February was a big month with many musical options for California bluegrassers. Volume Five appeared at the CBA produced Shingle Springs and a Night at the Grange concerts. Many CBAers make the trek to Lake Havasu in Arizona for the big festival Larry and Sondra Baker produce. The CBA was represented by Board members Yennie Brecheisen and Jessica Furui at Wintergrass in Washington. Many of us went on the Danny Stewart California Bluegrass Cruise, Long Beach to Ensenada. The Quale and Khadder families of Alameda held bluegrass house concerts. The Berkeley Old Time Music Convention held their Spring Fling at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley and the CBA hosted a Youth Jam. February is a short month in days but not in bluegrass events.
The Board of Directors voted to transfer our data from our homegrown CBA Administrative site to the cloud-based Salesforce Site. I will be asking (in the near future) for volunteers to help drag some information from our old site to this new data base. Ted Kuster said he can even teach me to do this so no advanced computer skills will be necessary. Salesforce will be able to automate many of the functions we now must do manually.
We had some glitches with our ticket site on the last day of our Early Bird Sales period and extended that period for another week (ended March 7th). We are now in the Advanced Ticket period and this is the last discounted ticket period for our 43rd Annual Father’s Day Festival.
The Annual Spring Campout is just around the corner so put the dates on your calendar and join us in Turlock. Deb Livermore is looking for volunteers for the event and is planning new activities for all of us. Campouts are held for fun and socializing and jamming only. Campouts are among my favorite CBA activities. There is always a Board Meeting to attend, a Saturday night dinner with entertainment, an opportunity to renew your membership and festival tee shirts to purchase. Plan to attend if even only for the weekend.
At press time there were still spots in the CBA Music Camp and the Youth Academy. Make the most of your Father’s Day Week on the Nevada County Fairgrounds and learn something new and make new friends. Both these events get rave reviews and fill up. The CBA Youth Program offers scholarships for both the Music Camp and the Academy thanks to our generous donors. Contact cbayouthprogram@gmail.com for information.
April 1 is the last day to submit for the IBMA KOB program. April 10th is the day registration opens for the World of Bluegrass in Raleigh. The CBA is always well represented at the International Bluegrass Music Association event. Lucy Smith will lead our CBA team again this year and contact her if you are interested in volunteering. Fall is just around the corner.
