FFS Board of Directors

Volume 50 Edition 2 February 2021 Submit articles to: [email protected] By the 15th of each month FFS Board Of Directors

President Ron Bohigian [email protected] A Non-Profit Corporation for Traditional Arts

Vice President Notes from Board President, Ron Bohigian Ann Lamb [email protected] Are you hopeful that we’re another month closer to a more Secretary Sue Wirt open lifestyle? Little over a week ago, Megan and I got a hot tip [email protected] that they were giving COVID vaccinations to those over 65. We

Treasurer lucked out and got our first shot. We’re due back in February for Jim Ross shot number two. So, I’m optimistic. Optimistic that by May or [email protected] June we’ll be back playing our music with a lot of friends like…in Concert Master Pat Wolk the good old days. [email protected] Big Thank You’s to all our members who have continued to sup- Membership port us through these difficult times. Our board has spent some time trying to

Lifetime Member help our local professional musicians in some small ways if nothing more than Alan Hubbart publicizing grant opportunities. FFS has been pleased to give Members At Large some support to Evo Bluestein and his weekly Zoom jam

Bill Lehr which has also featured Terry Barrett on the mandolin. It [email protected] looks like several of us have gotten into his zoom jams. Sal Sciandra [email protected] Megan and I watched President Biden’s inauguration on Jan- th Larry Cusick uary 20 . If you haven’t heard Youth Poet Laureate Amanda [email protected] Gorman reciting her poem, I encourage you to do so. Hers is

Susana Peckinpah what my poet wife tells me is called performance poetry. [email protected] Gorman’s command of language and

Bill Johnson style of delivery is not unlike that of skilled musicians. Also [email protected] check out Lady Gaga’s singing of the National Anthem. Finally, there’s a lot we can and should be learning from the wealth of knowledge and skills of our more accomplished mu- Flyer Editor sicians in our community. That’s an obvious truth for young Bill Johnson [email protected] people but it’s also very important for us more mature citi- zens. Keep learning something all the time and then, put on Calendar Editor Maria Glover your mask and go for a walk. Hm 559-322-8677 Cell 559-281-8278 [email protected]

Logo Design by Tom Walzem at Otto Creative

Banjo Frog Art by Jon Adams 1

Hi there again. For those folks that know me it's been a while. I hope you are all safe and well. For those newer members hi. My name is Susana Peckinpah and I am a founding member of FFS. Not because I knew what I was doing but because my dearest friend Sue Beevers told me to go. It was best choice of my life. I was intro- duced to so many marvelous musicians and and developed life long friends such as Jim and Lynn Ross. This has become the centerpiece of my life. I want to thank all of the board for welcoming me back. I will do my best to serve you all with peacefulness in mind and with respect. At this time in our lives we need peacefulness and mindful communication. (Susana Peckinpah)

Every Tuesday, 7-9pm, there is a Fresno Irish session on Zoom. We play Irish session tunes and songs. Every participant gets a turn. If you are interested in participating, or just listening, contact me, Larry Cusick , for the zoom link. (Larry Cusick) [email protected]

Greetings!

Most of you know about my book Road to Sweet’s Mill. I have been interested in history, education, and documenting–as a photographer, writer and musician. I am glad to learn about Patreon, a web platform for artists. My Patreon web page allows me to receive monthly support for sharing a lifetime of archival folk music goodies–exclusive, never before seen video, images, recordings and writing. I provide a little something for my patrons on a monthly basis. I haven’t even been on board two months and I’ve already posted 22 items! I have a lot of cool stuff and I’m looking forward to sharing it with you. It requires quite a bit of work to prepare all of this, and now I have incentive to do it. There are different levels of support for patrons. The lowest level–$3 monthly, unlocks most of the goodies. Some patrons are already supporting at $10 a month. Thank you! Take a peek. . 2

Ed Note: This article is the third in a monthly series highlighting a member of the Fresno Folklore Society Board MY LIFE WITH THE FFS; MORE THAN YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW

My early association with what was to become the Fresno Folklore Society started around 1972-3, when my sister, Sherron Brown, first met Sue Beevers, Linda Halk, Lynn Ross, Nancy Waidtlow, and Linda Booth, Linda Dryden, etc. Sherron and I had sung together throughout our lives in duets, trios, and quintets. She asked me to sing in a couple of shows at the Wild Blue Yonder with her friends. I also attended a couple of events at The Blackstone House. Exit, Stage Left. After FFS incorporation, I attended a few concerts and then, in the early 80's, I lost my voice due to nodes on my vocal chords. Imagine a person who sings through life and suddenly can't sing at all.

Enter, Stage Right. In 2002, Sherron asked me to meet her at The Santa Fe Basque Hotel and Restaurant on Fridays to hang out with her while Heartland Harvest played and stay for dinner afterward, where I had a chance to meet everyone. It was on my way home from work, so I went, and continued to go unless I was camping that weekend.

After I retired, I started going to the Santa Fe Basque Restaurant on Wednesdays at its new location, first a couple times a month and then every week. I joined FFS again (had been a member a couple of times throughout the years). I volunteered to help with the folding of the monthly Fresno Flyer at Carl and Kathryn Johnsen's home and, later, took over the mailing of the Flyer from Nancy Waidtlow.

Well, you know how things snowball. I was asked to be on the ballot for a Board Member slot in 2006 and was elected Secretary at my first Board meeting. I have continued to serve in that post, also assisting with membership and helping out with concerts. Okay, that's the dry part.

It was so worthwhile to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. On top of all that, most of my vocal register has returned (nodes are caused by stress) so I can sing along at jams and concerts. I hold the FFS community of friends deep in my heart. That may sound trite but it is very true. (Sue Wirt)

Oldtime Zoom Jam with Terry Barrett and Evo Bluestein continues! Sundays at 4 pm, PST is the time. The jam lasts one and a half hours. We share music sheets on screen. Some people are reading the notation, some are reading just the chords, and some are probably just using their ears. It’s all good. A recording of the session is later posted on Youtube and I’m glad to say, people are really using it during the week. Terry and I have made music together since the 1970s and both of us have had lots of other music experience since. We’re having a great time putting together each program with music from Kenny Hall’s repertoire and much more. We are asking for tips on a sliding scale, $5-$20 (Venmo, Paypal, or checks, for those who don’t like exchanging currency on the internet). NOW THE REALLY GOOD NEWS! FFS is paying for the first Sunday of the month (for a short time). Be sure and tune in February 7 for the next free session. Send your email request and we’ll send you the link. https://www.evobluestein.com/

More wisdom from Maria Glover

Thank You Note from Kevin and Lisa Crary for their Sue Beevers scholarship. 4

Pat’s History Corner

Last month I wrote about “how” I became president. Here’s a bit of history about our concerts. Before me there was Sue Beevers, Maria Wortham, Glen Delpit, Jon Adams, Sherron Brown, Virgil Byxbe, Evo Bluestein, Café Midi and the Wild Blue Yonder. After my twenty-five year stint, Steve Ono and Sue Wirt took over, bringing many artists to that beautiful space we treasured on Van Ness. I leave it to any of them to fill in their history. I was a latecomer with little knowledge of who was who in the world of folk musicians. Although it was a steep learning curve, I loved every minute of it. We’ve had sold out concerts of big name performers, but I think it is more important that we bring lesser known artists to introduce to the community. As you well know, folk musicians spend a lifetime learning their craft but are poorly paid for what they share with us. They play for love--and money--and need an ap- preciative audience and financial support. FFS rarely makes money on the concerts. We try to give a guarantee to the performers up front, then we cover our expenses. If anything is left over we give a high percentage to the performers. We take no % of their CD sales. As a result, performers have wanted to come to Fresno. As such, live concerts are a gift to our Fresno community. We do the work, the performers share their talent and Fresno can experience fine live music at affordable prices. My involvement began in 1989 Evo phoned me to attend a concert at the Bonner. Evo had booked Jez Lowe whom he had met in England. Dick and I attended and were two of ten in the audience, an appalling turnout for such a gifted musician. Check him out on youtube. This is a favorite of mine: https://youtu.be/ qTbshXqdZ3A The next day he performed in Oakhurst to a larger audience—of twelve. I was embarrassed for the performer and for our community. I talked with Jez and asked if this is what it was like to be a traveling musician. “Too often,” he said. When I became president, because of this incident, I committed myself and my time to promoting concerts. Fortunately, Bill Rickard phoned and offered to do the booking of a concert series. He had been a folk DJ in Nevada City and had folk performer connections. Through Bill, we brought John McCutcheon back to Fresno. (Bill’s doctor is John’s best friend.) Evo had brought John previously to the university. That’s where I first heard him and fell in love with his music. Bill receives credit for booking many of the following list. We were able to bring some big names and give them a guarantee when early in our concert series we could use the Fresno Art Museum’s Bonner Auditori- um for the price of the sound person. That changed and we had to find other venues. Everyone loved the Bonner. It’s a beautiful space with great acoustics, but the higher overhead reduced what we could guarantee the performers yet keep the ticket price affordable.

Rosalie Sorrels; Utah Phillips; Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin; Larry Hanks & Merritt Herring; Faith Petric & Jon Adams; Lou & Peter Berryman; Mark Graham & Orville Johnson; Marley’s Ghost; Kathy Kallick band; Robin & Linda Williams; Holly Near; Mike Seeger; Joe Craven; Somesul Napoca (Rumanian Folk Ensemble); Bill Tapia (99 year old ukulele and jazz legend—and he was also here on his “century” tour.); Dave Von Ronk, his final tour; Cheryl Wheeler; Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas; Liz Carroll & John Doyle, Irish; Jamie Laval, Irish; Mar- got Leverett, Klezmer clarinetist; April Verch, fiddler & step dancer of Ottawa Canada; Laurie Lewis & Grant Street; Kathy Kallick Band; Preston Reed, England, guitar; Yair Dalal, Arab-Israeli Peace Concert; Tsygankov & Shevchenko, Russian domra & piano; Megan Lynch & Bill Evans; Bryan Bowers; Clive Gregson of England; John Renbourn, British Isles; Dave Mallett (the Garden Song); Jane Voss & Hoyle Osborne; The Crooked Jades; Eric Bogle, Australian; Andrei Krylov; Peter Ostrousko & Arkady Yushin; Kenny Hall & Friends; Bill Staines; The Waymores; Front Range, Bluegrass; The Acousticats; Kathy Whitesides & Hank Bradley; Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum; Hot Club of Cowtown; Singer Songwriters: Steve Seskin & Brian Joseph; Perfect Strangers, bluegrass; Gove Scrivenor; Red Molly; Rosewood: Rich Sarois & John Kilburn; Elameno: Eva Scow, Dusty Brough, Kevin Hill, Rebecca Kleinmann, Myrna Joy, Tobias Roberson; Cerro Negro: John Martin III, Frank Giordano, Dusty Brough; Glen Delpit; Margaret Tynan; Hans York & Steve Ono; Barbara Higbie & David Balakrishnian; Geoff Muldaur; Fishtank Ensemble; Garnet Rogers; Bluegrass Intentions; Anne & Pete Sibley; Diana Jones; Pearl Django with Karen Marguth; Paul Kamm & Eleanor MacDonald; Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out; Dråm—Swedish: Anna Rynefors & Erik Ask-Upmark; Laurie Lewis & Right Hands; Barry Schultz & Friends; Eric & Suzie Thompson; Tocanto; Slaid Cleaves; The Stairwell Sisters; The Experience—Ray Moore, Eva Scow, Mike Taylor, Pat Olvera. (Pat Wolk)

Faith Petric

Kenny and Terry

Kenny and Utah Phillips 6

1977 Flyer from Evo Bluestein‘s archives 7

LAMENT AND GRATITUDE Christmas and New Year were even more different this year. Our family was involved with the Annual Trek to the Tree—The Nation's Christmas Tree is The General Grant Tree in Grant Grove of Kings Canyon National Park. My father would commandeer folding chairs from the junior high school in Sanger and the Y's Men's Club of Sanger would transport them and set them up. The event is a short service and laying of a wreath for fallen soldiers and a choir would sing as well as crowd participation in a couple of hymns (usually takes place on the second Sunday of December). The Sanger High School Choir or Fresno All County Choir (of which I was a member while in high school) would travel by bus. The trip down was always beautiful because the clouds would make the foothills look like islands, and the sun would be setting, coloring the clouds with pink and gold. Alas, it had to be canceled for 2020, but will be back next year. Our family tradition was to always open our presents on Christmas Eve, attend Candlelight Service at the Methodist Church in Sanger, and then drive around town and admire the lighted trees and decorations. On Christmas Day, we would have a big spread and watch football, wash dishes, and play canasta with our Grandmother. Grandma and Dad passed away in 1986, but we continued the tradition until 2014, when it was too difficult for Mother to negotiate the stairs or the steep ramp at the church. After that we had Christmas Eve at Mom's apartment and Christmas Day feast and football at Sherron and Michael's home, playing dominoes afterward. Mom left us in 2018, so we don't do the Christmas Eve event any more but have a great time on Christmas Day with our friend Ann Lamb, my niece and nephew and great nephew. It's a hoot, watching him play with his presents. This year, instead of Christmas with my Sherron and Michael, it was a phone call and a brownie drop-off. Ann Lamb and I drove out to Sue Tellier's house on Academy for a Bubble Christmas. We walked the pastures with horses following (they live next door but use Susan's as well), cooked, watched some tv, talked, rang bells at 6:00 pm and sang Silent Night at 7:00 pm. Repeat the cooking and walking, and talking on Christmas Day. The three of us did a Bubble New Year's Eve and Day as well. It was a repeat of the previous week with a substitute of Auld Lang Syne played by Susan on the violin at 9:00 pm on the front porch, followed by a couple of Patrick McManus humorous essays that I read while we relaxed in the living room before going to bed. Instead of the usual cacophony of booms and bangs that I hear at my own house on New Year's Eve, I only heard one set of gunshots at midnight and those were far away. I usually spend New Year's Day watching football and going to Pat Wolk's soup party. Not so, this year. Another walk in the pasture and I was home in time to see the Rose Bowl game. Traditions have changed over time and even completely interrupted by the pandemic this year, but I am so grateful for friends and family that make it all okay. The changes this year had meaning as well, spending time with dear friends. And now, for a digression. While at Susan's, I found that I had worn a pair of socks that had one black and one navy. The next day, at home, I found another pair JUST LIKE THEM, so I wore them right away to give them a chance to reunite in the laundry basket before the next wash. I am happy to say that they are back together with their sole mates. (Sue Wirt) 8

Grateful for Your Support of Our Fresno Folklore Society A HUGE THANK YOU to all of our paid members below. Your dues promote music in our community. Folklore Society membership runs from July 1 to the end of June. You can mail us a check or pay through PayPal on our website at fresnofolklore.org. When you do your dues, you’ll be at least as famous as these people shown below. Alan Hubbart John & Debi Alden Thomas Zimoski Allen & Debra Church John & Maureen Hayes Tim & Janet Johnson Allen Lintvedt John LaLonde & Joyce Burel Toni Eames & James van Eseltine Ann Lamb John Crawford & Carole Bailey Vicki Cheney Ann Lewis Joliene Mason Ann & Bill Flayer Judi Redmond Anne Betancourt Judy Bezzerides Anne Merrill & Mike Stepanyan Kathryn Long-Pence Anne Mosgrove & Kevin Hall Kathy Wosika & David Fox Anne Whitehurst Kelly & Anastasia O'Neill Barbara Boynton & Kelli Dackawich Kent & Susan Kinney Barbara Hollinger & Jim Reblan Kevin Campbell Bea Berratinni LaDonna Rowe Becky Richardson Larry Cusick Susan Heidebrecht Betsy Hill Laura Silberman Bill & Ceci Johnson Lee Liddle Bill Lulay Linda Foster Bonnie Douglas & Tom Kramer Linda Guerrero & Bill Lehr Bruce Honeyman Linda & George Sward Carl & Kathryn Johnsen Lorenzo Bassman Christoph Bahne Lou & Christi Paradise Christy Bardon Lynda Emanuels Craig & Lisa Poole Lynette Bassman & John Reed David & Katzi Engel Margaret Rivers David Kuehl & D.J. Peters Margaret Tynan Debbie Jo Wagner Maria Glover & Billie Harris Dennis & Harriett Pollock Mark Eaton Diane Hanson-Barnes Mary Alice Meuel Dick Estel Mike Newton Dolores Torres Mike Reilly Don Loweburg Nancy Hatcher Elaine Fetterman Pam & Paul Schramm Elecia Johansson Pat Wolk Finegold Trust Paul & Karen Starcevich Fran Saunders & Paul Indman Penny Critchlow & Mark Olson Frank Gibson Penny Smith Fresno Music Academy & Arts Randy & Anita Morris Gary Morrison Renata Ley George & Linda Sward Richard Calderwood & Karen Hale Greg & Bette Merrill Ron Prestridge Howard Ono Ron & Megan Bohigian Heather Taylor Sal & Denise Sciandra Hugh & Jennifer Williamson Sandi Downs Janet Horder Sayre Miller Jeff Adolph Sharon Mullennix Jeff Hallock & Deb Symes Shelley Fetterman Jim & Elaine Salvatore Sherron Brown Jim & Lynn Ross Stan Allen Joan Rubenstein Stephen Fretz & Lynn Moss Joel Patrick Sue Wirt John & Amelia Ryan Susan Coberly John & Andrea McDaniel Susan Tellier 9 John & Barbara Chookasian Susana Peckinpah

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The Fresno Folklore Society (FFS) is a non-profit community-based organization. It sponsors traditional music, dancing, and other traditional art forms. FFS hosts potlucks and jam sessions; it encourages and promotes new musicians through classes, recording opportunities and other support. FFS members share visions and concerns for a peaceful and just world and actively support efforts to create an eco-friendly environment.

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