January 2019 Fiddletter

President’s Remarks

Contributed by Tom Bailey

Happy New Year fellow FOG members!

It’s hard to believe that the Holiday Season is wrapping up. We are always so busy; the season seems to go by in a blur. For that matter, 2018 seems to have flown by; seems like only yesterday we were playing for residents of the Friendly Home. At the
Annual FOG Meeting at the beginning of December, Greg showed the members in attendance how FOG has made it through the year in a good financial position. Part of that was through successful FOG merchandise sales, especially CD’s. We received 100 CD’s just before Mumford and were down to 9 at the beginning of December, so the Board ordered another 100 CD’s just before Christmas. This time we paid to have these remastered so all the tunes are at the same volume level, which sounds much better. Why?  We will be placing some of these with radio stations who play old time music. Some will be given to libraries and some will be put out for sale at Bernunzio’s. The rest will be available for sale at gigs. We want to make FOG music available to the public, which is part of our mission statement. Also at the meeting, Deb Abell handed out the forms to vote on which tunes would be archived. After much discussion, members voted  and the results are presented in this newsletter.

Another major topic of discussion at the Annual Meeting was how we could attract more fiddlers to FOG. The rhythm section has grown quite a bit, especially the mandolins. Now we want to reach out to fiddlers. Do you know of anyone? Do you know a teacher whose students might be interested? Do you know someone at Eastman or Hochstein schools? Or maybe, more importantly, what can we do to entice current fiddle-playing members to become more active? Perhaps more fiddle workshops? Please let us know if you have any ideas!

It’s that time of the year to start the COP’s gigs. We are in contact with several of the senior centers talking about possible dates but none have been finalized as of yet. We will be preparing for the season starting next Friday, January 4. We have focused on some of our older core tunes so most members will remember how to play them. PLEASE come on out and join the group.

In the last Fiddleletter, the fall picnic was discussed. It was also mentioned that many members who attended the fall gathering asked for a spring “fling”. Well, a date has been set up and the Lodge has been reserved for May 5^th.  That is the week before Mother’s Day; please mark it on your calendars. The weather should be very comfortable by then so we can be inside as well as outside on the covered patio.

The Board is looking forward to a year of fun, making music with each other and sometimes sharing it, uplifting audiences. Maybe more importantly, a comment was made to me about a week ago how just playing with each other is uplifting, helping one to forget today’s problems. Isn’t that why our forefathers got together 100 years ago and played this music at the end of a long week?

Until next time … Play Nice …

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The Vote is In: Archived Tunes/ Medleys for 2019

submitted by Deb Abell

The following seven tunes, followed by the number of votes each received in the recent poll, have been selected to be archived: Cricket on the Hearth (3); Crossing the Cumberlands (3); Marie Claire (8); Miller’s Reel (4); Sally Goodin (3); St. Antoine’s Reel (3); Twinkle Little Star (3).

Battle Cry Medley; Bonnet/ Battle/ Buffalo; Buffalo Gals Medley; and Old Grey Bonnet Medley will all be deleted from the active list as well. This is the same medley, listed by four different names, that was never an official tune, just something played for fun a few years ago.

Archived and deleted tunes will still be available on the FOG member page, but they will be removed from the list of active tunes.

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Treasurer’s Report

submitted by Greg Roat

The following links will take you to the November financial report and to the annual report, January 1-November 30, 2018.

November Income-Expense Report

2018 Annual Report

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FOG Tune of the Month: Bonnie Bell Schottische

Contributed by Ray Ettington

The schottische is a partnered country dance, believed to originate in Bohemia. Popular in Victorian era ballrooms as part of a Bohemian folk-dance craze, the dance left its mark on folk music in a variety of countries, including Argentina, France, Norway, Portugal, Brazil, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Mexico and the United States. The schottische is a likened to a slower polka, with two sidesteps to the left and right, followed by a turn in four steps. In some countries the sidesteps and turn are replaced by Strathspey hopping steps. (1)

(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schottische

Printable PDF of Bonnie Bell Schottische

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Let Me Introduce Myself

by Susan Cady-White

As of December’s Fiddletter, I am the new editor. I have a history of word-smithing, largely from my 15 years as the editor of a weekly, small town newspaper, the Perry Herald. The Herald, which was founded in 1875, was owned and published by my in-laws for 15 years and then by my husband and me for 15 years. My editing duties came to an end when we sold the newspaper in 2005 and it feels good to be back at it. As a newspaper editor, I was in charge of the content but I had a staff to do the layout. Now I’m getting somewhat challenging, but overdue, experience with formatting as well as text. Mike Deniz has been, and continues to be, a tireless and patient mentor, for which I am most grateful. Please email all Fiddleletter articles, photos, ideas, suggestions, critiques to scadywhite@gmail.com.

I first picked up a fiddle in 2013 and still consider myself very much a beginner. I’ve been to only one FOG jam and that was over two years ago, which is why everyone reading this is saying, “Who the heck is THAT???” Attending more jams is on my very short list of New Year’s Resolutions. I’ve been learning to play guitar as well and I find both instruments to be challenging, frustrating, relaxing, rewarding and overall tons of fun. And as if that’s not enough to keep me busy, in June — after 26

years of three female yellow Labs and 7 months without a dog and with lots of sadness following the loss of our beloved Lola in November of ’17 — I rescued a young pup. My husband went to California to golf with a buddy and I went to the shelter and bought a dog. Her name is Saoirse, pronounced Sir-sha, which is Irish, means “freedom” and is the perfect name for my little rescue pup. Saoirse loves the fiddle and guitar too!

I look forward to getting to know fellow FOG members in 2019. Wishing all of you a Happy and Healthy New Year!

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2019 Gig Schedule

• None scheduled for January

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