Sunday, May 8, 2011

!The Oklahoma Squeezins! June 2011! Oklahoma Accordion Club Minutes of the May 8, 2011 meeting liver Delaney called the meeting to order. • Special recognition was given to Dan Orza for his work with the band, and to Dick Albreski for his work done on the membership drive. • Name badges were presented to Barbara Duer and Carolyn Felder. A big welcome to our two new members! • Frankie and Eleanor Martinez told us about the Conjunto Festival at Rosedale Park in San Antonio, Texas on the weekend of May 13-15. They will attend, but will not be performing. • The music was superb as always! • Barbara and Dick played "Jamboree." • Frankie and Eleanor entertained us with "Por El Amor a Mi Madre," "Mil Noches," and "El Gavilán Pollero." • Bob Mansfield performed a tango medley: "Dicitencello Vuie," "Pygmalion," and "Nightingale's Tango." He also played and sang "Perfidia." • Carolyn Felder told how she started playing accordion, and debuted with "Oh, How I Love Jesus." • Oliver told about buying his first accordion, and then taking it apart and reassembling it. He suggested performers tell a little of their "accordion history" before they play. • Dick Albreski played a medley of songs from various countries including: "That's Amore," "Edelweiss," "Bésame Mucho," and "The Pennsylvania Polka." He related his accordion history and how he became a full time performer, teacher, buyer, seller, and repairer of accordions. • The next OAC meeting will be June 12. The theme will be Father's Day! Respectfully submitted, Lois Roth May Meeting Lois Roth How do you get an accordionist to play in time? Get them to play by themselves. How do you make two accordionists play in time? Shoot one of them. How do you protect a valuable instrument? Hide it in an accordion case. Knock-Knock. Who's there? Accordion. Accordion who? Accordion to the TV, it's going to be cold out.

!! June 2011! The Oklahoma Squeezins Bio Sign First, a very brief history. I was born and grew up in Des Plaines, Illinois (near Chicago), and am a graduate of the Evanston Hospital School of Nursing. I was married to Edward Roth for 28 years, and we had three children, all born in Carlsbad, New Mexico. In the 1960s and 70s, Carlsbad was a thriving town because of the potash mines where Ed was a mining engineer with Kerr- McGee. Now for my accordion history. When I was about eight years old, I went to a friend's birthday party where she played her new accordion for her guests, and OH HOW I WANTED ONE! The next Christmas, Santa obliged with a 12-bass. My sister Barbara and I took lessons for several years, with a step-up to a 120-bass along the way. Our Dad was our staunch supporter -- he even liked listening to our practice sessions. Our Uncle Elmer (pictured above) played concertina expertly, and Barbara and I sometimes played accordion with him at family gatherings. From him came my love of German music. Elmer is gone now, but I have a collection of his sheet music, and still enjoy playing it. Lessons stopped when high school started, but there was music -- I played viola in the orchestra and learned to appreciate classical music, and more importantly, how to keep one eye on the conductor. I picked up the accordion again in the 70s, when I bought a student-sized Hohner on a trip to El Paso, Texas, and began taking lessons from Bill Ground back in Carlsbad. We performed occasionally at a retirement home, and played together for several years. Our family moved to Edmond, Oklahoma in 1984, and Ed passed away two years later. My daughter Diana and I joined OAC in 2005 by way of Dick Albreski. My current accordion is a 96- bass Scandalli, bought in August 2001 from Lindberg Musik in Munich, Germany. One memorable day, I discovered there is no quicker cure for jet lag than walking into a store full of accordions - what an eye-opener! It has all been fun and still is. I cannot imagine life without playing and listening to accordion music. Accordion Foot Rest One of our new members, Barbara Duer, uses a "classical guitar foot rest" when she plays her accordion. She is pictured here playing with Dick Albreski. And, as you can see, when she places her left foot on the rest, it gives her better balance and allows her to open her bellows without bending them around her knee. While this may not be for everyone, you may want to give it a try. The foot rest folds up compactly, is adjustable to several heights, costs under $20, and is available in music stores and on-line. Lois Roth