Jack Ferguson, Ed.

Next Meeting: Will be in Lawnridge Hall on February 4th.

Open Jam:    Lawnridge Hall opens for jamming at 4:00 – bring your friends!

Ukulele Circle:  The Ukers gather with Evie Boss at 4:00

Mandolin Circle: Mandolin players gather with Phil Doolittle at 4:00

Mountain Dulcimer Circle: The dulcimers gather with Jack Ferguson at 5:00

Native American Flute Circle: The flute group  gathers with Don Hayes at 6:00

Presentation:  Jan Krist: The Care and Feeding of the Creative Soul

Creativity can be fragile, sometimes feral and often illusive. It’s a largely solitary exercise, the purpose of which will be questioned often by you and by others. Is it good enough? Does it serve any purpose? Am I wasting my time? It matters how you answer these questions. Join artist, singer/songwriter Jan Krist to learn how and why you should nurture and protect the creative seed within.

Hosts: Barb Esler and Marian Fisher (with their famous cherry squares!)

Song Swap Theme: Songs of the Heart

Get the Hat!: February’s Hat Band includes Andy Mather, Joni Grob, Phil and Althea Doolittle

ON YOUR MARK…mark your calendars now…GET SET…get set to have a great time…GO…to the Starry Night for a Ramble Dance on Saturday February 11, 2012. Yay!! The Paint Creek Country Dance Orchestra has been in session for two weeks now in preparation for their fantastic music on the second Saturday in February, 8-11 pm. Judi Morningstar is leading the orchestra on keyboard, and dulcimer players extraordinaire Mary Lou Battley, Paul Goelz and Cindy Simmons share the spotlight with the lightning fast fiddle fingers of Suzy White and the whirling guitar punch of Dotty Decker. When they join up with callers Tom Allen from OCTDS and Glen Morningstar Jr. from PCFS…the dance hall will be cookin’. Two surprise guest musicians, PCFS alumni, are in the offing too, heh, heh.

So…plan ahead and plan to be there for a grand evening of music, exercise and camaraderie with folk music and dance friends from Oakland County and surrounding parts. This is a Benefit Contra Dance for both Oakland County Traditional Dance Society (OCTDS) and Paint Creek Folklore Society (PCFS)… aka bucks for our treasuries. The band and callers are donating their practice times, programming and evening calling to benefit our societies…please show your support by joining in the fun too.

$10 General Admission, $8 for students and members of OCTDS and PCFS. Bring your silent auction items too and put them up for bid. Proceeds again split by the two orgs. And a great venue to boot… First United Methodist Church, 6363 Livernois Road, Troy, Michigan 48098, located between Square Lake Road and South Boulevard…REALLY CLOSE to PCFS headquarters, yay!! Point your friends and neighbors in our direction too. A flyer with all the details is up on the Paint Creek web. The more the merrier!!!

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We’re seeking volunteers as well to help out with setting up the silent auction and pitching in a few minutes to wrap it up at the end of the dance. Grab the sign-up sheet at the February 4th PCFS meeting and jot your name down…THANKS. Any questions can be directed to Glen Morningstar Jr. at 248-889-3013 or on the web at gmorning@aol.com.

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Our condolences go out to Jack Ericson, whose father passed away this week. It comes at a time when Teresa’s mother is ill, and we wish her a speedy recovery. Please keep them and their family in your thoughts.

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It’s February, the shortest, coldest, darkest – and some would argue – the most depressing month of the Michigan year. The clouds hang low like a wool blanket smothering the daylight, and then run away at night to leave us shivering while Orion twinkles crisply. What little snow there is turns to slush and then to ice. All in all it should be a pretty yucky time.

But then, it’s the month for lovers, too, so it can’t be all that bad. There’s Valentine’s Day, and that means there’s dancing at the Starry Night for a Ramble. Instead of feeling gloomy, it makes me happy as a clam grinning from hinge to hinge.

If you’ve never been, this is the year to do it. It’s a lot of fun, and the music by Judi and the Paint Creek Country Dance Orchestra makes it hard not to join in. Glen Morningstar teaches and calls the moves so easy that even a guy like me, who dances like a hippopotamus on roller skates, has been known to feel almost graceful.
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Even if you just show up with the intention of shyly leaning alone against the wall all night like a bashful kid at the junior prom, I still guaranty you’ll end up having fun.

Andy Mather

March 3: Struggle and Victory

April 7: Storms

May 5: Crime and Consequence

June 2: My Favorite Song

July 7: Sing What You Want – It’s the Picnic!

August 32: We Don’t Meet in August

The next one is at Jack and Maggie’s on Thursday, April 12th at 7:30pm.

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“Where the Creek Flows” is dedicated to PCFS members’ events.

Maggie Ferguson opens Mama’s Coffee House on Sat. Jan 21^st. Generations will follow so come over to Birmingham Unitarian for a super show.

Speaking of Maggie:  Jack and Theresa Erickson invite everyone to the Winter Coffeehouse at Prince of Glory Lutheran Church from 7-10 pm on Saturday, February 11. Floyd King and the Bushwhackers, featuring Paint Creek’s own Maggie Ferguson, will headline the evening. Better Late Than Never (Jack and Theresa Erickson and Phyllis Isabel) will also perform, along with Pat Wall and Friends. Admission is only $7 with all proceeds benefiting charitable projects in Mbulu, Tanzania. The church is located at 1357 W. 14 Mile, Madison Heights (just west of I-75.)

Here’s a web link to the Dessert Oasis Café, where Dave Belferman plays every other Wednesday. http://www.dessertoasis.net/

Dave Falk runs the Open Mic at the Coffee Beanery on Woodward in Berkley every Thursday evening at 7:00

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Evie Boss invites all on the First Tuesday of each month to Gilda’s Club in Royal Oak (on Rochester Road just north of 13 Mile Rd.) has a coffee house: dinner starts at 5:30, open mike from 6-7 and featured performer from 7-8.

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Maggie Ferguson hosts the Live! From the Living Room Acoustic Showcase on Friday nights. For more information go to oldfrontporch.com. As long as we’re on the front porch tune into WXOU FM. To listen via live webstream go to: www.wxou,org. Tuesdays between 5:00 and 7:30 pm for the best in contemporary folk music.

To submit all your upcoming gigs and events, email the details to Jack, KT Editor, at thunderisle@yahoo.com. To have your event in the KT I will need the info by the 15^th.

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Submit your favorite trip by the 15^th and encourage others to visit a new venue.

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Anyone who has been a member of Paint Creek over the last decade would know of the strong bond between my wife Maggie and Denise Marie Stein. These ties included not just friendship, but musical collaborations. Maggie and Denise were a team. But, most of you know nothing of Denise’s relationship with… me.

Don’t get nervous. Denise was my friend also, and we became akin to brother and sister. Haul around someone’s hammer dulcimer enough and it’s gonna happen. We were alike: loyal, and neither of us could abide missing a Paint Creek Gathering. I remember Denise agonizing over missing one when Floyd King and the Bushwackers had a show that conflicted with Paint Creek.

Half a dozen Februarys ago, Denise handed me a gift bag. Inside that bag were two books. One, a composition book, with cowboy scenes on the covers. The other was a collection of cowboy songs. Go figure.

Our members are grateful for the gift Denise left to Paint Creek, and rightfully so. Her gift is making possible the improvements to our website. I am grateful too, but it’s that gift bag I remember best.

I missed the January gathering. I was singing cowboy songs. I believe Denise understood.

Jack D. Ferguson, Editor

Fine Print: The Keepin’ Tabs (KT) is the monthly newsletter for, by, and about the Paint Creek Folklore Society. Paint Creek Folklore Society is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, a center for The Country Dance and Song Society of America (CDSS), a member of the North American Folk Alliance, and a supporter of folklore, folksong and folkdance societies, groups and individuals whose interest is in the preservation of and education in traditional music and dance. To submit corrections, articles, gigs, or other information for publication, please contact Jack Ferguson, Editor, at thunderisle@yahoo.com; deadline for the next issue is the 15^th.

Visit us at http://paintcreekfolkloresociety.org/index.html, or on Facebook at Paintcreek Folklore-Society.

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