June 2015

JUNE
2015
Harold & Helen Estok
Founders of A.L.S.I.
President:
Gordon Kohl
619-395-0454
Presidents Emeriti:
(Founder) Harold Estok
Ron Griffin
Kjell Holmes
Gloria Ensign
NEWSLETTER
Volume 22
Issue 6
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Vice President:
Mary Lou Erwin
619-448-9588
Meeting Coordinator:
Bill Barr
619-337-1111
Corresponding Secretary:
Marian Sowell
619-448-4174
Treasurer &
Ensemble Director:
Vicki Eriqat
619-563-5586
Recording Secretary:
Sharon Marotte
619-286-3948
Newsletter/Webmaster:
Bob Page
760--815-4783
Inside this issue:
President’s
Message
1
General
Information
2
Happiness at
ALSI
3
Gordon Kohl
Birthday Photos
4
Picnic Flyer
5
Showcase Review 6
Workshop
Blues Scale
7
Accordion News 8
Member Profile
Merle Williams
9
Calendar
9
June 2015
by Gordon Kohl
Hi to our friends of the
accordion!
Great weather is here
now and expected for
our June 14th picnic and
barbecue day. I hope
that everyone is planning
on bringing family, and
friends to this fun day at
Lindo Lake Park. Variety
will be present in the music of the day. You will
enjoy the ear catching
solos, duets, trios, combos and the ALSI band.
Bring a chair, a blanket, a smile and your
instrument. The picnic
always
brings many
friends together. Share
your Accordion stories,
favorite music piece to
play or study or give a
copy to a member to
learn. Let's make this
years picnic a fantastic
day for everyone of us
to remember and talk
about for months.
It is time to be practicing those patriotic solos,
marches,
and
songs that have a super
rhythm like The Bugle
Boy
of
Company
B,
The Stars and
Stripes March, a fine
Sousa
March, Tiger
Rag, Dear Heart, In The
Mood, Just One Of
Those Songs, Bye Bye
Blackbird, All Of Me and
many more songs like
these.
Music
titles
follow us through time.
They become signatures of a culture, their
people and places and
leave us a vivid picture
of shared life together . We, as musicians,
dancers, and singers
convey the expression,
and
purpose
of
a
song's composer.
This is accomplished
with the playing of a
melody to an articulated
rhythm dramatized with
subtle
and
sometimes powerful harmonic twists.
Our intention is to
enjoy playing music and
also to bring the meaning and passion of the
music to our audience. I
feel that expression is
the musical tool thru
dynamic
louds
and
softs that can add fun to
any audience .
See you all at the picnic . This is a day for us
to all play music we enjoy for our friends to enjoy.
Beautiful Summer Days
Ahead,
Gordon Kohl —
BIRTHDAY SONG
Past President Kjell
Holmes was recently
joined by his grandsons
Tommy, and Charlie
with their accordions at
a recent birthday celebration for Kjell.’s son-in
-law, Charlie Sr. —
Page 2
GENERAL INFORMATION
MEMBERSHIPS: New membership and renewal for year 2015 are; $100 Gold, $25 U.S.A., $26 Canada, $27 for
International delivery. For new members; partial year memberships can be purchased. Make check or money order
payable to ALSI and send to: Helen Estok Schoell, at P.O. Box 151357 San Diego, CA 92175. The REED BLOCK is
published once each month. Your input to the REED BLOCK is invited and should be submitted to via email to Bob
Page at [email protected] or email to Mary Lou Erwin at: [email protected].
DISCLAIMER: Unless otherwise indicated, all articles were written by the Editor. Unless so stated, no article is to
be construed as an endorsement and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or ALSI.
CUT-OFF DATE: All contributors to The REED BLOCK please note: For next month all material is due two
weeks before the next meeting, accordingly the due date for the July 2015 issue is: June 29th. This includes all items
such as articles, upcoming events, playing around, accordion workshops, advertisements and ensemble schedules.
Please submit your input to Mary Lou Erwin (at above ALSI address) or email [email protected], or to Bob Page
at [email protected]. Thank you for your cooperation.
ADVERTISEMENTS: Members may place one small ad per year at no charge, business cards are $6/per issue or
$60/per year, quarter-page is $15/per issue, half -page is $25/per issue, full -page is $50/per issue, one -page event flyer
is $25/per issue. Cost is doubled for non -members. (All ads must be accordion related).
MEETINGS: The club normally meets at 1:00 - 4:00 P.M. on the second Sunday of each month at the Mt Miguel Covenant Village, 325 Kempton Ave, Spring Valley, CA. Our next Meeting will be held on Sunday, June 14th from 11:30
to 4:30 pm at Lindo Lake Park in Lakeside.
STEERING COMMITTEE; Next meeting is on Wednesday, June 17th, 10:45—12:30 pm in the Denny’s Restaurant at 1065 Camino del Rio South (at Mission Center road) in Mission Valley.
(NOTE: MEETING HELD IN NEW RESTAURANT!).
ALSI MEMBERSHIP OR RENEWAL APPLICATION FORM
(Attention: All 2015 renewals are now due, per club by-laws)
Membership/Newsletter Subscription for 2015 (please print)
Date__________________
New___
Renewal___ Address Change___
Gold ____
Name___________________________________________________________________________________________
First
Last
Spouse
First
Address__________________________________________________________________________________________
City
State
Zip Code
Telephone ( _____ ) -_______________
email address___________________________________________
Make Check or Money Order payable to ALSI
(Yearly membership fees: $25-USA, $26-Canada, $27-International, $100-Gold)
Mail to: ALSI/REED BLOCK c/o Helen Estok Schoell
P.O. Box 151357 San Diego, CA 92175
Call 619-584-4970 for questions
Volume 22
Issue 6
Page 3
HAPPINESS AT ALSI
HAPPINESS at ALSI
by Marian Sowell
May 3rd, 2015 – it was another
beautiful day while some people gathered slowly forgetting that we were a
week early due to Mother’s day on the
following Sunday. Kjell Holmes wanted to be the Mystery Player but the
stage & sound system had to be set up
instead. Better luck next time, Kjell.
Players around the village were:
Jerry Odling – Crider, Vicki Eriqat –
cafeteria. Bill Barr was the MC and
Bob Warner taped the showcase with
Joe Colombo.

The first player of the day was Erika Baier. Her first selection was
Muss i denn, followed by Du Du
Liegst mir Im Herzen and Wien,
Wien nur du allein. Good playing,
Erika!

Bob Page was our second entertainer. He played Tea for Two,
Around the World & Moonglow.
Beautiful sweet music as always
Bob.

Ron Griffin played Amor, one of
the Ensemble new songs, Also, the
Love Theme from the Godfather
and Sabor a mi & Misty. Ron plays
from memory most of the time.
Good job, Ron!!

Al Jacobs plays everything from
memory. He is so talented. His
songs celebrated Cinco de Mayo &
Mother’s Day as well as love songs.
Some lovely ones: Cielito Lindo, Petite Waltz, Vienna Rose, Matchmaker,
Sunrise Sunset, Mama, I Love a
Gershwin Tune & Italian songs.
Break time: Cookies were donated by Marian Sowell & Jane Ford
supplied coffee.

The ALSI Ensemble set up on
stage during the break. Director,
Vicki Eriqat, led the group. Their
songs were: Henrietta Polka, Sailor,
Clairene Waltz, Mack the Knife,
Liechtensteiner Polka, Green Valley
Waltz, Lilli Marlene, Pennsylvania Polka & Adois Au Revoir. We had a lot
of players and it was a fun time.
Gordon Kohl sat in with the Ensemble, also. We always enjoy his talent.

A Showcase by Joe Colombo followed. Gordon Kohl sat in with
Joe on his last two songs. Beautiful!!
Bob Warner will write up this
Showcase in a separate article.

Bob Page led a workshop following
the Showcase. The workshop was
on improvisation by Frank Marocco. Thank you, Bob!! —
Page 4
ALSI BIRTHDAY HAPPINESS
Happy
Birthday
Gordon!
Volume 22
Issue 6
Page 5
COMING IN JUNE
ALSI 22nd Annual
Summer Picnic
Sunday, June 14, 2015
11:30 am— 4:30 pm
at Lindo Lake Park
In Lakeside.
Bring your own chairs, blankets, beverage preference
and a covered dessert dish (cookie or cake type preferred) to share.
BBQ Beef or Chicken Sandwich Plate,
with Potato Salad, Cole Slaw, and Baked Beans.
Lemonade and ice water will be provided with meal at 1:00 to 2:00 pm.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
There will be money raffles & fun games to play.
We will enjoy a variety of music from our
famous ALSI ensemble directed by Vicki Eriqat, and
there will be an opportunity for everyone to play.
Invite your friends and family to join us for this picnic outing!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________
Reservation and Payment Deadline has passed.
Please call Mary Lou Erwin and RSVP with sandwich preference
Beef or Chicken
At 619-448-9588 as soon as possible.
The cost at the picnic for a meal will be $15 per person.
ALSI 22nd Annual Summer Picnic
Page 6
SHOWCASE REVIEW
JOE COLUMBO SHOWCASE
MAY 3, 2015
by Bob Warner
Joe Columbo arrived this afternoon
wearing his jaunty hat and styled shirt
with colors representing the country of
Italy. That is his trademark. Well known in his
neighborhood in Little
Italy in San Diego, Joe
has played the accordion since he was a
young boy. I have
known him since the
days we were both associated with the
Charles Bertolino Accordion studio in East
San Diego. So, we were
all pleased to have Joe do a program for
us today. He used his favorite Rivoli
acoustic accordion to play a program of
pleasant, easy listening songs. This was
fine, traditional acoustic accordion. His
style is smooth with a heavy bass accompaniment. It was clear that Joe liked
the ballads.
Joe began with a Latin group of
“MARIA ELENA”, “ALWAYS IN MY
HEART”, and “LOVE ME WITH ALL
YOUR HEART”. These melodic ballads
were played slowly and he made good
use of the middle reeds. Joe carried on
with the tango “SPANISH EYES” fol-
lowed by “BESAME MUCHO”. We also
enjoyed the Latin numbers “YOURS”,
“GREEN EYES” and “MOMENT OF A
LIFETIME” played with a snappy, rhythmic,
tango beat.
Leaving the Latin music genre Joe continued with “LA VIEN ROSE”,
“MOUNTAINS OF SWITZERLAND”,
“UNDER PARIS SKIES”
and “BICYCLE OF BELSICE”. That piece had a
very pretty melody line.
“CEST MAGNIFIQUE”
moved along almost at
a polka pace. At a fast
waltz tempo we heard
“MEMORIES OF PARIS” to complete the
French portion of the
program.
Going on to Italy
Joe played the waltz “NEVER FORGET
ME” followed by the ever popular
“WOODPECKER SONG”. We especially
liked “MAMA” which Joe did to honor
Mother’s day.
Joe was joined by Gordon Kohl, our
president to do the well known “PETITE
WALTZ”. They finished with a lively
“TARANTELLA”. To put the icing on the
cake today was Joe’s birthday so we all
sang a very sincere happy birthday.
It was an enjoyable afternoon. Joe’s expansive repertoire brought back a lot of
memories for me. We hope he will find
time to play for us again. —
Volume 22
Issue 6
Page 7
BLUES SCALE — KEY OF C
Page 8
ACCORDION NEWS/EVENTS
RCAC Accordion Camp at Silver Falls
June 7-12 2015. Conductors are Murl Allen
Sanders and Stas Venglevski and workshop
instructors are: Beverley Fess and Mary Tokarski. For more information contact Club
president Wayne Tiusanen @ (503)919-2962.
Leavenworth International Accordion
Celebration June 18-21 2015 held in
Leavenworth Washington. This is sponsored
by the Northwest Accordion Society and features concerts, competitions, jam sessions
and parades. It is held in a quaint and Bavarian style village of Leavenworth. For more
information
see
website
www.accordioncelebration.org/.
Las Vegas International Convention
June 22-25. This event will feature many
artists including our Gordon Kohl (who will
also hold several workshops), Stas Venglevski,
Mary Tokarski, Joey Miskulin and Grayson
Masefield. Joan Cochran Sommers will once
again conduct the annual accordion orchestra.
For more information contact Paul Pasquali at:
[email protected].
ATG Accordion Teachers Guild Festival
July 22-25 in Lisle IL near Chicago. It will feature concerts. Exhibits, workshops, demonstrations, Jam sessions and competitions at all levels.
There will be a Festival Orchestra conducted by
Joan Cochran Sommers. For more information
see website www.accordions.com/atg.
Cotati Accordion Festival August 22-23
held in outdoor setting in Cotati California.
Artists featured are Cory Pesaturo, Ginny Mac,
Flaco Jimenez, Stas Venglevski, Steve Albini, and
the Steve Balich Polka Band. For more information call (707)664-0444. —
Volume 22
Issue 6
Page 9
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
MERLE WILLIAMS
by Sharon Marotte
Merle was born in Devils Lake, ND in
1932. He lived on wheat & dairy farms until
1938, then moved to Jordan, MN – mostly
Germans & Czechs there. He went through
the 1st & 2nd grade in
Jordan.
Saturday
nights they could
hear the Beer Barrel
Polka from any place
in town played in the
dance hall over
Mertz’ tavern. On
Sundays there was a
band shell in the
middle of town with
concerts by a German “oompah band”.
In the spring of 1940 they moved to a 1 acre
farm 10 miles north of Duluth – he spent 4
years there during WWII. His playmates
were the Royseth boys, Ray & Harold –
(found out at the ALSI picnic in 2000 that Ray
was Gloria Ensign’s brother in law). He
moved into town in 1945 & attended Washington Jr High & Duluth Central High School.
He really liked music on the radio - “old
time” music especially Frank Yankovic. He
would follow him all over the iron range from
one Grange Hall to another.
In 1949 he took accordion lessons for 10
months at the Duluth Accordion Center. After going once a week for 10 months, Duluth
started talking about classical music. At this
point, he lost interest fast. He has varied
interests in music, from 6 cultures that he has
lived in or been connected to: Scandinavian,
German, Mexican, Serbo-Croatian & Slovene,
Spanish Flamenco guitar & Philippine Visayn
dance music. Some of his favorite accordion
players are: Myron Floren, Fred Ziwich, Frank
Yankovic & Johnny Pecon, Gordon Kohl & Kjell
Holmes. Kjell has been a mentor & friend
since 1999, since no one plays a Hambo like
Kjell!
Merle enlisted in the Navy in 1951. He
spent 25 years as a US Navy engineman, attaining the rating of Senior Chief Petty Officer,
then 6 years as a Civilian shipyard Marine Machinist. He also worked as a part time long
shoreman & US army civil service power plant
operator in 1955 on a Nike Missile site. Merle
is also a cook. His world famous beef stew began in 1946 as “Bully Slum” in a boy scout
camp up in Thunder Bay area of Canada – this
recipe got modified as he got into Mexican &
Asian cooking.
While in San Pedro in 1960 he met Gertrude “Lei Lani” Dofa. They married in Las
Vegas in 1962 & moved to San Diego. At that
time, she was still speaking “Hawaiian Pidjin”
mixed with English & it was a real adventure
for a couple of years, trying to communicate.
Merle & Lani joined ALSI in 1999. It has
been very interesting to learn about Merle and
his early years. What a guy!!! —
ALSI MEETING CALENDAR
June 14th
Annual Picnic at Lindo Lake Park.
July 12th
Meeting and Showcase with Jerry Odling.
August 9th
Meeting and Showcase with Jennifer Amaya
October 11th
Meeting and Showcase with Tom Eskola
ALSI
Monthly Newsletter
Statement Of
Purpose:



ALSI is San Diego’s
forum for appreciating and performing
accordion music,
including the MIDI
electronic accordion
We welcome members who enjoy listening to or playing
accordion music.
We have an accordion ensemble group,
monthly meetings,
local concerts featuring local and internationally famous performers, an annual
picnic and a monthly
newsletter.
The REED BLOCK
c/o Helen Estok Schoell
P.O. Box 151357
San Diego, CA 92175
JUNE
2015
EDITION
Happy
Fathers
Day!
On June 14th
Join us at the Annual ALSI Picnic as we enjoy
delicious food and great music
with special games
and friendly conversation
In a wonderful outdoor venue.
Gathering
From
11:30 to
4:30 pm.
At Lindo
Lake Park
In
Lakeside.