John and I just returned from a wonderful day with our Saginaw Subterranean Strings Hammered Dulcimer Club. We had the “annual dinner” today.  Approximately 35-40 folks enjoyed a huge dinner.  The club bought chicken from a catering service (Kern’s).  John and I brought mashed potatoes and gravy.  We organized the day.  We had the members bring a dish to pass.  Linda Conklin brought a huge pan of her wonderful dressing.  We had everything you could wish for.

We ate from 12:00-1:00 then played wonderful music from 1:00-4:00.  Although we hold our event in Frankenmuth (which is Michigan’s largest tourist attraction) we didn’t expect much of a crowd but we had a nice sized audience all afternoon.  We have a box near the door where people make “contributions” to the historical society which owns the building.  We probably didn’t collect any fortune, but it was satisflying and our folks had a great time. 

We played a lot of holiday music to get us ready for the Christmas season.  I invited Diane Rostollan to sing “Oh, Holy Night.”  It was so incredible that some in the audience were in tears.   She also did some selections from a new CD she just finished.  She sang a hymn from the CD “Come Thou Font.”  It was really lovely.

We always end up with “Amazing Grace.”  We do it several times through.  We start out with a solo whistle (George), then we all played it, next we let Diane sing it through, then we had the audience join in, and we ended up with a solo whistle.  The whole thing was grand.  What a wonderful day.

Our club members were so supportive. They all pitched in. They are like family and we really appreciated their involvement and support.

Life is too short. We need to cherish each day like today that is filled with really nice friends who are like family.