The CBA Father’s Day Festival in June is the biggest and oldest CBA event we produce. It is the introduction to the CBA for many attendees and performers. It is the event which requires the most volunteers. Most of our leadership teams started by performing a volunteer job at FDF.
The Festival is the only place many of our members reconnect with others. We celebrate significant member events such as wed- dings and births. It is also a place where we mourn the death of a valued member. This year we will greet surviving members who lost their homes in the Sonoma, Napa, Clear Lake and Butte County Fires.
Lucy Smith our Area VP from the Butte County Area is retiring from her myriad activities with the CBA. Lucy will continue to be our lead for the fire victim instrument replacement effort however she will no longer produce concerts, publish a bluegrass newsletter or produce a radio show. Lucy has been a super volunteer and was our IBMA Team Leader for several years as well.
Lucy has plans to relocate to another area and start a new chapter in her life. She says she is leaving with her car, her dog and her guitar as in a country song. Lucy leaves big shoes to fill and we wish her well and thank her for everything she has done for the CBA and the music.
I also am retiring from my position as President of the CBA and this will be my last President’s Message in the Breakdown. It has been an honor serving the membership as a volunteer these past 20 years or so but it is time for someone else to step up and lead. I will continue to champion the CBA Youth Program until we come up with a replacement plan.
I am so looking forward to our 44th Annual Father’s Day Festival. We have only attended since the mid-80’s (newbies) but saw our children grow up on the Fairgrounds and now bring our grandchildren. We named ourselves Camp Spam many years ago and the Festival is a reunion every year.
We have lost a few of the people who camped with us over the years but have grown in numbers due to all the offspring now attending and the new friends we made. I think we have a record number of “Spammers” appearing on the stages this year and in important volunteer positions. I feel this marks the success of my own years of volunteering.
See you in Grass Valley.
