Welcome to March, everybody! Here comes spring which is evidenced by the new buds and the bulbs poking their heads up. It always seems too early, but what do I know?
Sat, Feb. 1, we held our regular meeting/jam at the Mason’s hall in Des Moines. We had a good crowd in spite of the snow coming down hard at times. Thankfully it snowed and then cleared up so no one that I knew of got stuck not being able to get home. Amazing!
I want to give a shout out to our national organization and all who keep the website updated because we actually had a guest at this jam who came because he looked it up. He’s from Chile, but currently lives in Minnesota. He traveled to Seattle and looked up jams and joined us with his banjo. It was really great to play music, eat, and converse with Ignasio during our event. We actually ended up having 3 people playing banjos which was a record as far as I know. All in all, this was a wonderful meeting/jam made possible by all the enjoyable people who came, shared food, and played together. Here are some pictures:
The end of the month jam was an intimate affair because many of our regulars went to Wintergrass. However, the people who came enjoyed being able to play all the songs they wanted. We are so glad to be able to host the Smith family fiddlers in our jams whenever they can attend because it is so enjoyable to see how they are progressing individually. I’ve mentioned Bella before because she just gets better at learning tunes on the fly and even harmonizing with the person who picked a song. We love to see her progression and especially the fact that she is turning into a fine, personable young woman. Her sister Cici, who is 8 yrs old, is just getting better each week as she tries to keep up with her older sister. Shawna, their mother, is such a positive human being and is doing a wonderful job with the kids. She plays the fiddle pretty darn well as she keeps the kids in line at the same time! Talk about multitasking! All in all, this family adds a great deal of energy to our old folks jams. We appreciate them putting up with all of us! Here are some pictures from this jam:
Our events for the next few months are as follows:
1. Sat, March 1st, Meeting/jam 11 am – 4 pm
2. Sat, March 22nd, Circle jam 1 pm – 4 pm
3. Sat, April 5th, Meeting/jam 11 am – 4 pm
4. Sat, April 26th, Circle jam 1 pm – 4 pm
5. Sat, May 3rd, Bonus circle Jam 1 pm – 4 pm
The website has more information about our events. Be sure to look them up. On the homepage, pick HOME, then ABOUT US, then District 6. You will see upcoming events for District 6 and quite a few newsletters starting with the most recent. It’s a great resource. Check it out.
Thanks to everyone in District 6 who plays at our playdates. It is great that you all donate your time to make people happy and continue earning money for our district which we use for summer workshop scholarships and renting the space where we hold our events.
On a sad note, we just had one of our long time members and former secretary of District 6 pass away on Tuesday, February 25th. Jack Hadfield was such a nice man and a loyal member who loved to play his music and have people sing with him. Our prayers go out to his daughter, Terry and his whole family who will miss him so much. If you would like to send a card, the address is as follows: Terry Huizenga, 1336 Marion St., Enumclaw, WA 98022. The following is a picture of Jack sitting and playing his guitar and singing in 2024.
Keep up the music in your hearts and in your days with practice or jamming. Questions or comments, email me at timbuktoe@yahoo.com
Thanks for reading.
Jenny Swanson