President's Message
Fran Maddox
This month’s meeting began with the music circle. The songs played were Dark Eyes and Metsakukkia in parts. Parts for Dark Eyes were rotated, so everyone got a chance to play all the parts. We have done this enough now that it is easy to transition from one part to another. The other songs were April Showers, A Waltz for Lily and Enjoy Yourself. Next month’s music circle leader is Micah Cowan.
The business meeting followed the music circle. The announcements are on page 3. They include meeting dates; information about the upcoming board meeting on May 5; a camp update and an accordion event happening in our area.
The remainder of the afternoon was filled with beautiful music in which several different genres were displayed. It is always a pleasure to not only listen to players’ songs but also learn about the history of these songs.
An interesting discussion was held about the monthly Zoom meetings that started during the pandemic. Katie Eberhart, a club member now, who lived in Bend, Or. at the time, right away wanted to figure out a way to keep us playing and sharing music. Thus the Central Oregon Zoom sessions were started on Saturday mornings with Katie hosting. She mentored me to do the same with our Rose City Accordion Club. Throughout the pandemic we kept these sessions going. Many people from around the USA asked to join. We’ve met some lovely and very talented people who shared their music with us. Karl Kment (Katie’s teacher) who passed away in January at the age of 96, joined. Karl learned how to use Zoom and original sound. What a joy to hear him play. Another one who joined us was Lou LeBraun who delighted us with her sparky playing at the age of 92. Sadly both have passed but left us with wonderful memories. It was during this same time that Laura Niland, a club member now, from Texas, started Zoom NJO (Not Just Oompah) workshops in which several of us participated and continued learning about our wonderful instrument. We met Joe Natoli through Zoom meetings and workshops. Now he will be the conductor for our RCAC Accordion Camp this summer. Even though we couldn’t get out to play in person during the pandemic, these people figured out a way to keep us connected musically. Obviously the pandemic had many downsides, but an upside was meeting people from the larger accordion community.
Two accordionists from our Zoom meetings attended the 2024 RCAC Camp. Both Donna Kaspar and Christine Boris-Estaban have become members of our club. There is a special article by Donna Kaspar and her recent trip to the National AAA meeting. Christine received an “Inspiring Teacher” award. These are on the "Member News" page.
Happy Easter!
