Autumn in the CBA is always ELECTION TIME and a new Board of Directors is seated at our Annual Membership Meeting in October. Please read the candidate statements in the September and October Bluegrass Breakdown and vote! This year there are more candidates than available spots so voting is essential. Also mark your calendar for the Annual Fall Campout and Membership meeting held in Lodi in October.
The news of the month is that Area Activities VP Stan Allen from the Fresno area has worked to bring the much loved King’s River Bluegrass Festival back to life. Please read about it elsewhere in this issue and mark September 13th as a day to attend and support our friends and members in the King’s River area! We were all sad to see the festival disappear from our calendar and this is a chance to resurrect it for the future.
Area Activities VP Lucy Smith from the Chico area is also our IBMA Coordinator and there will again be a CBA Suite at the World of Bluegrass in Raleigh the end of this month through the first of October. There is still time to make reservations to attend this amazing event and Lucy will love more hosts in our suite. Five of our Kids on Bluegrass (Helen Lude, Daisy Kerr, and the three Gooding boys: Josh, Jake, John) have all been invited by Director Kim Fox to perform with the IBMA Kids on Bluegrass group during the Wide Open Bluegrass event in Raleigh. This is quite an honor for these young musicians and the CBA. Kim was disappointed she could not make room for ALL the talented young musicians from California.
The CBA is looking for volunteers to direct some very important teams. We are looking for a Mercantile Coordinator, an Advertising Coordinator, someone to design a Youth Program brochure. Contact Chairman Tim Edes about Mercantile and Advertising positions and contact me if you are a graphic artist and can help put together a brochure. There are always year round big jobs to do at CBA Headquarters and all you need is interest and some time and we would love you on our team.
Work is already occurring for our 2016 Father’s Day Festival, CBA Music Camp and CBA Youth Program. The lineup for the festival is taking shape. The California Showcase Band selection process is commencing. The lottery process for Full Hookups is beginning. A design for the festival is being selected and promotion materials will be taken to IBMA. Volunteer Coordinators for the 2016 event will be selected at the October meeting. The Board of Directors works nonstop on your behalf and this is another reason to carefully select candidates for Board positions. We will hold the 2015 Festival retrospective at our September meeting. We know this year’s week was a success!
The very wonderful JD’s Bluegrass Kitchen cookbook designed and produced by Area Activities VP Ted Kuster is available for purchase. All profits from the sale of this book will go to the CBA Youth Program which is definitely a good reason to purchase the book. My copy is already showing signs of use and the accompanying CD plays on my kitchen stereo while I cook up some of the recipes. JD Rhynes is a CBA treasure and icon and he essentially shares meals with us at our home. I highly recommend you purchase this CBA produced cookbook and CD.
Our active membership is approaching 3000 members and I highly encourage you to join or renew your membership in the CBA. We have saved membership numbers for those of you who have allowed your membership to lapse. Come on back to the fold, we count on you!
