| Beat the Winter Blahs with Music
Strings and Things The Official Newsletter of the Volume XXIII Number Two February 2005
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| FROM OUR PRESIDENT: Pickers & pickettes - Want to thank Marc & Teresa Bachman for all of their work on the winter retreat - it was great fun. Also some really good chow. Thanks to everyone who helped set up, clean up, etc. Big thank you to Steve Madorin for providing meat. We were sorry to hear that his brother passed away. Steve, our prayers go out to you and your family. Just a reminder to everyone that club dues must be paid by March 12th, if you want your name in the new handbook, or even if you don't want your name in the handbook. Spring fundraiser is coming up also on March 12th. Troy Pulver volunteered ??? to ramrod the event. Call or e-mail Troy to get on the playlist and invite all your friends, because we are having it at Grace Harbor Church, a.k.a. the old theater in Derby. It seats about 140, so we've got plenty of room. Club meeting is Feb. 12 th . Don't forget, for those that want to come a little early, we will be having coffee, juice, and donuts (maybe some visiting) at 9 a.m.. Meeting starts at 9:30, workshops at 10:30. Happy Valentines Day Pres. Joe
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A FEW WORDS FROM OUR VP:
Welcome to February! First off, I want to thank Marc and Teresa for organizing the Winter Retreat. It was a very enjoyable way to spend time together and play some good old tunes. It was also nice to see some old familiar faces and meet some new guests. For this month’s workshops, we will be breaking into groups again. I have asked each leader to at least run through "St. Anne’s Reel" for part of the session. This is a tune that has been on the Club list of "songs we should know", but I have not heard it lately. This year, I would like to build on last month’s workshop and continue learning to play as a group. After the workshops are completed, we can all play this tune together during the play around. I have attached a basic copy of St. Anne’s reel in case you do not have it. If you have a song and would like to work on it as a group, please let me know so we can add it to the list. I want to encourage anyone wanting to learn a new instrument to contact me before the Club meeting. I will try to make sure someone is available to work with you. Speaking of songs you would like to learn... Please bring any sheet music you would like to include in the new edition of "GPDA’s favorite jam tunes" to this month’s meeting. The Club is trying to expand our musical knowledge. Our March 12th Spring Fund-raiser is rapidly approaching. Contact Troy Pulver if you would like to play a solo or form a group and perform. His email address is: deluxesaltydog@juno.com. I hope all is well with everyone. See you February 12th! Chuck (a.k.a. the President of Vice) |
MINUTES FROM JANUARY MEETING: 1. March 12th is scheduled at the Grace Harbor Church located in the Old El Paso Shopping Center in Derby, KS. (Previously referred to as "The Iron Horse Benefit") It's on the East side of K15, the old theater location. To sign up for Open Mic please contact Troy Pulver as he is organizing this event. Troy has the sign up list for music and finger foods. Start approx 6:30 to 7 PM, more info to follow. Everyone pays admission since this is one of the Benefits to support GPDA. Club voted on $7 per person, children high school age and under are free. 2. April 9th we have Quintin Stephens scheduled for Mountain Dulcimer workshops and mini-concert at Immanuel Church. This is regular Club meeting day. We'll have a short meeting and Quintin will do a Beginner-Intermediate workshop at $5 per head beginning about 10:30 AM. We'll break for lunch. I thought we would do sloppy joes and chips at the church. Quintin will do a second workshop Intermediate-Advanced at $5 per head about 1 PM. Quintin will do a mini-concert from about 2:45 to 4 PM. We have to be out of the room by 4PM or a little after. We will be meeting in the basement room where we have the Christmas Gathering. I'd like to have one or two volunteers to help with the food please, we'll keep it simple. 3. We are discussing having Hammered Dulcimer workshops at the same time??? If the HD players might respond as to whether they might be interested....that way we know if we have people who will come and support the workshops. Instructor is yet to be determined. 4. We are discussing about adding the tunes we currently play at jams and outings to our music packet. A lot of tunes we play currently are not in the packet. If each person would help by bringing one or two of their favorite jam tunes I will help Rose get them integrated into the Master Packet. We'll also try to make a little free supplement packet for those who have the packet but not the jam tunes. Thanks for your help with this, it really needs to be done. 5. The activity calendar is on www.gpda.org so if you know of an event coming up please send it to me and I'll add it to the calendar so everyone has the opportunity to attend and not hear about it after the fact. 6. Joe said to have your name in the '05 Handbook we must have your dues, $12, paid by March 12th so the book can go to print. Respectfully, Barbara Barr, Secretary |
ANNOUNCEMENTS: |
Some Instrument Care Tips from Larry "The Tipster" McDoniel: I thought it might be helpful to add this little article from Taylor Guitars in the club newsletter, regarding seasonal tips for our guitar players. Since we live in "cold" country, the result of using our furnaces to keep warm will cause the relative humidity in our homes to drop. In fact it can drop to the point that it's hazardous to the health of solid-wood guitars. Our guitars will thrive best in an environment that has a relative humidity between 45% to 55%. If your guitar begins to show signs of drying (i.e. 'buzzing' strings, lowering of the action, fret ends feel sharp, etc.), then your guitar is in need of having its moisture content restored. While there are a variety of ways to increase the moisture content, the best way is to use a soundhole humidifier, and to store the guitar in its hardshell case. I use the Dampit brand of soundhole humidifier in my guitars, but Kaiser also offers a very good model. These humidifiers sell locally for around $20 to $30. If you do not have a soundhole humidifier, you can set the guitar out in a room with a regular room humidifier for a few days until the moisture content is restored, then store the guitar back in its case. I noticed that Teresea's McSpadden Mountain Dulcimer started to show signs of drying (sharp fret ends) and simply setting it out in the living room for a day near the room humidifier restored its moisture content adequately. Hope this tech tip helps everybody help maintain their solid-wood instruments in great playing condition.
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