Dear Friends

Here it is July already and this is the month when we’ve traditionally had our annual ACR summer picnic. Last year we tried something new in July, and it was so well received that we’ve decided to do it again this year. In place of our usual picnic, last year we had a Saturday daytime meeting right here at Hermann Sons Hall. We served sausage with bell peppers and onions with hard rolls from the French bakery in Sonoma. The attendance was great. We had music and dancing and everyone had a good time. We are planning on a repeat of that this year. Remember Saturday, July 26 around noon at Hermann Sons Hall. There will be no third Monday meeting for the month of July.

A few more reminders: The Accordionists and Teacher’s Guild National Convention is coming to San Francisco at the Crowne Plaza Hotel July 24 – 26, 2014. There will be a competition and local accordionists are invited to perform as part of and accordion orchestra as well. This is a big event in the accordion world so try to take part in the activities and let everyone there know that you are part of the Accordion Club of the Redwoods. Hopefully you will be able to attend this event on a day other than that of our Saturday meeting.

Our club will be having a booth again this year at the Cotati Accordion Festival. Last year we had a lot of visitors to our booth but very few club members to chat with them. There were a few volunteers who helped me to man the booth, and I am very grateful to them for taking the time to do so. This year I am hoping to see more of our members stop by to represent the club and chat with interested visitors even if you can only spare a half hour or so. It will give us a chance for a break to get something to eat and drink and walk around the grounds for a bit. Please try to stop by if you are there.

Also if you are there, I know that you will have purchased your tickets from the club. This results in a savings to you and adds a little to our club treasury. Please see Cathy, Art, or me if you need to purchase tickets.

Our chef extraordinaire, Don Agresti, is having some health problems and we send him our best wishes for a speedy recovery. We miss you Donald.

About an hour ago, I returned from visiting my friend, Steve Balich, at Memorial Hospital in Santa Rosa. Steve is recovering from an emergency gall bladder surgery which was performed yesterday, July 2, and although he was feeling under the weather, it didn’t do anything to dampen that upbeat spirit of his. It was good to see him doing so well. This has been a rough stretch for Jennie and Steve over the past few weeks, but I hope to see both of them back on their feet soon. You can call Memorial Hospital (707) 546-3210 to see if Steve’s gone home yet and if so you can send well wishes to his home at 12991 Occidental Rd., Sebastopol Ca. 95472.

See you at the meeting.

Tony Mustaro

President
Accordion Club of the Redwoods

Janet Farris

Janet’s play list was marching patriotic tunes.

“God Bless America”, “The Army Marine Corps Song” , “America”, “The Marine Hymn” and “The Star Spangled Banner”. Great job Janet, hurry back.

Elmo Fama

Elmo was on that night, really on, not that he is not always on, but he was on. His play list was short, but foot taping with “Non de Mentica” and “A Shanty in Old Shanty Town”.

Frank Divita

Frank is always great and that night was no exception. I had a hard time with the name of the tune names. He started with a waltz that Annette and Paulette danced to. Then came “Opila Opila(?)”, “Mazurka”, and ended with a polka. What an entertainer!

Annette and Paulette

Xavier de la Prade

For the Franco (French-American) members I played the game, “Name That Tune”. Here are a few bars from the following songs:”Une chanson douce”, “A la volette”, “Au clair de la lune”, “Sur le pont d’Avignon”, and “Alouette”. Andre Larochelle, a Montreal transplant, won the glass of wine. I then played, “Mon manege a moi”, by Edith Piaf, which translates to, you’re my merry-go-round, whenever a guy would sweep her off her feet. The third song was, “Hymn to Love” written when her lover, boxer Marcel Cerdan died in a plane crash. One of my favorite songs up there with “La vie en rose”.

Guy Richards

Guy surprised us this night, he played the piano. He was as great if not better than on the accordion. His playlist was “Wind Mills of Your Mind”, “Beware My Foolish Heart” and a song/tune he wrote “I Am Simply a Messenger”. We cannot wait to hear more from those ivories.

I Am Simply a Messenger

Kris Nelson and Bob Johns

Kris was on that night. I remember when he first started singing for us. He was a little timid. That night there was no timidity about him. He belted it out in his playlist of “Frim Fram Sauce (?)”, “a medley of Heidi Heidi Ho(sp?)” and “When the Saints go Marching in”. What a way to finish of the night!

August 18 through August 21, 2014

To see the flyers for the Accordion Stars event in Las Vegas, click here, then when that flyer comes up, click register text at top of page or click here Special Invitation area for reservations. Enjoy!

The Accordion Teachers Guild is preparing for another exciting Festival July 23-26, 2014 at the Crowne Plaza San Francisco International Airport Hotel. The hotel is conveniently located 1½ miles from the San Francisco International Airport with free shuttle to and from the airport and the BART Rail Station which can whisk you quickly anywhere in the San Francisco Bay Area. The ATG special rate for single/double occupancy rooms are $129 plus tax which include free Internet. Overnight parking is $9 per night for hotel guests and $5 for visitors attending day/evening events. We hope you will make every effort to attend and stay in the hotel as this helps us meet our minimum in order to have use of the beautiful ballroom and meeting rooms.

Click here for more information