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July 13, 2014

The President’s Message

Dear Friends

Here it is July already and this is the month when we’ve traditionally had our annual ACR summer picnic. Last year we tried something new in July, and it was so well received that we’ve decided to do it again this year. In place of our usual picnic, last year we had a Saturday daytime meeting right here at Hermann Sons Hall. We served sausage with bell peppers and onions with hard rolls from the French bakery in Sonoma. The attendance was great. We had music and dancing and everyone had a good time. We are planning on a repeat of that this year. Remember Saturday, July 26 around noon at Hermann Sons Hall. There will be no third Monday meeting for the month of July.

A few more reminders: The Accordionists and Teacher’s Guild National Convention is coming to San Francisco at the Crowne Plaza Hotel July 24 – 26, 2014. There will be a competition and local accordionists are invited to perform as part of and accordion orchestra as well. This is a big event in the accordion world so try to take part in the activities and let everyone there know that you are part of the Accordion Club of the Redwoods. Hopefully you will be able to attend this event on a day other than that of our Saturday meeting.

Our club will be having a booth again this year at the Cotati Accordion Festival. Last year we had a lot of visitors to our booth but very few club members to chat with them. There were a few volunteers who helped me to man the booth, and I am very grateful to them for taking the time to do so. This year I am hoping to see more of our members stop by to represent the club and chat with interested visitors even if you can only spare a half hour or so. It will give us a chance for a break to get something to eat and drink and walk around the grounds for a bit. Please try to stop by if you are there.

Also if you are there, I know that you will have purchased your tickets from the club. This results in a savings to you and adds a little to our club treasury. Please see Cathy, Art, or me if you need to purchase tickets.

Our chef extraordinaire, Don Agresti, is having some health problems and we send him our best wishes for a speedy recovery. We miss you Donald.

About an hour ago, I returned from visiting my friend, Steve Balich, at Memorial Hospital in Santa Rosa. Steve is recovering from an emergency gall bladder surgery which was performed yesterday, July 2, and although he was feeling under the weather, it didn’t do anything to dampen that upbeat spirit of his. It was good to see him doing so well. This has been a rough stretch for Jennie and Steve over the past few weeks, but I hope to see both of them back on their feet soon. You can call Memorial Hospital (707) 546-3210 to see if Steve’s gone home yet and if so you can send well wishes to his home at 12991 Occidental Rd., Sebastopol Ca. 95472.

See you at the meeting.

Tony Mustaro

President
Accordion Club of the Redwoods

Filed Under: July 2014, Newsletter

July 13, 2014

Entertainment, July 2014

Janet Farris

Janet’s play list was marching patriotic tunes.

“God Bless America”, “The Army Marine Corps Song” , “America”, “The Marine Hymn” and “The Star Spangled Banner”. Great job Janet, hurry back.

Elmo Fama

Elmo was on that night, really on, not that he is not always on, but he was on. His play list was short, but foot taping with “Non de Mentica” and “A Shanty in Old Shanty Town”.

Frank Divita

Frank is always great and that night was no exception. I had a hard time with the name of the tune names. He started with a waltz that Annette and Paulette danced to. Then came “Opila Opila(?)”, “Mazurka”, and ended with a polka. What an entertainer!

Annette and Paulette

Xavier de la Prade

For the Franco (French-American) members I played the game, “Name That Tune”. Here are a few bars from the following songs:”Une chanson douce”, “A la volette”, “Au clair de la lune”, “Sur le pont d’Avignon”, and “Alouette”. Andre Larochelle, a Montreal transplant, won the glass of wine. I then played, “Mon manege a moi”, by Edith Piaf, which translates to, you’re my merry-go-round, whenever a guy would sweep her off her feet. The third song was, “Hymn to Love” written when her lover, boxer Marcel Cerdan died in a plane crash. One of my favorite songs up there with “La vie en rose”.

Guy Richards

Guy surprised us this night, he played the piano. He was as great if not better than on the accordion. His playlist was “Wind Mills of Your Mind”, “Beware My Foolish Heart” and a song/tune he wrote “I Am Simply a Messenger”. We cannot wait to hear more from those ivories.

I Am Simply a Messenger

Kris Nelson and Bob Johns

Kris was on that night. I remember when he first started singing for us. He was a little timid. That night there was no timidity about him. He belted it out in his playlist of “Frim Fram Sauce (?)”, “a medley of Heidi Heidi Ho(sp?)” and “When the Saints go Marching in”. What a way to finish of the night!

Filed Under: July 2014, Newsletter

June 16, 2014

The President’s message

Dear Friends

Well, we’re about two weeks away from the official start of summer and there are lots of accordion activities coming up.

On July 23 – 26 at the Crown Plaza Hotel at San Francisco Airport we have the Accordionists and Teachers Guild, International (ATG) 74th Annual Competition and Festival which will attract accordionists and accordion lovers from all over. If you register before July 2, you will receive a reduced parking rate of five dollar per day. Enter the competition, play in the accordion band or just go and enjoy the ambiance.

Also in July we have our daytime summer meeting which we instituted last year and which was well received by the membership. This year’s event will be on July 26 which is a Saturday. It will take place at Hermann Sons Hall in our usual meeting room and again the menu will be sausage with bell peppers and onions on a roll from the bakery in Sonoma. We will have music of course and there will be room if you feel like dancing. If you would like to play for your fellow members bring your accordion. I will have mine there and there will be singing, good food, and the bar will be open for business. Hope to have an even better turnout than we had last year. See you there.

After these two events it will be time for the 24th annual Cotati Accordion Festival, which has become a highlight of the accordion year for those of us in this part of California and a destination for accordion fans and players from all over the country and even from other countries. Steve Balich and his band will be performing in the big tent again for the 24th consecutive year. Stop by and dance or just say hi to Steve, and the guys. Of course, once again our club will be selling tickets to the festival. There will also be much better parking and a shuttle bus from some nearby parking lots to the festival gates. If you want to save a couple of dollars on your ticket and help support the club treasury see Cathy, Art, or me for tickets.

Finally I would like to send best wishes to our own Jennie Balich who is currently hospitalized by an accidental injury. Steve tells me that her prognosis is good, but that she will be laid up for a while. Get well soon Jennie. If you would like to send her a note or a card, I think that the best place to send it is her home at 12991 Occidental Rd. in Sebastopol.

That’s all for this month. See you soon.

Tony Mustaro

President
Accordion Club of the Redwoods

Filed Under: June 2014, Newsletter

June 16, 2014

Entertainment June 2014

Janet Farris

Janet was a new entertainer to our club. Her mentor/teacher was the late great Frank Marocco. Her play list was “Flick Flack”, “Summertime” and “Picnic” . Great job Janet, we hope to see more of you.

William and Christopher Steffan

William and Christopher have grown a little since we saw them last. They were cute and good then. That has changed, for the better. They are still cute, maybe even handsome, but their playing was great!

Their play list was both individual and duet. William played “Hungarian Dance No. 5” and Christopher played “”Poor People of Paris”. They joined for a duet of “Let’s Dance the Polka”, Just Because” and “The Village Tavern”

Guy Richards

Guy is always a delight. His playlist was provided for the audience which included “True Love”, “My Eyes Adored You”, “Zorba the Greek”, “Blue Bayou”, “Those were the Days”, “Elmer’s Tune”, “Bernie’s Tune”, “Because of You”, “Lara’s Theme”, “Por Uma Cabeza”, “Cest Se Bon”, “Edelweiss”, “Chattanooga Choo Choo” and “Phantom of the Opera”.

Tony Mustaro – Guy Richards

Wow, is there something this Guy does not know? When Guy Got a little lost for words of one song request, Tony helped out a little.

Tony Mustaro and Carlo Solyvan

Tony Mustaro and Carlo Solyvan teamed up for the finally. There play list/duet was “Cantate Con Me” , “Dicitencello Vuje”,“Malafemmena”, “Chitarra Romana”,“‘Na Voce, ‘Na Chitarra, E’O Poca Luna”, “Tango Delle Capinere” and “La Paloma”.

I am glad there was not a Las Vegas talent scout in the audience or we would have to travel there and pay to see and hear them.

Filed Under: June 2014

May 13, 2014

The President’s Message

Dear Friends

Well, we followed up our annual Spring Fling dinner dance with a well attended and very entertaining April meeting. It was nice to see a good turnout again this month, and I hope to keep improving on our attendance throughout the spring and summer. At the April meeting, I had the welcome task of presenting our featured performer, Steve Albini, with an Honorary Membership Award from our club and also to join Steve and Carlo Solivan for a couple of numbers.

It was a great evening of music. There was, however, one disappointment: Guy Richards did not get a chance to play for us. I am hoping that he will rectify that this coming month.

There are two events of note for your consideration. Please mark Saturday, July 26, on your calendars. This is the date of our repeat performance of last year’s daytime summer meeting at Hermann Sons Hall. There will be food, music and visiting with friends. More particulars will be forthcoming, but just be aware of the date and let’s make this year’s turnout even better that last year.

Secondly, I have received a message from Lynn Ewing, President of the San Francisco Accordion Club, informing us that the Accordionists and Teacher’s Guild National Convention is coming to San Francisco at the Crowne Plaza Hotel July 24-26, 2014. There will be a competition and local accordionists are invited to perform as part of an accordion orchestra as well. Lynn has done a great deal of work to promote this event, and I will ask each of you to make an effort to demonstrate our support by attending one or more days as either a participant or a spectator. I will supply you with registration forms upon request. It’s a great way to show your enthusiasm and show our support for accordion music here in the Bay Area and have a good time as we get ready for the annual Cotati Accordion Festival.

Speaking of Cotati, our club will once again be selling advance tickets at a discount price for this event so be sure that you and your friends get their tickets through the club. You can see Art or Cathy or me. More details will follow.

Finally, I will take this opportunity to remind you that if you have not yet sent in your annual dues for the coming year, they are now past due. We try our best to keep the club financially sound. The annual dues are our main source of income. Please get your checks to John Pordon if you haven’t already done so.

Hope to see all of you at the May meeting.

Tony Mustaro

President
Accordion Club of the Redwoods

Filed Under: May 2014, Newsletter