ALERT – ALERT – ALERT!!!
Hello Bluegrassers! Please check your calendars! You have a couple of months to plan for the CBA FALL CAMP OUT.
The Fall Camp out – October 15 – 21, 2018! Now, I know you have been busy and will continue to be, but the Fall Camp out is the one time we can all just get together to play music, catch up with one another, eat some great food and generally relax with our Bluegrass Family. The Lodi Grape Festival Grounds is where the action, or lack thereof, happens. It is centrally located in Northern Cal- ifornia and has proved popular with pickers and grinners alike, who have attended the Fall Camp outs there for the last few years. There is plenty of camping for rvs and tents alike. There are an assortment of restaurants, win- eries and beer breweries available for your taste buds and lots of shopping for those that love that! The Old Town of Lodi is within walking distance and has lots to offer.
We start arriving on Monday of that week. There are enough people for at least a couple of jams and more come in every day…. until the place is pretty full and we have music everywhere!
I have reserved Jackson Hall for Thursday through Saturday this year and so we will have a room for Quil-ters, Puzzle masters, Game players, and Music makers as well. Please plan on bringing whatever hobby you might like to work on if you aren’t a picker! Be prepared to have the room taken over by volunteers setting up for Satur-day night’s dinner around 3pm.
We would like to have an Open Mic event on Friday evening, sound to be provided by Bruce Champion’s Mobile Sound Studio. Let’s plan on starting at 9:00. That will give people coming from work time to get set up and warm up……Bruce will be available to record you and your friends/bandmates all week. Donations encouraged.
On Saturday evening we will have our usual dinner and concert. Chef Mike will be returning to provide us with dinner, the menu of which is still being discussed. The cost will be $10. KOB will be selling water and soda and we will have a Dessert Pot Luck again. Please bring a dessert!
The entertainment this year will be provided by a group of young people that will have been gathered together by Ida Winfree. I have recruited her to invite her musicians friends to put together the “Fall Camp Out All Stars”! I am just a little excited to see who she manages to persuade to join her. I’m Pretty sure it will be GREAT!
Saturday night is also when we hold our long-awaited Instrument Raffle drawing. Instrument raffle tickets will be available until the drawing on Saturday evening. The proceeds from this raffle goes to funding the IBMA event. Just in case you haven’t heard – We Need a New Raffle Coordinator. Charlene and Slim Sims are retiring and we need to fill their shoes. Please let me know, or any board member know, that you are interested.
There will also be a silent auction for prizes, some of which will be arts and crafts created by our CBA mem-bers. The proceeds from this auction supports our Youth Programs. If you would like to donate something for the auction, please let me know. I am looking for things made by you – art, jewelry, honey, candles, wood crafts, clothes, quilts, jams and jelly, anything that was made by you! Of course, anything that you would like to donate, will help. We have done this twice now and it has been pretty successful, thanks to all of you.
The Fall Camp Out is when the votes for CBA Board of Directors are counted and the results announced. The new board will be introduced Saturday night.
There will be a CBA Board meeting on Sunday morning. All CBA members are invited to attend. This is a great time to see how the California Bluegrass Association works. You are invited to ask questions or present topics of discussion.
October 15 through 21, 2018 Lodi Grape Festival airgrounds
We will be doing the favorite activity for some – the Book Exchange…bring a book, take a book, or just take a book or 2 or 3.
There are plenty of RV sites with electric and water but no sewer hook ups. The cost of these sites are $30 per night. There is a dump station on site to use as you leave the event (or whenever you need it). The fairgrounds have nice showers for campers to use. You will find lots of open grassy space for tent/van/car campers. We ask $10 per night for tents/vans/cars.
As always, I am looking for volunteers to help with this event. I need people at the gate to greet our attendees and collect their funds. I also need people to help set up, serve and clean up dinner on Saturday night. There is an incentive in exchange for your help, if you are interested, Please let me know. You can contact me at Deblivermore@ gmail.com. Thanks so much – in advance!
And so, I look forward to seeing all of you in October and can’t wait to jam, jam, jam. Big Ole Bluegrass Hugs to All Ya’ll!
