July- September 2017 Newsletter President: Lavelle Wright: lavelle.wright@gmail.com (205) 515-8565 1 st Vice President: Frank Smelley: tsmelley@gmail.com 2 nd Vice President: Isabelle Sexton: billisabelle@icloud.com Treasurer: Joyce Clark: jclark2420@att.net (205) 568-2552 Secretary: Polly Vaughan: Agnes.Vaughan@yahoo.com (205) 956-0276 Festival Chair & public relations: Dawn Wilson: halfpintwil@gmail.com (205) 678-8743 WEB PAGE: SADA web page is http://sdulcimer.wordpress.com Facebook page: Southern Appalachian - check out our Facebook page for pictures from our festival & gatherings, as well as meeting notices and links to events. If you can t find our Facebook page, please send an e-mail to Dawn Wilson and she will try to friend you. SADA's You-Tube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/southernappdulcimer Address for Bethlehem Methodist Church is: 1491 Allison- Bonnett Memorial Dr. Hueytown, AL Directions to Bethlehem Methodist Church are: From I-59 at Exit 115, turn on to ramp towards Allison-Bonnett Memorial Dr. Bethlehem Methodist Church is on the right just across the RR tracks To enter go to the left side of the church (off Tin Mill Rd), pass the handicap ramp, and enter the basement door before the concrete steps. Area SADA Practice groups besides the monthly meeting: Shelby Strummers: Meets at Camp Branch Methodist Church on 123 Camp Branch Rd. in Alabaster, every other Tuesday September May. Jams begin at noon and last until 2 pm. Call Sallie and Bob Sutton on 205-668-0659 for directions and current practice times, since occasionally the group plays at nursing homes or is canceled due to church activities or other scheduling conflicts. There are lessons on the other Tuesdays for beginners. A few loaner dulcimers are available. Other acoustic instruments are welcome! Trussville Joyful Jammers: Meets every Thursday night at 6 pm, room # 206, at the First Baptist Church on 128 N. Chalkville Rd in Trussville, AL. Enter at the parking lot between Willow and Walnut streets, come in the corner door and take the elevator (to the left) to the 2nd floor. New attendees please call Bobbie Payne at (205) 655-2386 if you plan to come since occasionally the group plays at nursing homes or is canceled due to church activities or other scheduling conflicts. Other acoustic instruments are welcome! The Facebook page for this group is: Joyful Jammers in Trussville, AL- SADA. Page 1
NEWS The club voted to rent the Event Center at Tannehill for our festival next year. We will still have the schoolhouse for evening jams, and the Kiwanis Pavilion for our Thursday evening gathering and the open stage on Saturday, and the Gazebo for performances on Friday and Saturday, but we will be able to move performances to the Event center in case of rain or extremely hot or cold weather. The Pot luck supper on Friday will be in the Event center, as well as additional jams besides the schoolhouse jam. There will also be classes in the Event center on Saturday morning. The club also voted to raise dues to $20 per family beginning next year (2018). For those who still haven t paid dues this year, they are still $10. Check our Facebook page (Southern Appalachian) for many pictures taken at the festival. A note from the Festival Chairman: This was my 9 th year as festival chairman, and at the end of each festival I am always excited that we had another successful year, but sad that I have to wait another year for the next festival. SADA has now had 44 years of continuous festivals and is probably the longest running Appalachian Dulcimer Festival in the US. The festival originally was held at Indian Springs School, but in 1988 (the 15 th festival) was moved to Tannehill State Park where it has remained and the atmosphere of the park contributes significantly to the success of the festival. Thus, over the years there have been large and small changes, and we are expecting more changes next year. The SADA festival has also been successful due to all of the wonderful people that come, and it is an honor to be a part of the dulcimer family. This year made it very evident that those who come are what makes the festival go so well, as many of our officers or other members who handle responsibilities either couldn t come or had to leave early and many of you stepped up to help us out with things that needed to be attended to and we are very grateful for that. Please continue to pray for our secretary, as along with having pneumonia and losing her brother the week of the festival, she had a home burn down in late June (she was living in another home with a granddaughter, but still had some things at her home and has to deal with insurance issues). Also with having to move the Friday Gazebo performances to the schoolhouse which is not large enough to house everyone who wanted to listen, there were no complaints and everyone accepted the changes well. Our festival is also one of the only ones that has continued to be held outside (I know that people camp and jam at many of the others but the main part of the festival is held inside), and we would like to keep it that way as we feel the flavor of the festival would change if it were to be moved inside. But we also feel that there needs to be an alternative in case of rain, extreme cold, or very hot weather. Therefore the officers met and made a recommendation which was accepted by the club that we increase dues to $20 per family beginning next year, rent the Event Center (this is what used to be the restaurant) for Friday and Saturday, and have the following events scheduled to be in the Event Center which has recently been remodeled to create one large room: Pot luck supper on Friday Some of the Friday night jams (there are two rooms: the large event area and one that can be closed off that is slightly smaller than the schoolhouse room) some classes on Saturday morning Saturday night jam(s) - if large enough crowd we will also use schoolhouse We will continue to have the Gazebo performances at the Gazebo (except in weather circumstances), the Open Stage at the Kiwanis Pavilion, and some classes and jams at the schoolhouse as we have in the past. However in cold, rainy or hot weather, the officers will meet to determine if the Gazebo or open Stage events need to be moved to the Event Center.
UPCOMING SADA EVENTS July 1, 2017: Jam at Bethlehem Methodist Church beginning at 11:00 a.m. August 4, 2017: House concert by Mary Z. Cox at the home of Rob Angus. See flyer in newsletter for details August 5, 2017: Jam at Bethlehem Methodist Church beginning at 11:00 am. September 2, 2017: Jam & officer election at Bethlehem Methodist Church beginning at 11:00 am. October 7, 2017: Picnic at Big Oak Girls Ranch in Springville. Location: Pavilion at the Lake. Time 10:00 am. November 4, 2017: Jam at Bethlehem Methodist Church beginning at 11:00 am. December 2, 2017: Jam and Christmas Party at Bethlehem Methodist Church beginning at 10:00 am. Note: Items highlighted in yellow are a change from normally scheduled time, location or date. The highlighted portion is the change from our regular meeting. UPCOMING Festivals and Classes in the South June 30-July 1, 2017: 46 th Annual Smithville Fiddlers Jamboree and Crafts Festival. Smithville, TN. Competition in 35 music and dance categories. They also offer crafts and goods. For information, go to smithvillejamboree.com July 7 and 8, 2017: Uncle Dave Macon Days. Three-day old-time music and dance festival in Murfreesboro, TN. For information, go to uncledavemacondays.com July 23-28, 2017. 17 th Annual Dulcimer U Summer Week. Cullowhee, N.C. A week-long event featuring classes for every skill level. For information, go to- www.wcu.edu August 17-19, 2017: JP Coleman Dulcimer Festival, JP Coleman State Park, 613 CR 321, Iuka, MS 38852. Call 662-423-6515 or jpcoleman@mdwfp.state.ms.us September 1 & 2, 2017: 5 th Annual Homer Ledford Dulcimer Festival, Campbell Jr. High School, 620 Boone Ave., Winchester, KY. For information go to: homerledforddulcimerfestival.com Page 3
UPCOMING Festivals and Classes in the South (continued) September 7-10, 2017: Montgomery Dulcimer players camp jam. Gunter COE park. They have a Facebook page. September 18-22, 2017: 8 th Annual Mt. View & Ozark Mountain Dulcimer Gathering- Classes begin on Monday. They will meet Sunday the 17 th @ 7 Pm for a welcoming party @ the Pickin Shed of Ozark RV Park. For more details contact Susan and Bill McFarland @ ozarkmdgathering@gmail.com. September 27-29, 2017: Melodies and Musings- A Mountain Dulcimer Workshop and Festival. Sponsored by the Guntersville RSVP. Festival is on the beautiful lake of Guntersville. For more information email: www.mcrsvp@mcrsvp.org or call 256-571-7734. October 6 &7, 2017: 51 st Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddler s Convention, Athens, AL- Athens State College Campus. For more information to: www.athens.edu/fiddlers or call 256-233-8215. They have a dulcimer competition also. October 8-14, 2017: Camping and Jamming @ Joe Wheeler State Park Rogersville, AL. Athens Dulcimer Club has the building in B section of campground reserved to follow Fiddler s Convention, for lots of dulcimer jamming fun. October 27-28, 2017: Dogwood Music Jam Festival. Lake Stone campground 801 W. hwy 4, Century, FL 32535. Contact park for camping reservations. They are on Facebook as: Dogwood Dulcimer Association Group. November 16-19, 2017: North Georgia Foothills Dulcimer Association. (NDFDA) 29 th Annual Fall Festival at Unicoi State Park in Helen, Georgia. For more information go to www.ngfda.com If you know of upcoming festivals in the Southeast in 2017 or early 2018, please provide Debra Duke with the brief information for future newsletters. Many of these festivals are word of mouth and it s difficult to find dates and locations. Debra s e-mail is: johndebkel@msn.com Sharing our Dulcimer Music: SADA Shelby Strummers- Played at St. Martins in the Pines on April 18 th, and for the Pelham Senior Center on June 8 th. SADA Joyful Jammers- Played at Elmcroft Retirement Center on April 27 th.
In Memoriam: Jimmie Smitherman passed away on June 10, 2017. She and her husband Jack were regular attendees of our festival and will be missed in the Dulcimer world. Jack & Jimmie Smitherman Eleanor Pushcar passed away on June 12, 2017. She was also a regular attendee of our festival and will be missed in the Dulcimer world. Eleanor Pushcar REMINDER SECTION Remember our web page at http://www.sdulcimer@wordpress.com Join our Facebook page: Southern Appalachian Joyful Jammers Facebook page: Joyful Jammers Dulcimer Club in Trussville, AL-SADA View our You-Tube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/southernappdulcimer Enjoy your Dulcimer! Mark your calendars for the 45th annual SADA festival April 29 May 6, 2018 Don t forget to SMILE and give someone a hug today! Page 5
Mary Z. Cox House Concert and Workshop Please join two time Florida & North Carolina banjo champion and award winning mountain dulcimerist for an evening of Banjo, Dulcimer & Beyond when she brings her mountain music gone coastal to the fine folks of Birmingham Alabama. Its gonna be fun and did I mention there's gonna be big banjo? For Bio see WWW.MARYZCOX.COM House Concert at the Home of Rob Angus Friday August 4th 7:00 PM $15 per person Attendance limited, please contact Rob at raangus@charter.net to reserve a spot & get directions Workshop: Stretching with the Mountain Dulcimer Saturday August 5th 9:15 10:45 $20 per person Bethlehem Methodist Church, corner of Tin Mill Rd and Allison Bonnett Memorial Drive in Hueytown, AL Please send an e-mail to Dawn Wilson at halfpintwil@gmail.com if you plan to attend the workshop. Limited to first 20 registered
DUES INFORMATION Dues are $10.00 per family per year (from May 1st - April 30th), please make checks payable to SADA and complete the form below: For SADA membership - complete below and mail check for $10.00 payable to SADA to: SADA c/o Joyce Cook 5956 Creekwood Rd. Birmingham, AL 35010 Name: Spouse Name: Children s Names (if planning to attend festival): Address: City: State: Zip: Home Phone: Cell Phone: Cell Phone for spouse: Email: Name: Email: Name: Only list 2 nd e-mail if both family members would like to receive an e-mail. Please list the name for each person s e-mail Receive newsletter by Postal or E-mail Page 7