President's Message

Fran Maddox

The meeting November 15 was attended by approximately 25 people. It started with a workshop by Jeff Nelson on “How to Be A Better Sight Reader”. Jeff asked those attending “what keeps you from being a better sight reader?” The answers were around rhythm, tempo, print too small, looking at the whole song first, key signature changes, etc. The rest of the workshop was spent looking at these issues. He had four songs that we studied to improve our sight reading skills. Thank you Jeff for presenting this valuable information. He also referenced books and websites in order to translate markings in other languages. A follow-up session was requested.   

BIG NEWS: ELECTION OF OFFICERS. Your new President is Amber Matz; Vice-President is Beth McDonald; Secretary (continuing) is Marlene Meissner and Treasurer is Delette Huffman. Congratulations to all of you. We look forward to new leadership starting in January, 2026. Thank you for volunteering for these positions. 

Susan Schwab gets to wear only one hat now: Camp Director. Prior to this she was also the Treasurer. Susan couldn’t be at the meeting because of her recent knee surgery. She reports that healing is progressing nicely. Hopefully she can attend the December meeting/party. Registrations for 2026 Accordion Camp went out the end of October. If you are interested, you will find the registration form on our website.

Terry Rudd, RCAC member, is selling his Roland.  You will find it on the "Items for Sale" page.  Larry McCullough is again performing in Brush Prairie, WA. More information on "Members Activities" page. 

December’s meeting will be the annual Christmas Party. Like the picnic, it will be catered and funded by RCAC members who played out representing the club. The club has received generous donations for playing at various events. 

At the November board meeting, we awarded two scholarships. Samuel Gladkiy lives in Woodburn, OR. He came to our  November meeting and performed two songs for us: La Vie En Rose and The Entertainer. We loved having you and your family present. His teacher, Anne Heinrichs came also. George Voorhees lives in Georgia. He sent a video to say thank you and played a few measures for us on his accordion. Unfortunately I didn’t have access to the big screen but did pass around my iPad to share with the members. Both are very deserving youth accordionists.  

Once again, I want to thank everyone in the club for their support these past 4 years. As President, it was a pleasure to serve you. I want to especially thank Bev Spurgeon for picking up the key prior to the Saturday meetings. Special thanks to Valri Chiappetta for being Vice-President. Valri pitched in whenever I needed her. The same goes for the rest of the board members.  

Happy Thanksgiving!