President’s Remarks

Contributed by Tom Bailey

Happy New Year FOG members! Time sure flies this time of year, we are all so busy with activities of the Season. It is so important to spend time with loved ones and friends, lest we not forget those who are not feeling joy during this time of year. The COPS gigs coming up this month provide an opportunity to share uplifting music with some of these folks. The set list was sent out at the beginning of December, so all members can see what we will be playing at the gigs. COPs gigs run from January through April; please think about coming to play with your fellow FOG members.

After the annual meeting last month, the Board distributed a survey to determine members’ interests. Primary goals of the survey were to find out who is interested in workshops, COPs gigs and paying gigs. Survey input will allow us to set up contact lists for workshops and gigs, as well as letting us know what type of workshops members are interested in for the coming year. But if you don’t send in your completed survey the Board will not know your interests. We will be cutting back on membership-wide email blasts, instead communicating just to those who are interested in receiving specific information. Some folks are tired of receiving so much “junk” email from so many sources that we don’t want to add to the pile. So, if you are interested, let us know!

A couple things came up in the annual meeting that have been communicated to the membership,  but the Board wants to reiterate: First, a FOG financial meeting will be scheduled in the near future. We will have an end-of-year financial report. A proposed budget will be presented to guide some of the decisions for the coming year, i.e., number and scale of workshops; number of paying gigs we need to accept without placing a burden on the membership; any desired expenditures and so on. Second is a jam schedule; the 2nd Friday of every month will feature a slow jam from 6:30 until roughly 7:30, led by Pat Fink. A monthly gig practice will follow; this will be the ONLY Friday gig practice for the month. All other Friday evenings will be regular jams for everyone, not just members. A gig list for 2020 has been distributed with most of the available dates already filled. We are hoping this will allow members to plan on joining in some of the events. As we get workshops set up, those dates will be added to the list.

Another change for this year is that we won’t have a Music Committee, as the one that has been in place the last couple years has been basically inactive. Greg Roat will go back through the older FOG tunes and come up with a handful that we will add to the jam playlist for the month. There are a lot of great tunes that we have simply forgotten; now we will go back and enjoy these tunes we used to play all the time. Deb Abel has offered to continue writing up any new ones we want to add to the repertoire.

So, with the exciting plans to look forward to in 2020, I want to wish you a prosperous and Happy New Year.

Until next time – Play nice and play often!

 

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A Little Taste of FOG

Contributed by Tom Bailey

By now everyone should be familiar with the Members’ Interest Survey. In the Comments section of the survey, one respondent suggested FOG needs a program to introduce members to our repertoire of 170+ tunes. Handing a FOG newcomer “the BOOK” can be a daunting experience for someone not used to FOG. When Julie and I joined in 2006, we paid our dues and were handed a massive stack of tunes. Where is one supposed to

start? We were familiar with old time music in Florida and the Carolinas, even Virginia, but this FOG music is different. It can be enough to scare someone away. So, when Mike presented this suggestion, it was decided we need to pursue such a program. The program would be for folks familiar with other music but not FOG’s, or folks wanting to learn the tunes commonly played at jam sessions, or even for folks just wanting to learn to play old time tunes. It would be for all instruments. The idea needs further discussion, but we are looking at possibly meeting at a member’s home and reviewing a handful of tunes chosen from the massive repertoire. The tunes would be announced ahead of time so attendees would have time to review the music before the date of the gathering. We would probably request for all involved to come up with a list of tunes they want to learn and then 5 or 6 would be chosen for each event. The hope would be to review and play the tune enough times that a participant would come away knowing the tunes well enough to play at any jam session.

Might you be interested in such a gathering? Please let us know;  you could even add it to the “Other” section at the bottom of the survey. Think about it:  a relaxed, no pressure, no judgement gathering where we can just share old time music!

 

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Winter a Hazard for Instruments

Contributed by Kathy Schwar 

Originally published in the December 2018 Fiddletter, information that bears repeating as we find ourselves firmly in the hand of winter’s chilly grip and our heated, drier homes.

I recently attended a workshop on caring for musical instruments during Rochester area winters. While much of the information may be common sense to some people, I found it really helpful for protecting instruments. As they say, “Instruments still think they’re trees,” though they are not, so they need special care in maintaining the wood and lacquer. Plus, the effects of the cold can affect the sound.

Dave Stutzman, of Stutzman’s Guitar Center, was the workshop speaker and this information is intended as a summary of “need to know” points:

• In winter, it’s all about maintaining humidity to prevent cracking. While every instrument will not crack, it is hard to say which will and which won’t. But Stutzman knows that harsh winters will bring so many panicked musicians in for repairs that he has had to turn some away.
• Keep instruments out of the cold as much as possible. But if they’ve been subjected to it for some time, let them acclimate, best for a few hours in their cases when they get home; don’t immediately open the case. He has actually seen that cause instantaneous cracking of the finish.
• An easy rule of thumb is that when you turn your furnace on for the season, start

  humidifying your instrument(s). When you turn it off in late spring, humidifiers aren’t necessary.

• Keep your instruments in their cases, not on a stand, with a humidifier. This keeps the humidity there and also helps humidify the neck.
• If you use a console home humidifier know that the gauge on the machine may not be accurate. A digital hygrometer, bought from places that sell indoor-outdoor thermometers, more accurately tells you the humidity. You want to keep indoor humidity at 45 to 55%.  Keep all your instruments in one room if you can. In winter the basement would naturally be more humid than upstairs, but don’t leave instruments there in summer.
• Some humidifier choices are the Dampit-type humidifier–easy to use but follow directions on the package. Also, hold it by both ends when shaking it out. MusicNomad’s The Humitar and similar options are available. If you fill the devices once a week routinely you’ll be reasonably sure there’s enough moisture. Even twice a week when temperatures plummet. Careful you don’t let them drip.
• In summer, by the way, keep instruments out of a hot car or loosen the strings. When outside keep them in the shade with the case cracked open. But overall, Stutzman said, instruments subjected to cold “lose more moisture than they gain” in heat.

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Let’s Jam!

FOG jams will be held at the Fairport/ Perinton VFW on Rt. 31F, from 7:00-9:00, each Friday in January. Come join us!

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President’s Remarks

Contributed by Tom Bailey

First off, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, spending time with family and friends. As we enter December, let us all remember that the focus this time of year should be sharing time with our loved ones and friends. If you have time, remember those who might not have all that we enjoy. A kind word or even giving of a small portion of your time helping others can mean more to them than you can imagine. We all have a special gift — the ability to play music, uplifting music. Find time to share it with others during this Season.

By now, most of you are aware we have a year-end business meeting coming up this Friday, December 6 starting at 7:00 pm. This is the time to vote on your Board of Directors for 2020. We will discuss some ideas the Board has for next year as well. We would like to get your input on things like slow jams, COPs gigs, possible workshops. Please try to join in at the VFW. Then on the 13^th, we have a Holiday Jam set up by Jane and Kathy. Elsewhere in this newsletter there is a flyer that Jane has put together. It should have all the info you are looking for on the Jam. This event will be at the American Legion in Penfield. Again, we will start around 7 pm.

One project the Board wants to try again is something we talked about a year ago, which is adding a section on the FOG website listing stringed instrument teachers within our area. Several members are taking up new instruments and it would be great if FOG could help them find the right teachers. Teachers do not have to be FOG members. We have the names of some FOG members who offer lessons, but we need your help by your recommending teachers for the listing. If you would rather not have FOG contact the teachers, please ask them contact Mike Deniz or myself. We would need their name, contact info, instruments taught and what levels they teach. If you have contacts at one of the local schools, please pass this on to be included in the list. We would like to include teachers for every stringed instrument played by FOG members at the jam sessions. The goal is to have this information on the website by February 1, so please submit teacher info during January.

I know I keep repeating this in almost every newsletter, but I have to say it again one last time. The members who have come out and played at gigs this year have out-played themselves. You have been so entertaining and you all have been willing to share time after the gigs to talk to the audiences. It might seem minor to you but it means so much to the audiences. Because of you, we keep getting asked to come back to entertain again. One place we thought we really blew it — the Macedon Public Library — has already booked FOG for next June! So, even when we think we play poorly, just remember that the audience is still enjoying being entertained by live musicians. Sounds crazy, but I have been told that simply watching players who look like they are having a good time is very uplifting to the audience.

And thank you to the new members who joined up this year; that means so much to keeping this fiddle club moving forward. Please feel free to contact a Board member and pass on any suggestions you may have to help the organization.

I really look forward to seeing you soon at the jam sessions.

Until then … Play Nice!

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Redemption

 by John Piper

Just after Thanksgiving, as I started my music lesson, my teacher commented that the winter recital was coming up soon.

Exactly!  That’s what I was thinking too.  Wasn’t she there at the last recital when my Amazing Grace performance went off the tracks, over the embankment, down the chasm and into the raging river before catching fire and exploding to the point where even Hollywood special effects people were going, “Woah, that’s a little too much”?

Was this a reflex thing such as, “The recital is coming, and I must tell all my students”?  Like whacking your knee with a hammer and your foot jerks or say when you throw a music critic, who negatively commented on your Amazing Grace performance, off a chasm overlooking an exploding train wreck, and they instinctually scream?

Then again, it could be that amnesia thing coaches have where they yell at us to forget the last play and to just concentrate on the next one, even though they’re pacing up and down the sidelines muttering to themselves that they hope we won’t mess up like last time.

As it turns out, I think it was a reflex phenomenon.  When she said we have a winter recital coming and I responded that I would be interested in performing another solo piece, she developed this massive facial tic.  Even more confirmation that it was a reflex thing, as the recital date drew near, and it became apparent that I wouldn’t be ready (what a surprise there) she miraculously healed.

Since I was only doing the group play now and to change things up (not that I’m superstitious, but the previous preperformance routine was not working), I purposely didn’t practice after work before heading over to the nursing home.  Better to be surprised at how I would do during the performance.  I got there just in time as my teacher was tuning all the violins.  That’s right, ALL THE VIOLINS, not just for those of us who are special.  Hard to believe, but you tune the violin to the piano, which happened to be slightly out of tune.  Who knew?  I did know that in an orchestra the entire violin section tunes to the guy who sits closest to the conductor.  We know who that guy is.  He stayed after school and kissed up to the teacher and now he’s doing the same thing with the orchestra conductor.  He has no friends.  As it turns out I was standing behind the adorable little dark haired girl and thinking I am so glad I don’t play right after her when I noticed her teeny tiny violin only had three strings.  As it turns out one of her strings broke, but her song only uses the remaining three strings.  It was an A-HA moment.  A-HA as in what a revelation, not A-HA the Norwegian singing trio who had the hit Take on Me.  And whatever happened to them?  Great song.  Kind of a strange music video.  But they had such potential and then like most one-hit wonders just disappeared.  Kind of like people having a cringeworthy Amazing Grace meltdown.  Or rather hoped they would disappear, but instead have become a historical reference as, for example, survivors of Chernobyl are still saying, well it could have been worse we could have had an Amazing Grace meltdown.

But getting back to the A-HA moment.  Why didn’t I know about this for the last recital?  Amazing Grace is played on only two strings.  While I may be the idiot part of idiot savant when it comes to music, I’m a savant when it comes to math.  I played on the wrong strings in the previous fiasco but I had four strings.  That means I had only a one out of sixteen chances of having my fingers, the bow and the music all on the correct string at the same time.  Okay, okay, technically you should be there anyway but stay with the math here.  If I only had two strings, imagine just two strings, then the odds would have been one out of four to get the planets aligned, as five of the planets did back in 2005 causing the end of the world as we know it.  So, the Disaster at the Mass-er in the church wasn’t my fault.  I had too many strings.

Once the violins were all tuned, we gathered to rehearse for the group play. The first song was My Country ‘Tis of Thee.  I’m way in the back next to David, the only other adult playing in the recital.  I use David as my metronome since I can’t count music, but he can.  David is an anesthesiologist and he took college classes in counting.  “Now count backwards from one hundred.  One hundred, ninety-nine, ninety-eight, lights out.”  It’s not that impressive and who’s smarter, the guy that spent all that money going to medical school to learn how to count or the engineer that is copying off him?  Following David’s lead, I nailed this song.  We followed this with Twinkle, Twinkle.  I was a little flat in a couple of places but I still mark it as an A minus.  This was followed by some song that sounded like Patty Cake.  All I had to do was play the same string as a drumbeat.  No moving fingers, just the bow.  I am so all over this.  I am rocking.  The kids went to sit with their families up close as I moved to the back of the room near the exit.  Technically I still wasn’t committed to performing and I wanted to keep my options open.  The nurses were bringing in the residents and by seven pm there were eighty-three and a half people if you count the one nurse coming in and out, all breathing my air.

We, of course, start with the adorable little dark haired girl who only gets more adorable, if that’s possible.  The little cheat with only three strings.  Cheat in the fact she thought of it before I did.

This is followed by a little boy in a white shirt and what had to have been his dad’s tie going down past his waist.  I could have shown him how to tie a Windsor knot, which looks terrific and uses up more tie, but then he wouldn’t have had room for the violin under his chin.  And WHY didn’t anyone tell me about the violin when I was his age?  The students are 90% pretty girls.  And they have ponytails!  In junior high it doesn’t get any better than that.  These are the good girls who hold their books across their chests and have permission to read books in the restricted area of the library.  And playing the violin gives you a strong chin.  Girls like guys with strong chins unlike Mitch McConnell, who obviously never played the violin, hence has no chin and went into politics instead.

A guy who plays the violin shows he’s sensitive.  Years later put a plant on your desk.  Plants shows you are the nurturing type.  I read that in a magazine at the barber shop years ago.  Get a cactus, it’s a plant and no one can kill a cactus.  Okay you killed the cactus.  Get another one, they all look the same.  You want to appear to be the nurturing type; no one said you had to be the nurturing type.  Now when the office cutie walks by, she’ll comment on the plant and that’s when you lean back and say, I also play the violin.  She will fall in love with you right there.  And on the way home she’ll pick up wedding announcements.  But that’s not the best part.  The best part is your first weekend together; she’s going to open the door wearing a ponytail because she’s always felt it doesn’t look professional for work and it’s all for you because you take violin lessons.  Don’t worry that you play poorly because the first three years of marriage anything you do is cute, and they even believe you when that awful smell arises and you say it’s the dog and you don’t even own a dog.

Even if you’ve been married awhile it’s still not too late to learn how to play the violin.  When I told my wife a few years ago that I wanted to play the violin, she developed this terrible facial tic.  Fortunately, it immediately went away when she said I could practice in the basement.  The cold, dark, unfinished, unheated, one swinging sixty-watt light bulb basement.  But I am allowed to move upstairs as soon as I can play a song, any song, perfectly, twice in a row.  #@%$^&ing Amazing Grace.

As each additional child got up to perform, all I could do was think of the W.C. Fields comment about never wanting to perform after children or animal acts.  I should thank my lucky stars that none of the children brought their dogs.

Soon it was my teacher’s younger daughter’s turn to play.  When I perform, I like to have my violin tucked under my chin and my bow on the strings thirty minutes before the piano accompanist shows up to the building.  Here the pianist is playing the intro and she’s casually flipping her hair back.  Now she’s looking around the room.  Straightening her dress.  Pulling out her phone to check emails.  The music is building and she’s staring off into space.  Finally the music hits a crescendo (one of those musical terms that, hard to believe, I am actually learning) when I just noticed the pianist has started playing the theme music to the movie Jaws and as I start to leap up to scream, “THE PIANO IS RIGHT BEHIND YOU,” she casually picks up her violin and starts playing.

Not my fault.  Not my fault.  The nurse came back into the room making eighty-four people breathing my air and I was momentarily hallucinating.  Even the piano stopped looking like a shark.  Recitals.  Thank goodness they’re only twice a year.

David gets up next and plays a piece from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.  I will be playing Twinkle-Twinkle.  What was I thinking when I agreed to perform again?  The only thing keeping me here is knowing that bad decisions make good stories and I am waiting to see how this one turns out.

We now have reached the last soloist, my teacher’s older daughter.  She’s playing something that has six movements and each movement requires a completely different bowing technique.  Personally, I have done six different bowing techniques on a single bowing mainly because I can’t keep one bowing for a complete note.  So yes, this is a very challenging task and of course it was exceptionally performed.  She’ll be going to college soon, so technically I can say I’m not directly following a children’s performance and she left her dog at home.

Finally, it is time for the group play.  I didn’t stride to the front as per my last recital, but I did make it there without any major incidences.  First goal achieved.  We started off with My Country ‘Tis of Thee and I immediately went off the reservation as they say.  I was on the wrong strings … again.  But the difference this time is I have been here before, repeatedly it seems.  I actually smiled and corrected within two measures while nodding my head to the right giving the subliminal message that it was David who messed up.  We followed this with Twinkle-Twinkle and I crushed it.  Okay, it’s a kid’s song and easy to play but we take our victories when we get them.  If I could play it twice, correctly, I could get out of the basement.  We finished up with Pat-a-Pan and while not knowing what it was supposed to sound like, I assumed I did it correctly.  Not bad, two out of three.

With the recital over, I strode to the back of the room and started putting my violin away when I felt something grip my elbow.  I turned my head and there was a woman who at one time must have been four feet tall before she started shrinking with age.  She looked up at me — she was going to look up at everyone — and said, “You were wonderful.”  I’m thinking that this far back she didn’t even see me, but politely responded that it was a group play and everyone played well.  She kept looking at me and said, no, you played wonderfully.  This is exactly what is wrong with the world.  We need to fix this immediately, as all our bless-his-heart-grandmothers are in nursing homes and not at churches where they belong.

“You played wonderfully”!  For a moment I felt the wind billowing my cape as I stared into the dying sunset, one foot on the chasm overlooking the smoldering train wreck below me before being rudely jerked back to reality by the sound of a music critic hitting the ground like a bag of wet cement.  I’ve got your Amazing Grace.  Bring on the next recital.

 

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!!! REMINDER !!!

Annual Business Meeting, Slate of Candidates for 2020

The annual business meeting will be held this coming Friday, December 6.  The meeting will begin at 7 pm, or as soon as we have a quorum.  Members are encouraged to attend and to bring up any issues they have.  After addressing all of the agenda items, we will hold this year’s elections for the open posts on the FOG Board of Directors.  A regular fiddle music jam session will begin immediately following the meeting.

Various members of the Fiddlers of the Genesee BOD of 2019 have identified the following people who have stepped forward to serve on the 2020 BOD. We appreciate all who considered accepting positions as well as those who offered to serve in other, non-BOD capacities. The slate of candidates is presented below:

President: Tom Bailey

Vice President: Kathy Schwar

Secretary: Jane Reetz

Treasurer: Bill Kraft

Director-at-Large #1: Elaine Chandler

Director-at-Large #2: Greg Roat

Director-at-Large #3: ?????       (This will be for the remaining one-year term to replace Bill Kraft, who will run for the Treasurer position.)

Each of the five Director-at-Large (DAL) serves two-year terms. The two other DAL positions are currently filled by incumbents who will be serving their second years in 2020. They are B.J. Cunningham and Pat Fink.

If any FOG member would like to still be considered, please contact any BOD member. A Board vacancy may occur during the year and knowing which members have an interest in serving on the board will make it easier to fill such a vacancy quickly. Further, if a member cannot make a one year or two year commitment required of those who sit on the FOG Board of Directors and would like to help out in some other way, they should contact any of the current board members or consider one of the Critical Function Leader positions.

 

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The Show for Joe

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Fall Fiddlin’

 

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Let’s Jam!

All Friday evening jam sessions for December will be held at the Penfield American Legion. Won’t you come join us?

President’s Remarks

Contributed by Tom Bailey

Terry Baucom’s bluegrass tune Around the Corner contains some great and very fitting lyrics: “You never know what’s waiting ‘round the corner.”  Please take a few minutes to listen to it on YouTube. It seems like that should have been FOG’s theme song for this

year. I have decided it will be mine! How many times did we have things planned out (set lists, gigs, meetings) and then something happened that wasn’t expected? The good thing is we made it through all the trials and tribulations very well.  On behalf of the Board, I want to thank you all for supporting FOG and what it stands for.

We’ve made it through the gigs for the year, and I think everyone who was at the Bristol  Valley Theater gig would consider it to be one of the best FOG performances in memory. There was great response from the audience, which Mike has included on the website. Now it’s time to enjoy autumn and the upcoming holiday season. What if we start a new tradition for FOG and have a holiday music jam? That has been a big no-no in the past, but we seem to have broken several of those unwritten rules this year, so …?

The Board is looking at breaking some other standing “rules” that have been followed in the past. One we are looking at is making jams for jamming, instead of spending so much time preparing for gigs. If folks come to a jam expecting to play, but we spend all the time rehearsing for a gig, they are disappointed if they aren’t going to the gig. The Board is still working on the gig preparation details. The set lists, with alternate tunes, for the COPS gigs will be out in early November. So there will be plenty of time to start learning the tunes. The Board is looking at making slow jams a worthwhile time for folks, whether a FOG newcomer or someone who is working on a tune and needs to play it with others, but slowly. Maybe one of the directors could be a slow-jam coordinator? The Board is considering organizational “jobs” for the directors-at-large so the Board can better serve FOG members. Pipe dream? Maybe so, but “you never know what’s waiting ‘round the corner”!

This is the time of year the Board looks for folks to join in the fun activities as others rotate off the present Board. There is a listing in this newsletter for positions where help is needed. What we really need is a fiddler to join the board. When Ray stepped down

during the year, the Board became fiddler-less. The Board of a fiddle club with no fiddler? Is there not one fiddler who wants to keep the Board from being taken over by mandolins? Is this on the edge of blasphemy? Think about it – please – we need your help.

Also mentioned in this newsletter are two upcoming business meetings. The first is in December, when nominations are taken from the floor in addition to the proposed slate of officers, and then members will vote. There will also be an informational session. The next business meeting will be held in the spring. This will be a financial meeting to inform members of the year-end financial status of FOG, as well as taking care of some audit procedures.

See ya’ at the jams!

Until then … Play Nice!

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Notice of 2019 Annual Business Meeting

Slate of Candidates for 2020

Contributed by Jane Reetz, Secretary

The annual business meeting will be held on Friday, December 6th. (Editor’s note: For your review, minutes of the 2018 Annual Meeting follow this notice.)  The meeting will begin at 7 pm, or as soon as we have a quorum.  Members are encouraged to attend and to bring up any issues they have.  After addressing all of the agenda items, we will hold this year’s elections for the open posts on the FOG Board of Directors.  A regular fiddle music jam session will begin immediately following the meeting.

Various members of the Fiddlers of the Genesee BOD of 2019 have identified the following people who have stepped forward to serve on the 2020 BOD. We appreciate all who considered accepting positions as well as those who offered to serve in other, non-BOD capacities. The slate of candidates is presented below:

President: Tom Bailey

Vice President: Kathy Schwar

Secretary: Jane Reetz

Treasurer: Bill Kraft

Director-at-Large #1: Elaine Chandler

Director-at-Large #2: Greg Roat

Director-at-Large #3: ?????       (This will be for the remaining one-year term to replace Bill Kraft who will run for the Treasurer position.)

Each of the five Director-at-Large (DAL) serves two-year terms.

The two other DAL positions are currently filled by incumbents who will be serving their second years in 2020. They are B.J. Cunningham and Pat Fink.

If any FOG member would like to still be considered, please contact any BOD member. A Board vacancy may occur during the year and knowing which members have an interest in serving on the board will make it easier to fill such a vacancy quickly. Further, if a member cannot make a one year or two year commitment required of those who sit on the FOG Board of Directors and would like to help out in some other way, they should contact any of the current board members or consider one of the Critical Function Leader positions.

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Minutes of 2018 Annual Meeting

Fiddlers of the Genesee

DRAFT       –        Annual Business Meeting Minutes      –        DRAFT

12/7/2018

Fairport-Perinton VFW

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM with 12 members present. President, Tom Bailey read the FOG Mission Statement.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting: Jane Reetz reported that a copy of the draft minutes from the 12/8/17 Annual Business Meeting had been published in the November Fiddletter. The minutes were approved unanimously. (BH/GR)

Treasurer’s Report: Greg Roat presented the treasurer’s report for the eight months January 1 – November 30, 2018.  Cash assets – Ending Balance 11/30/18 – $9695.44  The inventory has been devaluated.  Some items had been sold at a reduced cost because of condition, some unusable items were disposed of and some items are being stored by Mica Schmidt.  Tax returns are still being filed.  Membership renewals are due; after March, the website password will be changed and the “members only” section will no longer be available to members who have not renewed.  The report was approved unanimously. (BH/JR)

Membership Report – Mike Deniz reported that there are currently 108 active memberships.  20 memberships did not renew for 2018.  A survey from non-renewing members showed 50/50 that the reasons for non-renewals were conflicts with schedules and distance to jams and new members were unable to keep up with the tempo of the music.  The board has approved a change in the policy of “slow jams.”  Instead of a one-hour slow jam two times/month, a 30-minute slower tempo start will begin the session every week as determined by those in attendance.  This will afford members the opportunity to request tunes at a slower tempo.

Annual Election for 2019:  Jane read the Slate of Candidates that had been presented in an email blast to the membership as follows:  President-Tom Bailey, VP-Kathy Schwar, Treasurer-Greg Roat, and Secretary-Jane Reetz.  Directors-At-Large 2019/20: #1-Ray Eddington – serving remaining one year of term; #2-Elaine Chandler – serving remaining one year of term.  #3 – Pat Fink – returning for another two-year term; #4 – B.J. Cunningham – new two-year term; #5 – Bill Kraft – new two-year term. There being no other nominations from the floor, a motion was made to accept the slate. (BH/GR)  The 2018 FOG secretary, Jane Reetz, cast one vote on behalf of the membership and the slate was elected.

Music Committee Report:  Deb Abell distributed copies of the repertoire so that members could give their input on which six tunes they would like to see retired from the list.  Core Tunes and recently introduced tunes cannot be voted off.  The music committee will make the final decision on removing tunes and updating the list.  Anyone can forward a suggestion for a new tune or “tune fixes” to the Music Committee.  “Tune fixes” may include intros and harmonies.  It was suggested to slow down the introduction of new tunes to four new tunes/year.  Also send suggestions to the Music Committee for additional tunes to add to the “Core List.”  Work still needs to be done on the “Erie Canal” song.

Old Business: None

New Business

• Membership Coordinator – A replacement for Mike needs to be found. It might be helpful to divide this position into a “membership committee” consisting of three parts:

1. A Follow-Up Person – Get in touch with members who have stopped coming to jams – possibly due to illness (themselves or family members). B.J. Cunningham volunteered to head this up.
2. E-blast Contact Person – Take on the task of sending out e-blasts to the membership as requested by the President.
3. Member Information Database – Take charge of maintaining the database containing all the membership information

• New Website/Newsletter/Facebook –

Website (Mike Deniz) – Our current website is outdated.  An updated website would have the capability to contain links to other areas including recordings, videos and photos.  This would take it in a new direction.  Mike is currently working with the basic application of “WordPress” which is free.  The BOD approved an upgraded version would greatly enhance the capabilities available.  Plans are to run the old and new websites simultaneously to eliminate any problems before deleting the old website.  Fiddletter (Susan Cady-White) – Susan has taken over as editor of the Fiddletter.  This is also being done in “WordPress” and will tie in with the new website.

Facebook (Deb Abell) – Send any information you would like to see included on the FOG Facebook page to Deb.  This can also be linked to the new website.  More social media might eventually result in more paying gigs for FOG!

• Advertise need for more Fiddlers –

We need to get the word out that we need more fiddlers.  Social media will be used to spread the message.  A suggestion was also made to run an ad in the Pennysaver to come play music with us.

• Tunes at jams –

The board would like to see more time spent on the core tunes as well as the news tunes that have been recently introduced by the music committee.  This will give all of us (old and new members) the opportunity to go over tunes that are not played that often.

• COP gigs –

Tom is currently taking requests for COPs. There will be one in January, two in February and March and one in April.  Last year we had to cancel because of a lack of fiddlers – we need to bring more fiddlers into the club.

• More new CD’s –

An order for an additional 100 CDs has recently been placed.  The board made a decision to spend $200 on fixing the variations in the level of the sound on the CD.  This was due to the original recordings being done in four different locations.  A profit will still be made on each CD.  The shipment should arrive before Christmas.  Plans are to advertise FOG in the following ways:   placing copies of the CDs in local libraries; selling them on the “local musicians” rack at Bernunzio’s Music; and sending copies to local radio stations for program usage.

• Spring “picnic” –

Tom asked if members were interested in having a spring picnic similar to the one held in November.  It would take place before or after the Easter break.  The members were in agreement.  Tom will look into renting a facility.

Adjournment:

There being no further business, the meeting was officially adjourned at 8:10 PM. (BH/GR)

Respectfully submitted,

Jane Reetz, Secretary

12/13/18

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Duties of Club Officers, Directors-at-Large

and Critical Function Leaders for 2020

Club Officers

President:

• The president shall preside at meetings of the membership.
• The president shall be the chairman of the board of directors and as such shall preside at meetings of the board, and shall perform such other duties as the board shall from time to time determine.
• The president shall have general and active management of the corporation, and shall see that orders and resolutions of the board are carried into effect.
• The president shall execute contracts requiring affixing of the seal of the corporation, except where the signing and execution thereof shall be expressly delegated by the board of directors to some other officer or agent of the corporation.
• The President shall listen to the opinions and concerns of the membership and bring those viewpoints to the Board meetings.
• The President’s term is for one year.

Vice-President:

• The vice-president shall, in the absence or disability of the president, perform the duties and exercise the powers of the president, and shall perform such other duties as the board of directors shall prescribe.
• The Vice-President shall listen to the opinions and concerns of the membership and bring those viewpoints to the Board meetings.
• The Vice-President’s term is for one year.

Secretary:

• The secretary shall attend all meetings of the corporation and record all votes and the minutes of all proceedings in a book to be kept for that purpose and shall perform like duties for the standing committees when required.
• The secretary shall give, or cause to be given, notice of all meetings of the corporation, and shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the board of directors or president.
• The secretary shall read the minutes of previous meetings at all formal corporation meetings, process all corporation membership registrations, maintain the list of corporate members, and maintain the list of agents appointed by the board.
• The Secretary shall listen to the opinions and concerns of the membership and bring those viewpoints to the Board meetings.
• The Secretary shall maintain a record of FOG policies incorporating any policy changes or additions decided by the board.
• The Secretary’s term is for one year.

Treasurer:

• The treasurer shall have the custody of the corporate funds and securities and shall keep full and accurate accounts of receipts and disbursements in books belonging to the corporation and shall deposit all monies and other valuable effects in the name and to the credit of the corporation in such depositories as may be designated by the board of directors.
• The treasurer shall disburse the funds of the corporation as may be ordered by the board, taking proper vouchers for such disbursements, and shall render to the president and directors, at the regular meetings of the board or whenever they may require it, an account of all his or her transactions as treasurer and of the financial condition of the corporation.
• The treasurer shall be responsible for the prompt preparation and submission of all financial forms required by governmental agencies.
• The Treasurer will maintain an official list of FOG assets.
• The Treasurer will prepare an annual report.
• The Treasurer’s term is for one year.

Director-at-Large:

• Listen to the opinions and concerns of the membership and bring those viewpoints to the Board meetings.
• Serve in one of the positions listed under Critical Function Leaders listed below.
• Assist any officer, or fill in for an absent officer such as collecting jam donations and obtaining receipt for same.
• The Director-at-Large term is for two years.

 Critical Function Leaders

In addition to FOG Board Officers and Directors-at-Large (9), many other individuals provide leadership to a number of critical functions and activities that keep the organization productively and efficiently humming along. Some members have volunteered for the positions; their names are listed below. The Critical Function areas are:

Newsletter Editor:  Susan Cady-White

• Obtain information from members to include in the monthly “Fiddletter”
• Edit the information and produce the newsletter with the software package
• Deliver the final document to the Membership Chairman and Communication Coordinator for distribution to the membership

Website Manager:  Mike Deniz

• Update the Website as needed to include recent events, new tunes, event schedule, newsletter, etc.

 Gig Coordinator:  Tom Bailey

• Once the date and location of the gig is set, produce a set list for the members
• Contact the venue for information on audience size, warm-up space, case storage, etc.
• Publicize the event in the newsletter
• Have members sign up form for gig
• Distribute directions to venue to members
• Communicate with Sound System Coordinator as necessary

Gig Contact:  Denny Brunner and Tom Bailey

• Contact venues for possible gig sites
• Coordinate dates, venues and contacts with Board of Directors

Jam Site Procurer:  Kathie Brunner

• Set up jam locations and update Fiddle Fone recording

Slow Jam Coordinator:

• Devise new ideas for an established Slow Jam and present to the Board for approval
• Set up jam leaders
• Distribute information on Slow-Jam to members through Communication Coordinator (e-blast)
• Assist in running a jam as necessary
• The Coordinator can be a general member of FOG; Board membership is not required

Jam Coordinator:

• Set up jam leaders
• Ensure info to be distributed to members is available (e.g. new music, set lists, sign-up sheets)
• Have “visitor” music binder available at jam
• Assist in running a jam as necessary
• The Coordinator can be a general member of FOG; Board membership is not required

 Sound System Coordinator:

• Know available equipment and how to set it up
• Communicate with Gig Coordinator for gig venues
• Determine system requirements for gigs based on venue size and number of players
• Set up system at gig venues – enlist assistance as needed
• The Coordinator can be a general member of FOG; Board membership is not required

 Membership Coordinator:  Teresa Gianni

• Receive new or renewal membership information from the Treasurer;
• Add or update member information in an Excel spreadsheet (roster);
• Add or update member information in an e-mail distribution list and send to Communication Coordinator
• Inform the Newsletter Editor of members who do not have e-mail;
• Send monthly “Fiddletter” and associated files via e-mail to the Communication Coordinator.
• Send an edited membership roster via e-mail to all members once/year
• The Coordinator can be a general member of FOG; Board membership is not required

 Communication Coordinator:

• Send info from the FOG Board to the general membership via e-mail (e-blast).
• Distribute monthly “Fiddletter” by email (e-blast).
• The Coordinator can be a general member of FOG; Board membership is not required

 Music Committee:

• Maintain tunes in FOG repertoire – review for corrective updates
• Distribute tune revisions as developed by the committee
• Introduce new tunes on a committee determined basis
• Distribute new tunes as adopted by the committee
• Review repertoire at end of year to determine if any tunes should be removed
• Review FOG “Core Tunes” list to determine if new tunes should be added
• The Committee can be a general members of FOG; Board membership is not required

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Let’s Jam!

November 1, 15, 29 jams will be held at Fairport/ Perinton VFW

November 8, 22 jams will be held at Penfield American Legion

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President’s Remarks

Contributed by Tom Bailey

Here’s hoping everyone had an enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. Looks like we have made it to warmer weather but I am seriously looking at waterproof instruments! There are some great sounding fiddles, mandos and guitars out there made of carbon fiber – 100% waterproof! Guess we gotta have something to complain about with the weather …

The first workshop with Ron Perry will have taken place by the time you read this. Based on his lesson plan, it was likely a great one. Eighteen have signed up for the June 8th “Making a Tune Your Own” workshop with Michelle. We are working on a date between the 8th and 22nd for Ron’s second workshop since Ron and Nancy will be out of town for a week beginning the 21st. There are 10 signed up for Ron’s “Starts and Breaks” and at least 12 for Michelle’s “Playing with Others” on the 22nd. It was unfortunate that we had to cancel the Clawhammer workshop, but there were only four confirmed attendees. It wasn’t fair to Michelle, but it would have been a big hit on the FOG coffers to host a workshop with so few attendees. There are now at least nine interested in a Clawhammer workshop, so we are trying to figure out another date for that one. If Michelle isn’t available, there are a couple other really good clawhammer specialists in town. Details should be confirmed soon.

We need you to sign up to play at the Macedon Public Library on June 15th. We played there last year and the audience was great – so appreciative. Please sign up if you are going to be in town. After that we will play two sessions at the Friendly Home on July 20th. These are paying gigs, so it’s a chance to refill our bank account! Please see the other upcoming events on the list included elsewhere in the newsletter.

Want to do something really different for a Monday night? Join us on a Traditional Fiddle Music/Bluegrass Cruise of the Erie Canal on the Colonial Belle out of Fairport on June 17th. We play in Macedon on the 15th and then get together with roughly 60 other folks for a cruise the following Monday. Folks will board the Colonial Belle at 6:30 and leave the dock at 7:00 pm for a 2-hr+ cruise. The Cruisers (not break-neck speed players) will be on the upper deck while the Moonshiners (all out crazy folks) will be in the main cabin. And for those who just want to relax and not worry about playing, PLEASE come on out. Cost is $22, which includes pizza. That’s more fun and less cost than a regular 2-hour cruise! Bernunzio’s sponsors the event, so PLEASE give them a call if you are interested: 585-473-6410. They need a list so they know how much pizza to buy and so names can be checked off at boarding. They don’t want to leave someone standing at the dock!

Please see the summer set lists below. Printable PDF’s of the Set Lists can be found at the end of the newsletter. There are two lists, based on the two days at Mumford. Set List #1 is for Saturday and Set List #2 is for Sunday. There is a slight problem: in the past we have had 45-minute time slots, which was the basis for these set lists. I just found out that this year we have only 30-minute time slots, so we have to remove around 4 tunes from each list. I need to explain the color codes here: Black is obvious; Blue is for the tunes that are on both set lists; the Red at the bottom are some possible tunes to add to the list for one of our normal 1-hour gigs. A new tune has been added, FOG’s Tune of the Month for June, Welcome Whiskey Back Again. There is a new tune we snuck in on everyone. Deb is working out the details but we have included the basic tune in the newsletter. Heads up– we will use Set List #1 for Macedon Library!

Mumford Set List #1 – Saturday  Click on image below to download	Mumford Set List #2 – Sunday Click on image below to download

If you want a chance to get to become better friends with your instrument(s), there are some super workshops coming up that might help. Want to get to know the FOG members a bit better? Join in one of the many scheduled events and gigs. Click here to see the upcoming gigs Fiddlers of the Genesee – gig list 5-25-19

2019 Event Schedule as of 24 May 2019

June 2019

• 15^th – Macedon Public Library – 2:00 pm
• 17^th – Erie Canal Cruise  – 6:30 pm

July 2019

• 20^th – Friendly Home , Brighton – TBD   2 sessions, paid gig
• 27^th – Macedon Erie Canal Celebration  – 11:45 am & 1:00 pm

August 2019

• 17^th & 18^th – Mumford Fiddlers Fair – 2:15 pm Saturday & Sunday
  Jam tent 10:00 am – 4:00 pm both days
• 31^st – Little Theatre – “FIDDLIN” documentary 3:00 pm
  FOG can play after showing in the Little Café

September 2019

• 5^th – VA Hospital, Canandaigua – 5:00 pm
• 7^th – Turtle Hill Folk Festival/Golden Link
  Jam tent, no performance
• 15^th – Palmyra Canaltown Days  – time TBD

October 2019

• 13^th – Bristol Theatre, Naples – 2:00 pm

Find some time to enjoy the music, the camaraderie and above all – Play Nice!

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FOG Tune of the Month:
Welcome Whiskey Back Again

Contributed by Deb Abell and Tom Bailey

When the English Parliament lifted the ban on Barley in the late 1800’s, the author of Farewell to Whiskey wrote this tune to welcome the change.

Click HERE to download pdf of sheet music

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FOG Spring Picnic Fun!

Contributed by Jane Reetz

	Following on the success of our Fall FOG picnics, this year we added a Spring Fling which took place on May 5th.
A lot of members attended with their families and friends. It offered a great opportunity to jam, socialize, and eat (and eat some more).		There were several great breakout sessions where members got a chance to shine and show off their many musical talents.

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President’s Remarks

Contributed by Tom Bailey

Greetings FOGgers! I don’t know about you, but for me it is a welcome change to be driving to work with the sun rising. Feels like the start of a new day, although more days have been cloudy than sunny! Thanks to all who came to our “business meeting” on April 5^th. Mike Deniz did a great job of presenting the new website.  The site is easy to use and includes everything the Board asked Mike to cover. Mike sent the link to all members; have you looked at it yet? Very few comments have been received but the Board does want your input before we go “live” with this website. Barring additional input from the membership, the new site will become the official FOG website around the end of May. Maybe we should have a party for taking down the old website?

If you’ve read the past couple Fiddleletters you know we have the FOG Spring Picnic coming up May 5^th at the Ellison Park Pavilion Lodge, located in the northwest corner of the park. The information is in this edition of the Fiddleletter as well. I hope you can join us, as there will plenty of food, music and camaraderie beginning at 2:00.  We don’t have to be out until 8:00, if anyone is so inclined to stay until closing. Great weather is forecasted, so we can play on the patio.

Please see the latest listing of upcoming events. These have been discussed in this column before, with the exception of the June 27 event. On June 27^th Bernunzio’s Uptown Music is sponsoring a 2-hour cruise on the Erie Canal aboard the Colonial Belle, sailing out of Fairport. This has been a bluegrass cruise in the past but we are adding fiddle music to the cruise this year. We will probably have the fiddles on the upper deck and the bluegrass folks in the cabin. Nothing to say we can’t intermix, since a lot of the music at bluegrass jams is fiddle music. Maybe you would like to play some bluegrass? Please pass the word to everyone you know. Usually about half the people on the cruise don’t play the music, they just like to listen and watch the wildlife (including other folks) on the banks as we go gliding by. In the past we have boarded around 5:30 for a departing time around 6:00. We will have more info in an email blast around mid-May.

Many of you have been asking about the set lists for this summer. There will actually be two: one for Saturday and one for Sunday at Mumford. During the course of playing our summer gigs we will add several tunes to either list to make up a 1 hour set list. Mumford is roughly 40 minutes playing time each day.  The set lists will be handed out this Friday at the jam session. There will be a short discussion to review the lists and get your input. After that the set lists will be emailed out to all members. Come see the different tunes on this year’s list.

Don’t forget that FOG is holding a series of workshops that will be taught by Michelle Younger. Originally it consisted of 3 workshops, each building on the previous one. They were:

• • • • May 18 – Clawhammer Banjo (beginner/intermediate)
      • June 8 – How to make a tune your own:  Introduction to variation and improvisation in old-time music (all levels, all instruments)
      • June 22 – Playing with other people and learning tunes on the fly (all levels, all instruments)

We have added a fourth one, a Mandolin Workshop with none other than Ron Perry. It will be held on Wednesday May 29^th. The Saturday workshops will start at 2:00 pm and will cost $5 for members and $12 for non-members. There will be a big discount for attending two workshops and an even larger one for attending all three Saturday workshops. There will be no charge for the Wednesday evening Mandolin workshop, which will start at 6:30.  An email will be sent with details on the workshops, which will be held in a storefront at Bay Towne Plaza.

Hope to see you at the picnic!

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FOG Tune of the Month: Lonesome Moonlight Waltz

Contributed by Deb Abell

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Listen here to the Lonesome Moonlight Waltz Click here for a printable PDF of Lonesome Moonlight Waltz

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Coda

Susan Cady-White, editor

At this time last year I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of May 1, the opening of online registration for FiddleStar Adult Beginner Fiddle Camp, which I had I learned of while reading Strings magazine. The camp is held at the Ridgetop, Tennessee home of Megan and Adam Chowning. With a maximum of 15 students and the ability to lodge on site in one of two bunk rooms, the camp sounded perfect for me and I was thrilled to land a spot on the roster. Camp was held in September and my husband and I decided to hit Nashville together for a few days before I went off to camp. On our first morning, we walked to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. When we arrived at the Hall, bluegrass musicians – including an amazing fiddle player – were jamming on an elevated deck. When we asked how we could get closer to them, it was explained that the players on the deck were rehearsing and we could see them and others inside, because the second and final day of the Grand Masters Fiddle Championship was taking place in the auditorium. We walked inside, past a very long line of sweaty tourists waiting to buy tickets to the museum, and into the cool – and free — auditorium to have a listen. And stayed all day, right to the champion-announcing end. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning and still can’t believe our luck in stumbling upon the event. Missouri’s Trustin Baker was the champ.

After three fun days in Nashville it was time for camp. I had registered as a lodging-on-site camper, but over the summer the notion of bunking in a room with five strangers and sharing one bathroom with up to 14 others lost its charm. I booked an Airbnb 20 minutes from camp, a scenic commute that provided a welcome respite at the end of the day when my fingers were sore and my brain was full. Eleven students registered for camp. Several of us fell into the 3-5 year playing range, but most had played less than a year, including the guy who bought a fiddle the week before so he could come to the camp with a buddy, all the way from Alaska.  That’s brave!

Eleven campers were split into three groups, each group composed of students with a range of playing experience as well as one or two instructors. For two full days we worked within our small groups, as well as during workshops with everyone, on tunes our groups would play during a recording session Sunday morning. The recording session was the real deal: Chownings have a state of the art recording studio in their home. A recording engineer came in Sunday morning to record our performances, and then digitally tweaked the outcome to make us sound the best we could. We were all nervous prior to the recording session, which turned out to be tons of fun and left us all with a sense of achievement as we incorporated all we’d learned about bowing, intonation, rhythm, bass notes, arpeggios, chops, group dynamics and more.

The highlight of camp time was Saturday night’s jam session. About 20 musicians — the guy who had played his fiddle for two days, professional musicians who record and tour with big names, and everyone in between – gathered in the living room and jammed. Fiddles, guitars and mandolins; a magical time that went on for hours. Adult Beginner Fiddle camp was hard work and a lot of fun. I met the most warm and wonderful people. Some of us have stayed in touch and plan to attend future camps together. Campers eat well too! Adam’s parents, Miss Lela and Mr. Randy, fed us in true southern style each day, as well as being present to offer southern hospitality and support.   In addition to fiddle camps, Megan and Adam host a number of camps for guitar, mandolin, dobro and banjo. Learn more about camp offerings at Nashville Acoustic Camps.

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2019 Gig Schedule

No gigs scheduled for May.

June 15, Macedon Public Library

June 17, Fairport Canal Cruise

Reminder: Participation at all FOG Gigs is limited to current FOG members!!

You must sign up in the “FOG Gig Book” and attend at least one jam / rehearsal to perform at a FOG gig.

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About FOG

“Fiddlers of the Genesee” (FOG) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to bringing together people for the purpose of stimulating, preserving and promoting the tradition of “Old-Time Fiddling” in the Genesee River area of New York State and to play a variety of Fiddle Music with emphasis on the following:

• • 1. Musical participation
  • 1. Encouragement of musical development
  • 1. Non-competitive fellowship
  • 1. Acoustic instrumentation
  • 1. Education of members and the public about old-time fiddling

For more information call the “Fiddle Fone” (585) 234-3582; write to us at P.O. Box 631, Fairport, NY 14450-0631; or visit our website at:

www.fiddlersofthegenesee.org

President’s Remarks

Contributed by Tom Bailey

REMINDER: This Friday, April 5^th, there will be a business meeting at the jam session. No, this is not a lengthy regular business meeting; this will a presentation of the new website for the Fiddlers of the Genesee!  Mike Deniz has done a great job of converting the website into a more current format. The new website is easy to use and covers just about everything a member would want. The new website isn’t going live yet, as we want more folks to try it and provide feedback to the Board. The Board wants your input on the content and ease of use. I hope you can join us! Jack, thank you for all you have done to keep the present website up and running, a job well done!

It has been a great COPs gig season. Thank you to all who have made this so special. We have received many favorable comments from recreation directors about the performances, such as our music being “high energy”, really “together” and “sounding fantastic”.

More COPs events are coming up soon.  First off, we have the Fiddlers Spring Picnic, which will be held May 5^th at the Ellison Park Pavilion Lodge, located in the northwest corner of the park. Please check out the flyer included in this newsletter. In June we have the opportunity to play at the Macedon Public Library again. We played there last year and that was one great audience. July 20^th we have been asked to play two sessions at the Friendly Home, in two different buildings. This is also a repeat performance from last year, as the residents asked that we come back. New this year will be playing for the Macedon Erie Canal Celebration on July 27^th. We need to learn to play Erie Canal for that one! In August we have the annual Mumford Fiddlers Fair.  September brings the event at the VA Hospital — Bob Hyder’s favorite — and the Palmyra Canaltown Days. Somewhere in all this, Ferris Hills wants to bring us back out for a big party, but we aren’t sure when.

The Board has voted to be one of the main sponsors of Golden Link’s Turtle Hill Folk Festival in September. With this, we will be running a jam tent during the day for folks to come out and play between activities. We are in the process of locating a tent for the jam session, similar to Mumford, but we won’t be performing on stage. I think we should send Jay and Molly an invite to come jam while they are there. Fiddlers of the Genesee will have a full ad in the program and will be listed as a sponsor in all the publicity.

We have been talking about this for a while but the Board has pulled it together: we are holding a series of workshops that will be taught by Michelle Younger, who recently returned from playing in Thailand. As of now, there are three workshops scheduled, each building on the previous one:

1. Clawhammer Banjo (beginner/intermediate) – May 18
2. How to make a tune your own. Introduction to variation and improvisation in old-time music (all levels, all instruments) – June 8
3. Playing with other people and learning tunes on the fly (all levels, all instruments) – June 22

The clawhammer course will be focusing on the strong rhythm that the clawhammer banjo brought to the original music in the early 1800’s. I am hoping we can get a few fiddlers to come in for the last 30 minutes to play with the banjos. Maybe all instruments can come in and jam afterward.

The descriptions of the other two workshops are self-explanatory. We will send out an email blast with details very soon. Non-members will be invited to help defray costs. The sessions will be held at one of the storefronts in BayTowne Plaza, at the intersection of Empire Blvd and Bay Road in Webster. There is a tradeoff for this: the DiMarco Group (plaza owner) is putting up a 40’x 80’ tent for weekly entertainment, from May until October, and they want us to help find groups. I am contacting school bands and other groups that I know, to see if they would be interested in playing. DiMarco will be also holding car shows, fireworks, even cookouts – any type of activity that could entertain community residents. I would hope FOG might take this opportunity to play for an audience that normally wouldn’t have a chance to hear us. Maybe some of the smaller groups would play?

For now, please mark your calendar for April 5^thto see the new website presentation!

Until next time … Play nice!

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2018 Annual Meeting

Below are the minutes of the Annual Business Meeting, which was held December 7, 2018 at the Fairport-Perinton VFW. Please take the time to read through the minutes to learn what’s going on behind the scenes at Fiddlers of the Genesee. Be an informed member!

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM with 12 members present. President Tom Bailey read the FOG Mission Statement.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting: Jane Reetz reported that a copy of the draft minutes from the 12/8/17 Annual Business Meeting had been published in the November Fiddletter. The minutes were approved unanimously. (BH/GR)

Treasurer’s Report: Greg Roat presented the treasurer’s report for the eight months January 1 – November 30, 2018.  Cash assets – Ending Balance 11/30/18 – $9695.44.  The inventory has been devaluated.  Some items had been sold at a reduced cost because of condition, some unusable items were disposed of and some items are being stored by Mica Schmidt.  Tax returns are still being filed. Membership renewals are due; after March, the website password will be changed and the “members only” section will no longer be available to members who have not renewed.  The report was approved unanimously. (BH/JR)

Membership Report– Mike Deniz reported that there are currently 108 active memberships. 20 memberships did not renew for 2018. A survey from non-renewing members showed 50/50 that the reasons for non-renewals were conflicts with schedules and distance to jams and new members were unable to keep up with the tempo of the music.  The board has approved a change in the policy of “slow jams.”  Instead of a one-hour slow jam two times/month, a 30-minute slower tempo start will begin the session every week as determined by those in attendance.  This will afford members the opportunity to request tunes at a slower tempo.

 Annual Election for 2019:  Jane read the Slate of Candidates that had been presented in an email blast to the membership as follows:  President-Tom Bailey, VP-Kathy Schwar, Treasurer-Greg Roat, and Secretary-Jane Reetz.  Directors-At-Large 2019/20: #1-Ray Eddington – serving remaining one year of term; #2-Elaine Chandler – serving remaining one year of term.  #3 – Pat Fink – returning for another two-year term; #4 – B.J. Cunningham – new two-year term; #5 – Bill Kraft – new two-year term. There being no other nominations from the floor, a motion was made to accept the slate. (BH/GR)  The 2018 FOG secretary, Jane Reetz, cast one vote on behalf of the membership and the slate was elected.

 Music Committee Report:  Deb Abell distributed copies of the repertoire so that members could give their input on which six tunes they would like to see retired from the list.  Core Tunes and recently introduced tunes cannot be voted off.  The music committee will make the final decision on removing tunes and updating the list.  Anyone can forward a suggestion for a new tune or “tune fixes” to the Music Committee. “Tune fixes” may include intros and harmonies.  It was suggested to slow down the introduction of new tunes to four new tunes/year.  Also, send suggestions to the Music Committee for additional tunes to add to the “Core List.”  Work still needs to be done on the “Erie Canal” song.

Old Business: None

New Business

• Membership Coordinator– A replacement for Mike needs to be found.  It might be helpful to divide this position into a “membership committee” consisting of three parts:

1. 1. A Follow-Up Person – Get in touch with members who have stopped coming to jams – possibly due to illness (themselves or family members). B.J. Cunningham volunteered to head this up.
   2. E-blast Contact Person – Take on the task of sending out e-blasts to the membership as requested by the President.
   3. Member Information Database – Take charge of maintaining the database containing all the membership information

• New Webpage/Newsletter/Facebook–

Webpage (Mike Deniz) – Our current webpage is outdated. An updated webpage would have the capability to contain links to other areas including recordings, videos and photos. This would take it in a new direction. Mike is currently working with the basic application of “WordPress” which is free.  The BOD approved an upgraded version, which would greatly enhance the capabilities available.  Plans are to run the old and new webpages simultaneously to eliminate any problems before deleting the old webpage.  Fiddletter (Susan Cady-White) – Susan has taken over as editor of the Fiddletter. This is also being done in “WordPress” and will tie in with the new website.

Facebook(Deb Abell) – Send any information you would like to see included on the FOG Facebook page to Deb.  This can also be linked to the new webpage.  More social media might eventually result in more paying gigs for FOG!

• Advertise need for more Fiddlers– We need to get the word out that we need more fiddlers.  Social media will be used to spread the message.  A suggestion was also made to run an ad in the Pennysaver to come play music with us.

• Tunes at jams– The board would like to see more time spent on the core tunes as well as the news tunes that have been recently introduced by the music committee.  This will give all of us (old and new members) the opportunity to go over tunes that are not played that often.

• COP gigs– Tom is currently taking requests for COPs. There will be one in January, two in February and March and one in April.  Last year we had to cancel because of a lack of fiddlers – we need to bring more fiddlers into the club.

• More new CD’s– An order for an additional 100 CDs has recently been placed.  The board made a decision to spend $200 on fixing the variations in the level of the sound on the CD.  This was due to the original recordings being done in four different locations.  A profit will still be made on each CD.  The shipment should arrive before Christmas. Plans are to advertise FOG in the following ways: placing copies of the CDs in local libraries; selling them on the “local musicians” rack at Bernunzio’s Music; and sending copies to local radio stations for program usage.

• Spring “picnic”– Tom asked if members were interested in having a spring picnic similar to the one held in November. It would take place before or after the Easter break.  The members were in agreement.  Tom will look into renting a facility.

Adjournment: There being no further business, the meeting was officially adjourned at 8:10PM. (BH/GR)

Respectfully submitted, Jane Reetz, Secretary, 12/13/18

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Quarterly Meeting and FOG Website Overview 

A quarterly business meeting will be held on Friday, April 5th. The meeting will begin at 7 pm, or as soon as we have a quorum.  Members are encouraged to attend and to bring up any issues that they may have.  After addressing all of the agenda items, Mike Deniz will present an overview of the new FOG website that he has recently completed. Come and learn about the new website and all the features that it includes.  A regular fiddle music jam session will begin immediately following the presentation.

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FOG Tune of the Month: St. Anne’s Reel, with Harmony

Contributed by Deb Abell

Click here for a Printable PDF of St. Anne’s Reel.

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Coda

Susan Cady-White, editor

Wow,  so much information in this month’s Fiddletter! As with all organizations, there’s lots of behind the scenes activity, on an ongoing basis, that keep the group going strong. If you haven’t read the minutes of the Annual Meeting held in December, please scroll back up and have a look, you will learn something. And come to the jam this Friday night to see the launch of the new website!

I haven’t been in this Editor’s Chair long at all, but each month member contributions come in that make this job — and this publication — interesting and fun. This is YOUR newsletter! If you attend an event, come across an interesting article, have a great fiddle experience, have a not-so-great fiddle experience, have newsletter suggestions — please share! Please email me at scadywhite@gmail.com.

Happy Spring to all! Despite the snowfall that blanketed much of the area this morning, spring is officially here and it’s time to get out and enjoy the sun and warmer weather.