December KVDC Meeting:

Merry Christmas!
Good Music, Food and Fun!

Our Savior’s Lutheran Church
December 21
2 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

A-L: Bring Goodies!

M-Z: Bring Drinks!


IT'S OUR CHRISTMAS JAM!
This month our meeting will be at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church and, for the record, Larry Lantis has the key!

It’s a jam! Bring your Christmas music and plan on introducing or leading a song. Play, hum, sing, bang on something. Fellowship and fun are our goals for this meeting.
There will be at least 2 door prizes.

SOMEWHERE SESSION
Have a Holiday tune you’re practicing? Let us honor and reward your hard work by hearing you play it! We'll listen appreciatively and applaud loudly.

MEMBERS PLAYING IN PUBLIC
Cora Schloetzer, Fred Applehanz and the Bootleggers are playing for Holiday Happenings this year.  Any of our members playing elsewhere? Please let me know!

Meanwhile, thanks for your patience in November and October. Hazel and I have the key situation straight (note who has it now…!). We made do at my house playing, jamming and having fun. Small – but it worked!

In November, we played and jammed. Doorprizes were CDs. October – we played and jammed, too. Four lucky people went home with a hammered dulcimer, a mountain dulcimer and a CD. There was a discussion about lessons (available from Hazel, Cyndi or Lu) and dulcimer loaners (contact Hazel or Cynd if you need one).

HAZEL UPDATE
Our wonderful secretary-treasurer, mountain dulcimer player and Bootlegger organizer, Hazel Strever, had surgery and it went well. She’s recovering (I wonder if she’s being a good patient and relaxing, though!) and says she’s doing well and thanks folks who have sent her good thoughts and prayers. If you haven’t done so – you can email her at:
hazel@networksplus.net

or send her a card at:
5958 NW 46th St
Topeka, KS 66618

POTENTIAL CHRISMTAS GIFT?
I have listened to our very own Josh Messick’s new CD – Desire for Departure – and it is very good. Josh is a Winfield winner and lives here in Topeka. He’s an excellent HD player and he wrote, arranged and played HD and the percussion on this CD. It was produced here in town, too!

I play to feature Josh in a house concert sometime in January – stay tuned for that. Meanwhile, check out his CD at:
http://www.joshuamessick.com/mp3/Desire_for_Departure.mp3

He’s got a new website, www.joshuamessick.com. It has ordering information and much more!

Do you have a Web site or an artist you think KVDC members should be aware of? Let Cyndi know for the next newsletter!

WHAT TO PLAY & PRACTICE FOR JANUARY
David Mattox will teach a song in January for the mountain dulcimers. Hammers still need an instructor – any volunteers?

Both groups should practice the following songs for our jam. If you want to do a few more Holiday tunes, that’s fine too!
• Liberty
• Whiskey Before Breakfast
• Boil Dem Cabbage
• Soldier's Joy

Mountain Dulcimers will learn a new tune, thanks to David Mattox, and review Black Them Boots.

Hammer Dulcimers will review Glass Island Reel and learn songs appropriate for Valentine’s Day

MORE SONGS!
What songs would you like the club to play in jams? Let us know by email or send us the music.
"Us" is either Cyndi or Deb.

SEEKING ADVICE
Andrea Whelan is an aspiring dulcimer player and is researching the piano layout on hammered dulcimers.  She needs to see some dulcimers in person to make a decision on which type to get, etc.

We’ve invited her to our meetings and offered to share her question with you, fun and learned dulcimer players. If you can answer these questions, please email her at andreawhelan@live.com.

  • Do any of KVDC members (or anyone reading this) have a piano dulcimer or knowledge on chromatic piano dulcimers such as the linear chromatic models by James Jones or the pd30/pd40/etc by Dusty Strings and Sam Rizetta?
     

  • Are there any other groups or players in this area that could help with this decision?

She writes: “Thank you very much for any information you can give me and for your time. I greatly admire your talents and your community.”

UPCOMING FESTIVALS
Larry Conger:
Larry Conger, one of our favorite Mountain Dulcimer instructor/performers, will be featured at Linda Thomas' JCCC Workshop and Concert Weekend March 20-21, 2009. Linda Thomas will be on HD and Dan Delancy on guitar. For more info, contact Linda, or phone: 816-942-7834.

 


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KVDC Officers

President - Cyndi Menzel

Treasurer/Secretary - Hazel Strever

Webmaster -  Deb Pryor

E-mail: 
kawvalley@kvdc.org