Following a long stretch of 90* plus days, it dropped into the 60’s for our picnic on Tuesday, then shot back up into another heat wave the very next day. Thanks to Steve and Judy Gilmore for hosting, grilling, and providing some warm clothes for some of us that weren’t ready for the fickle weather.
Sadly, we didn’t get many pictures of folks during the food/socializing portion of the festivies. Steve manned the grill while Judy kept an eye on the side dishes and fightin’ tools inside. I don’t think anybody went hungry! Good stuff, everyone. Thank you.
As is customary with our annual soiree, the food and socializing take center stage, while the musical portion is later in the evening, and shall we say, a bit ‘disheveled’, to put it politely.
Had some new faces this month, and a few others we haven’t seen in awhile. Welcome to Sarah Brown and Keith Ockinga. Sarah is part of the Jordan /Olivia Evans contingent, while Keith is Nancy’s brother, believe it or not. Welcome back to Rusty Collicott and Pete Piotrowski; good to see y’all!
There is no circle, we don’t go ’round, per se, just take turns as folks are ready. But there were a couple of fun things happen, worth ‘splainin’, Lucy…
Olivia has joined us before with her violin, but tonight she just brought Jordan and Sarah. For her summer recital, she was working on a hard piece, but was leaning toward performing a much simpler tune she had picked out. Sarah threw down the gauntlet; play the tougher song! Olivia had a counter-offer. OK, I’ll do it if YOU will sing in public. Sarah and Jordan kicked off the musical portion of the evening with ‘Wanton Way of Loving’ by Esther Rose. Once Sarah got passed her nerves, she rocked it out of the park. Too bad they couldn’t stay longer, but Jordan needs his beauty sleep so they had to hit the dusty trail.
The sun had set and the lights were low, making it hard to read sheet music. Matt’s selection of Johnny Cash’s ‘I’ve Been Everywhere’ was tough sledding in the dark, and gave us all (especially Matt) the giggles.
Playlist for August, 2026
Jordan Evans & Sarah Brown, ‘Wanton Way of Love’, Esther Rose.
Keith Ockinga w/Rusty & Nancy, ‘Long Hard Road’, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
Ernie Brazzale & Nancy, ‘God Bless The Child’, Arthur Herzog/Billie Holliday.
Matt Potter, ‘I’ve Been Everywhere’, Johnny Cash.
Robin LeBlanc, ‘Cat Eye Country’, original.
Russ Williams, ‘Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head’, Hal David/Burt Bacharach.
Roger Stearns, ‘Fast As You’, Dwight Yocum.
Ed Heffern, ‘If It Hadn’t Been For Love’, Chris Stapleton/ Steel Drivers.
Keith Blaney, ‘Girl From Ipanema’, Antonio Jobim/Vivicius de Maues.
Steve Gilmore, ‘Billy Austin’, Steve Earle.
Rusty Collicott, ‘Tin Roof’, original.
Rich Ryan, ‘Drift Away’, Dobie Gray.
Pete Piatrowski, ‘Collide’, Howie Day.
Roger w/ Steve on stand-up bass, ‘Ramblin’ Fever’, Merle Haggard.
Guests tonight were Kathleen & Roland Peterson, Judy Heffern, Barb Williams, Linda Stearns, Ken Frederick & Maria Means, Norm LeBlanc, and Olivia Evans.
Photo credits go to Matt Potter, Rich Ryan, and Nancy McKenzie. Thanks guys! And thanks again to the Gilmore’s, it was a great evening.