February, 2014 Meeting Announcement

February is upon us, and I extend heartfelt thanks to all of you who have supported this club and played along with us through the years.

Our monthly meetings are held the second Saturday afternoon of the month at the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship, 1207 Ellsworth St. from 1:30 -3:30, and occasionally we extend for snacks and social time. We are on the second floor, there is an elevator and the building is handicap accessible. All players, both beginners and experienced, are welcome to join in. The first half of meeting is is spent reviewing recently learned tunes, then learning a new tune and ending with more traditional songs.

This month we will try for a bit of snack and social time; I will bring hearty treats to eat!
Song list for this month will be "Happy Land", "Acres of Clams", "Crooked Ridge" and "Spanish Fandango". Still hoping to learn "Groundhog Day", if Jerry is there. Then we can just strum to all the oldies but goodies. 

Hope to see you there, keep strummin!

Another Good Man Passes On

I just learned, while checking a recent posting on Heidi Muller's Facebook page, that T.R. Ritchie died this morning. For more information, click HERE.  Later . . .

He Will Be Sorely Missed

The world lost a wonderful human being yesterday, as Pete Seeger died at the age of 94.  For more about this remarkable man, you can visit here.  Later . . .

Tablature

For copies of all the tunes listed below, right-click on "Club Music" above.  Later . . .

Club Tunes

2014 Club Song Titles:

FARTHER ALONG
GROUNDHOG
STREETS OF LAREDO

2013 Club Song Titles:

The following is a list of songs, in alphabetical order, that have been played at Club meetings between May and December, 2013

ACRES OF CLAMS
A SOALIN
BUTCHERS GAP

CLUCK OLD HEN

CROOKED RIDGE

HAPPY LAND
HARRISON TOWN
JUNE APPLE

LADY MARY
LYNCHBURG TOWN

NEW RIVER TRAIN

OLD JOE CLARK
RHYTHUM
RIVER

SPANISH FANDANGO
THE THREE RAVENS

WHISKEY BEFORE BREAKFAST

WILDWOOD FLOWER

Moved Away

Pat Madden joined the BDC in October, 2011, when the Club began meeting on 2nd Saturday afternoons at the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship.  I recently exchanged E-Mails with her and learned that she and Bill have moved back to Florida permanently.  Club members will certainly miss her joyful participation in our Song Circles.  Since the Maddens have close relatives in our area who they will likely visit from time to time, hopefully Pat can share a tune or two with us in the future.  Later . . .

Dulcimer Week in the Wallowas 2014

Dulcimer Week in the Wallowas will take place June 30 - July 6, 2014. Presenters will be Karen Mueller, Pam Weeks, Heidi Muller and Bob Webb. Wallowa Lake is in NE Oregon's Wallowa Mountains. For information, contact Heidi Muller at <heidi.muller.music@gmail.com> or 304-382-9422. Sponsored by the Wallowa Valley Music Alliance. Register online: www.wvmusicalliance.org.

January, 2014 Meeting Report

Thanks for all who made our January meeting.  We had a very nice turnout, 8 in all (considering we were competing with the Seahawks game). There was lots of strumming going on when I arrived early and we closed up shop around 4 or so. We must have played around 10 songs and just kept on until we were all well familiar with each tune; such a good song circle! 

It was so good to have John and Margaret from Oregon.  Appreciate their effort to come and play with us as well as two newer players and thanks to Leslie, Colleen and Jerry for continued monthly support. John has two beautiful McSpadden Dulcimers for sale; it was such a pleasure to play such a beautifully constructed instrument. John also introduced "Farther Along" as our monthly new tune. I will be posting our new tunes on the website under music. 

February is just around the corner so if you have a tune you would like to introduce let me know. We will have some heart-ty refreshments next month.

T.R. Ritchie Benefit Concert

On Saturday, January 18, 2014, an outstanding lineup of Northwest musicians will be singing the songs of T.R. Ritchie, who needs help with medical expenses from a serious illness. The concert will be held at the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship, 1207 Ellsworth St., Bellingham, WA 98225. Start time is 7:30 pm. Musicians so far include Heidi Muller, Bob Webb, Tracy Spring, Janis Carper, Tom Rawson, Tracy Moore, Danny Deardorff, Kim Scanlon and Kat Eggleston. For more information, call (360) 223-7006.  Later . . .

January, 2014

Happy New Year and welcome to our new website.  We will now be able to update our music and post more opportunities for you.

Our monthly meetings are held the second Saturday afternoon of the month at the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship, 1207 Ellsworth St. from 1:30 -3:30, and occasionally we extend for snacks and social time. We are on the second floor, there is an elevator and the building is handicap accessible. All players, both beginners and experienced, are welcome to join in. The first half of meeting is reviewing recently learned tunes, then learning a new tune and ending with more the traditional song circle.

For this month we will have two new tunes; "Farther Away" and "Ground Hog". We also will have two McSpadden dulcimers for sale by one of the group. We will be playing "Happy Land", "River", "Spanish Fandango", "Acres of Clams", "Butchers Gap" and more tunes such as "Bile Dem Cabbage Down in the Arkan".

Hope to see you there.