activate the Ewe; and the sound she gets; well done thank you Sirrku!  And another lady asked me what kind of instrument that Jack was playing with the heart on it; and I said it is a Jacks Original that he Jack made;  way to go Jack!  So you see, others see our uniqueness; and that’s what makes us special; nobody does it exactly like we do; so keep up the good playing; knowing you are appreciated! There were others that came up yesterdays afterwards to speak to us; and Priscilla the activity lady said we had about 45 in the audience!

Fiddle Camp time!   “Registration is looking great!  We are almost to 100 students and it’s only been a month.  Our total student count last year was 104.  Yay!”   https://wotfa.org/event/fiddle-camp-2023/

” Kindness is the Language that the blind SEE, and the Deaf HEAR!”
” Don’t wait for people to be kind show them how.”

Please note: Corrected phone Number below for our Sarah Buntin; for Scheduling; and Treasurer inquires., # 360-679-6595 Thank you Sarah!

Thank you to Diana, Dwight, Sarah, Jack, Sirkku, Carol, and Fred for making the warm day Journey to Mountain Glen Retirement Community in Mount Vernon on Monday the 12th.; we had a large audience and the folks enjoyed us being there; comments were; “it was just what we needed”, we had many thank you’s. So looks like we will be returning there again soon; Sarah and the Activity Lady will be coordinating our next visit!

Look Forward to seeing you all soon again at the Mount Vernon Sr. Ctr. Friday May 26th. at 6:30 pm. we will go right into music; and hope to practice up some good ole songs to play together at our upcoming play – outs; so keep practicing; we need you! : )

Encouraging words from the song by Glen Campbell, Try a Little kindness,  2 min.33 sec.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaCBTSQZq1E

Interim Chair – Fred Robbins
Secretary – Needed
Treasurer – Sarah Buntin, # 360-679-6595 email: itsrustyoldhalo@frontier.com
Event scheduling Sarah,   # 360-679-6595 email: itsrustyoldhalo@frontier.com
Calendar Fred Robbins     # 206-786-3369 email: fred@robbinsmetal.com