Sal Spends a Lovely Fall Morning at UkeToberFest

On Sunday, October 19th, a bunch of intrepid Cleveland Jumping Fleas got together for the second annual UkeToberfest!  At last year's event our fingers were stiff from the cold, so this year we picked a location where we could have a fire.  Luckily one of our members is an experienced fire maker and made us a wonderful warm blaze. 

Thomas building the fire.  His efforts were greatly appreciated!

Fleas began to arrive, and to munch on doughnuts and drink coffee and cider.  After much pleasant conversation about ukuleles and all manner of other things, we took the traditional group photo with Sal. 

Sal hangin' with the Fleas in the beautiful East River Park in Olmsted Falls.

The traditional "silly" shot of the group. As usual, it's hard to tell which is the silly picture, and which is the serious one.  ;)

After the photo session, the Fleas gathered in the pavilion to play and sing.  There were a couple of individual and small group performances, but mostly the whole gang played and sang together.

The Fleas happily playing and singing.

The incorrigible banjo uke section.

Despite the chill in the air, a good time was had by all.  Looking forward to next year's UkeToberfest!

Sal Goes to UkeToberFest!

We are very fortunate to have many lovely parks in the Cleveland area, and Sal is always ready to spend some time in the great outdoors.  Sunday morning brought a uke-tastic opportunity to do just that.  It was UkeToberFest with the Cleveland Jumping Fleas!  This event was not about drinking beer in October.  It was about playing ukes in October!  A bunch of Fleas gathered at around 9:00 a.m. to hang out in the Harriet Keeler shelter eating donuts, drinking cider and coffee, and playing lots of songs together.  Of course we all had to pose for photos with Sal!

Sal with the UkeToberFest gang!

Of course we had to have a silly shot, too.  As usual, some were sillier than others.  ;)

Why would a group of presumably intelligent adults play ukuleles outside in 40ish temperatures?  The simple answer is that when we met at the same location a few weeks ago, we had a great time playing al fresco.  How could we know that the temperature would plunge so early in the year?  Fleas are hardy souls, however, and nothing can keep us from gathering together to socialize and make music.  And, despite being quite nippy, the morning was beautiful.  We were playing our ukes together whilst surrounded by lovely autumn colors!  All was right with the world!

Our fingers may have been numb, but the chilly air was full of hot music!

We got applause from some people as they walked by the shelter -- and one guy hung around listening for quite a while.  And why not?  The Fleas are awesome!

An extra added UkeToberFest bonus was the addition to our group of Tabitha's husband, Dan, who brought his double bass.  The low tones of this instrument added a wonderful note (pun obviously intended) to the proceedings -- AND I got a picture of Sal with the biggest string instrument I know of.  She's had her picture taken with a tiny violin, L'il Rev's uke, a Cleveland Orchestra cello -- and now with a double bass!  Many Fleas -- including yours truly -- were urging Dan to come back and play with us again!

Sal and her giant cousin.  Thanks, Dan, for bringing your bass!

Some Fleas had to leave after a couple of hours to go to work -- or because their hands were numb -- but a few extra-hardy members of the group stayed until noon.  Sal and I were, of course, in the extra-hardy contingent!  What a super-fun way to spend a Sunday morning!