Fellow Bandperson:
The annual rehearsal went exceptionally well. It was a very fine day and we had a large turnout. Ronni outdid herself with her chili and other victuals and the eats brought by the others were just “frosting on the cake”. The beer held out until almost the end, too. Our playing went pretty well. Ross and Pilar handed out copies of the words to “In The Good Old Summertime” and we attempted to play and sing that with some success. Our march around the neighborhood was appreciated by the landed gentry therein. A good time was had by all.
We had a smaller group at the Woodside May Day Parade (around 25). The weather was great. We were a bit light on trumpets, but played just fine. The assembled multitudes for this parade would enjoy us even if we were all playing zithers. We didn’t scare the horses and a couple of cute goats thought we were very good. The apres parade gathering at Zott’s was also enjoyable.
As always, we have a double-header on the weekend of May 18-19. On Saturday, May 18, we will entertain the kiddies, doggies, catties, duckies, snakies, and other assorted fauna in the Los Altos Pet Parade. The formation area will be in the parking lot on First Street between State and Main Streets in Los Altos. The parade starts at 1000 hours, but, because parking can be difficult, we should assemble around 0915 or so. We no longer have our meeting after the parade in the Safeway parking lot was not popular with the authorities, we will not do that this year. Instead, Jim Smith kindly volunteered to host us at his house, just a few blocks away at 790 Woodstock Lane (just off of El Monte towards 280). Bring a munchie to share -- beer will be provided. Remember, this is an easy event (we used to go through twice, but now just once). Be sure to practice up on “Doggie in the Window”, our number one tune for this event.
Sunday, May 19, is the Castroville Artichoke Festival Parade. This is one of our best and most traditional events and is well-appreciated by the older farts amongst us (we’ve been doing this event for over 40 years). There is a great festival after the parade with the finest eats almost anywhere and the gig in Mike’s Baseball Bar is the best saloon gig of any of our events. The parade starts very early (0945 hours). We were unable to get the inexpensive bus from The City and had to get one that starts in Palo Alto (the ones from The City ranged from $900 to $300 more than one from Palo Alto). Therefore, there will be no pick up in The City or San Mateo. The bus will depart from the NorthEast corner of the Palo Alto Square parking lot (the lot is on the SouthWest corner of Page Mill Road and El Camino) in Palo Alto at 0815 hours, sharp. There will be some beer provided for breakfast on the bus. Do not park where the bus picks us up or park in a group. Either park diagonally across the street in the park and ride or at a remote spot in the PA Sauare parking lots. Please reply to Smiley at donfnelson@earthlink.net, or use the RSVP form with the “seats” item checked if you are going to ride the bus. We realize that all of this is somewhat early for musicians, but you can whoop it up all night and sleep on the bus. We don’t know the starting spot in Castroville (it is assigned when we get there), but nobody ever seems to have trouble finding it. We will be back in Palto Alto before 5 PM (the bus will leave Castroville at 1430 hours). The bus is very expensive (over 800 bucks). For this reason, the bus fare will be $15 for adults and $10 for kids. Just think -- it costs around $80 to motor down and back using the IRS milage figure. And, you avoid a DUI which could cost thousands. In addition, you get some free beer on the way down courtesy of the band. You can’t beat it! If anyone wants to pay more or make donations, we will be more than happy to accept. For those driving directly, our line-up position will be available for you at the check-in table at Merritt and Mead.
We have added the Hillsborough Memorial Day Parade to our upcoming events. Ronni Haderle (rhaderle@earthlink.net or 650-949-5345) is in charge of the event. For more information about it see http://www.hillsborough.net/about/parade.asp. We are to form up at 1000 hours (the parade starts at 1030) near the Town Hall, 1600 Floribunda Avenue. Please let Ronni know if you can make it. There will be food and stuff afterward for purchase (we are being paid for this gig).
RSVP: It is important that everyone RSVP for ALL band events so we can plan for the best possible experience for everyone. RSVP WHETHER OR NOT you are planning to show up. Your negative response is just as important as a positive one. Do it NOW, while you are thinking of it! RSVP HERE:
ltwcmb.com/rsvp
IT’S BACK: The one-and-only LTWCMB CD release is back in print! The 40th Anniversary CD was released in 2000, and has been out of print for several years, available only on eBay and from a few high-end auction houses. Now, YOU can have a re-released copy for only $5 to listen to and play along with. It is a great way to learn our tunes.
EVENT SUGGESTIONS: We are always looking for new ways to get together to share our musical talents with each other and with the public. Email Harvey or Smiley with your best ideas.
DRUM MAJOR SIGNALS: Are you occasionally confused by the drum major’s signals? Fear not! We have a page of mace signals that explains everything:
http://ltwcmb.com/signals
TUBA SUNDAYS: Several of our band members meet regularly at formerly Zott’s (currently known as the Alpine Inn located at the intersection of Alpine and Arastradero Roads in Portola Valley) on the first Sunday of every month to enjoy some refreshment and play a few tunes. All LTWCMB members are invited to join in this activity, so bring your axe and have some fun. Show up and have a beer, 4:00; walk right in, 5:00; approximately. The next one will be June 2. Contact Ronni to get on the reminder list:
rhaderle@earthlink.net.
ID BUTTONS: Every band member is expected to proudly wear his/her LTWCMB ID button to all events. Do YOU know where YOURS is? If you haven’t ordered yours yet, or your old one accidentally went through the laundry too many times, notify Harvey a few days before each event, and it will be ready for you at the event.
jimharvey@jimharvey.org
PARTY LINE: Consider joining our free, voluntary email list, allowing you to keep in touch with other band members. It can be used for any topics that may be of interest to band members, and even for carpooling to band events. We currently have 77 members on the list. To join or un-join, just send an email to subscribe@ltwcmb.com.
PHOTOS OF THE BAND: Many of you have taken photos at our various band events, and we’re sure you have some that are real knockouts! If you would be willing to share them, we would like to put them on the band website for all to enjoy. You can email them to jimharvey@jimharvey.org, or contact us and and we can make other arrangements to transfer them. If they are numerous or large files, you can share them via DropBox jimharvey@jimharvey.org.
NEWSLETTER CONTRIBUTIONS: If, from time to time, any of you have news items that would be of interest to our band members, send them in to Harvey or Smiley and we will include them in the next Newsletter. This could include notes for local gigs involving LTWCMB members.
FUTURE EVENTS: The list of future events follows. Detailed information on each event is normally sent out a few days before the event. Be sure to check the web site for late-breaking news.
Sat 05/18 Los Altos Pet Parade
Sun 05/19 Artichoke Festival Parade, Castroville
Mon 05/27 Hillsborough Memorial Day Parade
Thu 07/04 Independence Day Parade, Redwood City
Sun 07/28 Annual Band Picnic, Huddart Park
Sat 09/28 Pet Parade, Burlingame
Sun 10/13 Columbus Day Parade, San Francisco
Sat 12/14 Annual Yule Concert, Palo Alto
FURTHER INFORMATION: For further information call Harvey at 650-321-7788 or Smiley at 650-269-7542. E-mail addresses are jimharvey@jimharvey.org or donfnelson@earthlink.net.
ADDRESS CORRECTIONS: For address corrections contact Jim Harvey, 960 Cotton Street, Menlo Park, CA 94025 or phone or e-mail Harvey or Smiley.
CHARTS ON THE WEB: Thanks to our chartmaster, Chris Quinn, we have a good collection of charts available. You may have to enter a name/password to view the charts on the website (http://ltwcmb.com/charts), so just enter “charts” for both the name and password.
LYRICS: Note that the words to almost all of the songs are in a pdf file on the web site. If some are missing or incorrect let Smiley know and we will update the web site. This file was redone recently. There is a short one with just the lyrics we sing and a long with with more stuff.
T-SHIRTS: David R has some t-shirts available for $20 each (cash or cheque), not in all sizes. Contact him by e-mail at the following to place an order. Tubaman@tubatoast.com
