May 23

Loretta Brooks enjoyed  NEFFA 2023 in Marlborough MA. She went up with two friends who played in the  Rum & Onions Band. They also joined the Festival Orchestra, which played the last contra dance.

Mike Agranoff missed the Songwriters' Day because he was in Florida doing two house concerts which were well attended and received. He also went New York to see John Forster perform at Don't Tell Mama (a nightclub on 40 Sixth Street) who did a killer show. He just got a text from his pharmacist that the new Covid vaccine is out and he recommended that everyone get one. 

Mark Schaffer enjoyed a vacation in Lisbon and Porto, Portugal,  two beautiful towns with wonderful old architecture and food. He thought the trip was just amazing and they came back tanned, relaxed and happy. Their last day there was Portugal's Independence Day, and  instead of our kind of marching with floats and marching bands, it was just banners with groups of people with  trade associations or political associations. He thought that the most moving thing was that it was kind of amateurs compared to what we see in parades, but so heartfelt and so joyous and determined by people who live for freedom.  He also reported that they were delighted to host Circle Round the Sun in their streaming Tuesday concert, and it was just delightful to hear them live.

Allen Kugel got to tour London while in England for a conference. While in the British Museum, he saw an 3000 year Egyptian tomb lintel whose carvings included hieroglyphs of two banjos, showing the ancient Egyptians had strange taste in music. 

Jean Scully was happy to report that Dave has recovered at lightning speed from his injury.  He was in a rehab for 10 days after his surgery, and then he came home with Covid, and so they both had Covid.  She lost her smell and taste and thought it was bizarre. Dave was released from the orthopedic care a month early and he was just supposed to go to the gym now and work on strengthening his leg, but he's back to normal in time for the Songwriters Day.  He was cleared to drive literally the day before so Dave celebrated his release by running all over picking up food for the Songwriter's Day sit down, lunch and dinner. She thought it was a total of about 60 people altogether. He was just absolutely indispensable, and she also wanted to give a shout out to everybody who volunteered that day, especially if Paul Fisher.

Pamela Zave  noted that she is wearing a vintage Peggy Karr Glass shirt.

Virginia Nordberg is starting to get ready for the Maple Wood Garden Club Sale, which is a really big event. She volunteers a lot, and is in the Neighborhood Garden Club, which she felt is really fun thing to do, and she's really excited about it.

Elizabeth Lachowicz had to deal with last minute changes to a presentation she had to do for work. Her bosses just kept expanding the scope of what she was supposed to cover in this presentation, and  despite the fact that they just they changed it all over the place, she got it done successfully  and only went three minutes over the hour.