President's Message

Fran Maddox

                 The Rose City Accordion Camp was held from June 1-6 at Collins Retreat Center. Wow! What a wonderful week. There are many pictures to share in this issue of our time together.

                 Joe Natoli and Gail Campanella were the conductors for the week. Joe wrote arrangements for the 3 orchestra pieces: The Prayer, Nine Children’s Pieces and The Midnight Hour. He also conducted 2 of the small groups. The Mt. Hood Players (red shirts) played: Beatles Medley and Soprik. while the “Pacific Players” (white shirts) played Beauty and the Beast and I’m Still in Love With You. The third group, Cascade ‘Cordionists,(blue shirts) was conducted by Gail and played “Alley Cat” and “Ob-La-Di-“. Jeff Nelson sang a solo in the last song. The concert was recorded by Willamette Studios in Oregon City. When it is ready on YouTube we will let everyone know.

The camp always includes workshops as part of our experience. This week Courtney Von Drehle and Toby Hanson were our workshop instructors. Both presented valuable information to enhance our accordion skills. Courtney’s workshops were: How Do We Become The Music? Monturo insert for Esperanza and Vincent Pierani’s Workshop. Toby’s were: Technique Workshop and Klezmer workshop. There is always plenty to learn in the accordion world.

                          I have posted many pictures from the week. Many players joined together to play duets and trios along with many solo performances. Coreen Bergholm’s Nordic Orchestra for the upcoming Scandinavian Festival is shown. Paula Yankopoulos has been a faithful camper since 1994. This year she brought her grandaughter, Alexis, with her. Alexis is an accomplished pianist and played the piano at one evening gathering. Many thanks to Marlene Meissner who created a wonderful visual display of Camp through the years. Two accordionists whom we lost this past year were remembered for their contributions to the accordion world: Karl Kment and Lillian Jones.

                          Susan Schwab did a fantastic job as Camp Director this year. Thank you, Sue, for volunteering for this important role. Special thanks also to Delette Huffman for organizing the raffle and the drawing. As last year’s Camp Director, Delette was on hand to help with anything that needed to be done.

                           This year we welcomed several new campers. Glad you came and hope you had a good time. Sadly, some previous campers couldn’t attend for various reasons. Life happens!

                      Thank you to all of you for attending our camp. I’m already looking forward to the 2026 version of RCAC Accordion Camp.