Firstly, I would like to wish you a happy new year. It's now only 11 months to the year 2000 and all the year 2000 problems that are predicted, and only 23 months away from the new Millennium and living in the 21st Century. That's 23 months to return the accordion in it's acoustic, midi and electronic forms to where it belongs in the popularity stakes in time for the next century. We have gone through the electronic keyboard age where you can apparently play anything by simply pressing a few keys and letting the keyboard do all the hard work and I predict that there will shortly be a return to 'real' music as people who can play without smoke and mirrors enjoy a revival in their popularity. I think the accordion is a perfect instrument to be a part of this. In the last year we have gained two new accordion clubs in the area and a new accordion magazine was released called 'Accordion World' which is now attracting many new subscribers. Our Internet website has become very popular attracting over 1000 visitors this month. We have broadcast our November night over the Internet and the tape of our players is selling to other countries where it is being well received. Our players have been booked to play at Christmas parties and charity events and we are bringing a lot of non-players into our world. This has all been in the last year, just think what we can do in the next year or two. Now to name a few of the people responsible for getting us here and who have the job of getting us there.

Jay and Jeff Ward were first to play at our December meeting, Jay on the Keyboard and Jeff playing the accordion. As you know Jeff had problems with his heart but after removal of the bass reeds in his accordion he found it much lighter and was then safe for him to play, because he has Jay playing the keyboard at the same time he can get by with just the right hand, it's good to see him playing again. We had noticed that the heating in the room was turned off and, despite an assurance from downstairs that it had just been switched on, it never warmed up. At the end of the night I received an apology from the Highfield because the heating had broken down and the engineer was calling the following day to mend it, they did not charge for the room for this inconvenience. Our first soloist of the night was John Higham who was making his debut in front of an accordion club, John played Elmers Tune and another I did not get the title of, well done John. The first time is the worse, playing in front of everyone gets easier even if it does not get easy. Tom Bennett then made his usual appearance playing various Christmas carols and tunes, Apart from myself, Tom is the only person who has played at every single club night since we started and I would like to thank Tom for this feat. I wonder which one of us is going to crack first and miss playing a night? Rebecca Postlewhite, back from university, played Roll Out The Barrel, Toupre, and a French piece called Flambée Montalbanaise. I am sure that some of you are choosing tunes to play simply because you are convinced I will not be able to spell them. You will have another chance to enjoy Rebecca's playing this week at our next meeting before she returns to University. I was booked along with Rebecca to play at two Christmas parties recently and, even though I say so myself, we both played well, playing in front of non-accordionists gets rid of all my nerves and I play almost as well as I do when nobody is listening to me. We were booked to play for an hour at both events, the first of which was attended by the Mayor of South Ribble and his wife. Ian Carter and Robert Hood were up next with two tunes which were written by Ian called Davina Waltz and Keith Waltz, this was followed by Cock of the North and Jacqueline Waltz. Leo and Les Thurston then played together on their electronic accordions. I did not catch the titles of any of the tunes they were playing but they played quite a few. George Hicks played Mary's Boy Child, Feelings and Cuckoo Waltz before he was joined by Jean Southern to play Tyrolean Accordion and Bourrasque. Frank Scholes followed with a polka and O'Haras March before we entered the second break. After this break, we opened with Agnes and Glencoe, llunan Bay, Loch Leven, Orange and Blue and Barren Rocks of Aden. I followed Agnes and played Edelweiss and Side By Side. We were now running short of time so I just played the two pieces to ensure that everyone got the chance to play. Florence Branelli was another new player at the club, Flo gave us Talisman, Pasadena, Avalon and Roses from Piccardy. This just left enough time for Lynda Grant to play one piece before Malcolm Milner and Basil Berry finished the night with Basil Playing White Christmas. Join us again this Wednesday when we have Jan Zukowski as guest artist with his brand of music including Hungarian, Spanish, Classical and his own interpretation of music from Riverdance. I first noticed Jan when I heard him play Air on a G String on his five voice free bass piano accordion. I look forward to seeing you all this Wednesday 13th January when we have two members making their debut performances at the club and you can see our new carpet, the new dance floor in it's altered location and therefore our new seating position. I wonder if the acoustics will have changed ?   

David Batty

Hopefully that was an interesting blast from the past, now to move up to date with some items to keep you entertained during the lockdown. First a few more unseen photographs from the past of our club and players. These were taken from our first and second picnic concerts, which is something we discussed on our recent zoom meeting.