St. Patrick's Day in Chapman

Chapman, KS is a teeny, tiny rural community, 1 hour southwest of Olsburg. Steve Fansler, our mandolin player, lives there in his family's 150 year old farm house with his family. The town is predominately Irish, and the high school's mascot is The Fighting Irish, so it seems natural that they make a big deal of St.Patrick's Day. We were invited to ride on a float (flatbed trailer) while playing a few Irish tunes. Unfortunately, it was cold, windy and rainy and our tractor driver wimped out. If he hadn't, I would have! The parade went on, but without us. It was a very small parade. When it finished, we played a 2 hour Irish show in the local diner, appropriately named The Shamrock. Since it was such a small venue, we just went with one mic and took turns jockeying for position. It sort of turned into a funny dance between the 4 of us. We had a good time, ate from the Friday Lenten seafood buffet, and got invited back for this summer to do our regular music. Rumor has it, we may be doing the same Irish show, this coming Wednesday, St.Patrick's Day proper, in Manhattan...

It's still cold, rainy and windy here, feels like winter again! Gene is off to Hope Ranch for the day, hope his foot doesn't bother him too much. For those that didn't hear, he came off my horse, about 10 days ago and injured his foot, arm and noggin, and his foot was very swollen and bruised, so shoes or boots don't hold much appeal just yet. And yesterday was his birthday, so he's older.

Have a good weekend everyone, and Happy Birthday Neller Belle! You're older too!

Joan