October 27, 2013

By:  Karen Hefter
Photos by:  Karen Hefter and Linda Myers

When we arrived at the Salem Lutheran Home in Oakland, we were expecting to play “background music” as chartered.  However, it turned out that we were a main event for a completely filled room for our 2 hour performance!  It was a groundbreaking performance for the EBBC because neither our bass player nor our gutbucket player could make it to this gig, so Don Granberg turned in his banjo and washboard and played the piano with us.  This was a first (as far as I know) for the EBBC.  The piano sounded wonderful with the banjos!

I think the club members enjoyed the afternoon as much as the residents did!  We didn’t bring our sound equipment, but used a karaoke system for the announcements and for the singers.  It worked great and didn’t involve a lot of equipment hauling and setup.  None of the banjos were amplified. Bud Pearce, Sheila Welt, Jesse de Torres, and Herb Moore were our singers.  Jesse and Don did a piano/voice duet, which was really nice.  Our players were:  Betty David, Jesse de Torres, Don Granberg, Karen Hefter, Deb Hodson, Ardie Jarrett, Herb Moore, Linda Myers, Phil Myers, Bud Pearce, and Sheila Welt. Club member Georgette de Torres was an enthusiastic audience member.  In honor of Halloween next week, Ardie sported a convict costume and Phil and Linda kept us all guessing with rubber snakes climbing over their music, a rubber tarantula that climbed up their music stand, and the various pieces of costume headgear that appeared on their heads from time to time.

A great time was had by all and the club members appreciated the fabulous snacks that were provided for us during our break. We look forward to a repeat performance in December.