More from Al about the trip to AZ
Jim and I took to the road to meet up in Queen Creek, AZ for the New Christy Minstrels Reunion Concert. I had the opportunity to meet our friends Jim Pipkin, Bob Zucker and family from Acoustic Music Arizona. Meeting Randy Sparks and the founding members of the group was so much fun for us and, as Jim indicated in an earlier Blog, you’ll be hearing from Jim’s interview with Randy as he told us of the history of this musical institution.
I want to thank Jim Pipkin for taking Jim and me on a desert hike. Jim is a fascinating character and he has an incredible depth of knowledge about desert life in his adopted state of Arizona. Jim was a walking encyclopedia of desert plants, wildlife and Arizona history. It was an honor to have his company and guidance on this trip.
The highlight of our trip was on Saturday when we spent the second half our day with the Minstrels old and new. Clarence Treat, Art Podell, Jackie Miller and Gayle Caldwell made us feel like we were a part of the group. The bottom line was that they were having a great time and their enthusiasm was contagious to the audience and us.
An amazing moment for Folk Alley was when Bob and Debbie Zucker presented us with a challenge. They will donate $10,000 to Folk Alley if enough listeners respond to meet our goal of $57,000 by the end of April. The fund drive begins today and you can do your part right now to take on the Zucker Challange with your contribution of any amount to FolkAlley.com. They issued the challenge to you to keep Folk Alley vibrant and growing with the understanding that if everybody does their part we will keep the music alive for all of us. Our hope and the hope of the Bob and Debbie is to have you join in the cause through your pledge.
We were humbled by their generosity and inspired by their passion for folk music and their belief in Folk Alley in fulfilling the mission of making folk music available to the world through the Internet.
We made many new friends in Arizona and I’m sure we’ll return soon.
