Getting Ready For Bing & The Funfest
July 12, 2024
Good Morning, Y'all!
We're hard at work preparing for Bing Futch's clinic tomorrow (July 13, 2024) and we're also getting ready for the ODPC Funfest (which starts in just a few days, in Evart, Michigan).
Prepping for one of our Second Saturday Clinic events is pretty straightforward:
1) Do some cleaning. Somehow everything gets covered with sawdust - I can't understand how this happens week after week
2) Print out Bing's class handouts
3) Make name tags for our guests
4) Go shopping and pick up lunch supplies for the mid-class break (I keep this simple - turkey and cheese, on bagels, with sides of chips, cookies, and water)
5) Stock the showroom with the Dave Haas jam book, in case we have newer players that haven't purchased a copy yet.
Bing will arrive in our parking lot later tonight and set up his RV. I'll run an extension cord out to him, so he can minimize having to use his generator. We'll go out to dinner if he's here early enough. One of the joys (for me) of putting on our second Saturday clinic series is getting to spend some quality time with some very, very, very high quality people.
Tomorrow's event starts at 10 AM, I'll unlock the front door at about 9:30, and by about 5:00 PM, we'll have all of our guests heading towards their homes, with their minds full of new techniques and repertoire.
Bing will arrive in our parking lot later tonight and set up his RV. I'll run an extension cord out to him, so he can minimize having to use his generator. We'll go out to dinner if he's here early enough. One of the joys (for me) of putting on our second Saturday clinic series is getting to spend some quality time with some very, very, very high quality people.
Tomorrow's event starts at 10 AM, I'll unlock the front door at about 9:30, and by about 5:00 PM, we'll have all of our guests heading towards their homes, with their minds full of new techniques and repertoire.
And while we're preparing for Bing's clinic, we're also packing for the Funfest. Getting strings, straps, cases, books, and all the smaller items ready for the trip is a huge job, and Pam's been working on that for a couple of weeks now. Dad, Cheyenne, and Casey are finishing off a few instruments that we're delivering to customers while we're in Evart. Here's one of them:
You may have seen part of this sound hole design on our Facebook page a few weeks ago. Now that this dulcimer is fully lacquered and rubbed out, Cheyenne's adding the Fishman pickup now, and will have machine heads and strings done this afternoon. Pam has a case standing by for this dulcimer, and it'll be loaded in the trailer, Michigan-bound, in just a few days.
The blueberries/leaves/branches look great (thanks to our amazing graphic designer Jon), and I've asked Jon for a version of this sound hole design without the unusual shape at the bottom of the design. I'll tell you at the end of this email what that shape is, but some of you probably recognized it instantly.
So what is that shape? Don't email back and tell me - I already know! (That would be a clue, if you know my family's history...)
Here's the mystery shape in the "correct orientation":
Figured it out yet?
This page (at Folkcraft.com) has the answer!
And, before I forget, here's this week's on-sale book from Shelley Stevens' Baker's Dozen series:
Thanks for reading, Y'all - I hope you enjoyed the puzzle, and that you're having a great Friday. I'll see about 30 of you tomorrow for Bing's clinic, and probably 150 of you next week in Evart, Michigan. Maybe the rest of you in Black Mountain, NC, this October? We'll see!
Richard Ash - luthier-with-the-mystery-shape-on-his-mind-today