The Fall Campout and Annual Membership meeting in Lodi in October was a huge success. The weather was perfect and lots of people (including lots more young people) attended. Glenda and Vaughn Lew did a bang up job organizing the event. The catered Saturday night dinner was delicious and sold out. Stuart Sims organized the red ticket raffle. Bonneau Dickson donated wine for the dinner. Charlene Sims continues to do an excellent job with the IBMA Instrument Raffle and all the lucky winners were chosen. Dennis and Julie Lawson were there with CBA Mercantile and many of our items were discounted so we can order new stock.
The Fall Campout is the Annual Membership Meeting required by our By-Laws and we announce the winners of the Annual Board of Directors election and confirm all the CBA Officers. Thanks to all the members who voted so we could reach the quorum of 10 percent of our membership and thank you to Josh Michaels who again chaired the election committee and received and tallied the votes. This year Montie Elston stepped down from the Board and was replaced by Jessica Furui plus 10 incumbents were reelected. Montie has been the moral compass of the Board and has kept us on track by making certain we follow our By-Laws and remember previous Board decisions. I am happy to report that he will continue to be a member of the Executive Committee and serve as the Assistant Treasurer and will continue to participate in the leadership team.
The Spring and Fall Campouts serve as fundraisers for the CBA Youth Program and members generously bought red raffle tickets, donated checks and cash, purchased wine, bought dinner tickets (profit goes to the program). The Rambling Minors (who performed at the dinner) also represented us at the World of Bluegrass KOB in Raleigh (along with Jake Gooding) and the Campout audience got another taste of the incredible musicianship coming out of the Youth Program. The fundraising goal this year is to raise $6000 for the CBA Youth Program Scholarship Fund and we were able to raise about $1500 of this at the Campout. Please consider donating to the CBA Youth Program (information elsewhere in this issue).
Ted Kuster, the Area Activities VP from San Francisco, was elected to be the Statewide Area Activities VP (a position vacated a couple of years ago by Marcos Alvira). The job of the Statewide VP is to be a resource to all the other VPs and to assist this group to perform their valuable positions. The Area Activities VPs are in charge of all things bluegrass and CBA in their geographic areas. Some of them write newsletters, produce concerts and jams, publicize bands comingthrough their area and assist with membership renewal. They nominate their local bands for the Vern’s Stage in June. The Area VPs are the eyes and ears and “go to” people for the CBA member base. We hope to energize this essential group.
Jack Pierce, the Area Activities VP for the Bakersfield area, is the new coordinator for the Great 48 Hour Jam in Bakersfield January 12-15, 2017. Jack and his team have done a lot of work to ensure our success. This event grows each year and we are debuting a new venue, the Bakersfield Marriott Hotel, which is next to the Amtrak Station. Rick Cornish and Deb Livermore keep the Presidential Suite hopping and every year members organize new activities to fill the weekend. The Great 48 is a perfect time to renew your membership to support the CBA.
The CBA membership numbers are steadily dropping and soon we will not hold the title of “largest bluegrass Association in the world” if we don’t push these numbers up. We have steadily dropped from over 3000 members to just under 2600. We need all of you to help get these numbers up again. Dues of $25 (single) and $30 (couple) per year are more than reasonable and we count on this income in the annual CBA budget. We are seeing an uptick of our youth joining when they mature off their family memberships. Your membership allows you to purchase Early Bird Tickets for FDF (at the discount of a membership) and to sign up for the Full Hookup raffle and to volunteer for the festival. The biggest benefit active and current membership is in the show of support for our community. Please join or renew your membership, we need you.
The CBA Youth Academy contract is signed and we will open registration for 49 young people (ages 8-16) on February 15, 2017 to be held during the 42nd Annual CBA Father’s Day Bluegrass Festival. The fee of $300 for four days of music activities will remain the same and we will continue to offer scholarships to those in need of financial help. The faculty will be announced later in the spring. The Academy sells out fast so watch the calendar. CBA member Paul Elwell is the new coordinator for the Youth Academy and details will follow in the January issue of the Bluegrass Breakdown.
Thank you to Mark Varner, editor of the Bluegrass Breakdown, for producing this newspaper month after month. We all take this quality product for granted but Mark’s dedication and never-ending hard work make it possible. Mark is another one of our “invisible” talented CBA members. Your membership fees make this newspaper possible.
