Welcome to May 2024! I hope you all had a real nice mayday. Remember the mayday fun tradition of leaving a small bouquet of flowers on a neighbor’s porch? That can be such fun!
Our meeting/jam on April 6th was also a lot of fun. We had quite a few people of different ages attending and as many fiddles as we have seen lately! I counted 11, which was such a treat. We also had a variety of instruments which included guitars, base guitar, mandolin, banjo and harmonica. During the meeting we decided to schedule two more bonus jams for this year. We scheduled one on April 27th and the other on June 1st. We notified everyone we thought would be interested by email because the one in April will have already happened by the time this newsletter is published. They were both put on the calendar so people would know the details in time. I have included several pictures from our April 6th meeting/jam below:
Last month I announced that our secretary, Ena Birkland, will be celebrating her 90th birthday with a party on May 11th from 1 – 4 pm at the VFW Post 1263 in Renton. She would really love to have you all (even from other districts) join her on her special day. Bring your instruments and be ready to play. Cake will be served and she’s hoping that people will enjoy dancing to our music. This event is listed on the calendar of the website and tells all the details.
Reminders:
- There are 2 extra jams from 1 to 4 pm at the DesMoines Masons Hall. They are Sat, April 27th and Sat, June 1st
- Ena’s Birthday Party on May 11th from 1 to 4 pm at the VFW Post 1263 in Renton
- There are no other meetings or jams for District 6 until Sat, Sept 7th, which is from 11 am to 4 pm at the Masons in DesMoines
- Registration for WOTFA Fiddle Camp this summer begins Monday, May 6
Our playdates at the nursing and group homes continue throughout the summer. Thanks to all who give their time and energy to make these possible! Questions: Contact Bernie Turner at Bernus.turner@comcast.net
In other District 6 news, our very own highschooler, Bella Smith took part in a special workshop that had to do with the Seattle Fiddlesticks program shared in the newsletter last year. She learned several new songs at home, which she shared with us at our jams. Then, she met with the group for one practice after which they all played at the Seattle Center for St. Patrick’s Day. We all are so excited to see her enthusiasm and progress in her fiddle playing! Good job, Bella! The pictures below are of this performance:
Lastly, here’s some information and a plea for help at the National Fiddle Contest in Weiser, ID taking place June 17th through the 22nd. Washington state has been asked to be the host state for this event. Janet Shelby sent me a note that I have copied below to let you know about it: