Fisher House Jam

2011 Marathon Jam for Fisher House will be at the VFW in Littlefork, MN on February 19th in the early afternoon, until ?... come back here for details later or just show up ready to pick!

Please check back for additional updates as the date gets closer. . .

Hi Friends,

This year the acoustic MARATHON JAM FOR FISHER HOUSE CHARITY fundraiser will be held at the Birchdale, Minnesota community building, as well as all over the country, on February 27th, 2010. Last year the bluegrass jamming in Birchdale did not last quite as long as in some other locations, partly due to the extreme weather conditions, but the shorter jam was an intense and enthusiastic experience with much hooting and hollering, and some great singing and playing. Some musicians and audience members traveled hundreds of miles on the snow-covered roads to be a part of the fundraiser and to join in the fun time. This year the Sloughgrass band members who organize the Jam are hoping that it will be at least as well attended as it was in 2009 and that they can raise 50% more money than they did at the Jam last year.

This year Sloughgrass and the Birchdale jammers will join the fellow Bluegrassers from all around the U.S. and other countries, in the 2010 MARATHON JAM FOR FISHER HOUSE CHARITY starting at 2:00 pm right in downtown Birchdale, MN. Anyone at any musical level is welcome to join the bluegrass jamming on their acoustic stringed instruments. Typically the musicians will gather in a circle and take turns deciding which tune to play. This is a great way for both experienced musicians and not as experienced musicians to get together and share the joyous sounds of music.

There will be food and coffee available.

All donations raised at the Birchdale jam will go to the Fisher House in Minneapolis (http://www.fisherhouse.org) which provides lodging for the family members of our military personnel who have been wounded and are back in the states receiving medical attention at the VA hospital. The Fisher House is to the military what the Ronald McDonald House is to civilian America. A Fisher house can generally host between sixteen and forty-two families and is always within walking distance of the nearby treatment facility. Fisher Houses operated by the Department of Veteran Affairs serve at no cost to family members of military personnel.

For more information about the Birchdale jam for Fisher House check out the Sloughgrass band's home page and click on the Fisher House jam link http://www.sloughgrass.com or call Soren Olesen & Judith Nelson at (218) 634-2800.

For more backgroundinformation/interviews contact Whit Kenney at wkenney@ninesages.com or John Santa at http://www.bluegrassbook.com. Also, new this year is a website dedicated to this grassroots effort http://www.marathonjam.com Attached is a press release from John Santa and last year's article from the International Falls Daily Journal.

For imedeate release 2010.

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MARATHON JAM FOR FISHER HOUSE CHARITY
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Noon to midnight
AMERICAN LEGION POST SIX
1714 LEGION ROAD
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA 27515

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Author John Santa is pleased to announce the annual Marathon Jam for charity to be held on Saturday, February 27, 2010 from noon to midnight.
Each year Santa and his monthly jam group the RDU (Raleigh/Durham) Session Players gather and play music for twelve straight hours to raise money for charity. For the past two years, the Session Players have played for Fisher House (www.fisherhouse.org), an organization that supplies room and board to the families of soldiers recovering in VA hospitals away from their homes. For each of those two years, the Session Players have donated over ten thousand dollars to the Fisher House at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.
Last year Santa, author of Bluegrass Is My Second Language: A Year In The Life Of An Accidental Bluegrass Musician, feared in these troubled economic times he would not be able to raise very much money so he appealed to his readers across the country for help.
Their response was amazing.
In 2009 there were Marathon jams held in six cites across the United states including:

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Birmingham, Alabama
Birchdale, Minnesota
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Tucson, Arizona
Coon Rapids, Minnesota
Richmond, Virginia and

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Baghdad, Iraq.

It was the addition of Baghdad, Iraq that turned Santa from fundraiser to INTERNATIONAL fundraiser.
In 2008, Lt Col. Greg Rawlings, a mandolin player with the RDU Session Players, was deployed to Baghdad, Iraq. When he heard about plans to play for Fisher House again, he set up a Marathon Jam in Camp Victory where over two two thousand dollars was raised.
"It was just over whelming," he said, "People were coming up while we played and putting hundred dollar bills in our banjo cases."
This year The Baghdad Bad Boys (as Rawlings' group became known) have returned home and are now deployed stateside and around the world. There are plans to have some of the Bad Boys (and Girls since there were also women members who came and played at the weekly music jams in Iraq) attend Marathon Jams around the country and even overseas.
Santa is asking ANY bluegrass pickers who might be interested in getting involved, to PLEASE contact him at www.bluegrassbook.com so he can help them set up Marathon Jams in their area. He is also encouraging people who know of service people who are musicians to contact them and urge them to set up Jams where they are stationed because Santa has a dream.
And that dream is to have Marathon Jams happening at the same time and same day in every state of the union this year AND in Baghdad and Afghanistan.
Once again he is turning to his readers and this year also to the community of Bluegrass Players to help him spread the word about Fisher House and help support the families of our brave service men and women around the world.
"This is not about politics for us," Santa said from his recording studio in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, "It's just a way to say thank you. And a way to say a very special thank you to the families, to the sons and daughters, the husbands and wives of all the people serving this great country. Regardless of your political views, EVERYONE wants these solders home and home safely, and if we can't have that right now, well, at least we can make it a little bit better for those who come home hurt and broken. This is a way we can show them how much we care."
Already the response has been inspiring.
In fact, even before this press release was written, Santa was contacted by players who heard about the event last year but were too late to join in.
So this year, all the states from last year are back on board with the addition of:

Florida
Colorado
Wisconsin
Montana
Washington DC and
Maryland

And there is talk of having some of the re-deployed Baghdad Bad Boys start up Jams in Germany and Italy!
"We haven't even started formally publicizing the event and we have already DOUBLED the number of states involved from last year," Santa said shaking his head in disbelief, "And once we get the word out, we really think this thing is going to GROW!"

Anyone interested in participating, or who might know players, associations or societies who might want to help are urged to contact John Santa or manager Whit Kenney as soon as possible.

For more information/interviews contact Whit Kenney at wkenney@ninesages.com. or John Santa at www.bluegrassbook.com
Proceeds from the sale of "Bluegrass Is My Second Language" and the new CD from EIGHTwentythree "The Blessing Of The Strings" will go to support Fisher House.

LAST YEARS ARTICLE ABOUT BIRCHDALE JAM http://www.ifallsdailyjournal.com Birchdale and Baghdad: Jams together? Submitted by Journal Staff on January 22, 2009 - 10:00am.
Read similar stories filed under: Events & Entertainment

National fund raiser to help provide "home away from home" for military families

On the last Saturday of January, places like Baghdad, Chapel Hill, N.C., Birmingham, Ala., Tucson, Ariz. and - Birchdale, Minn. - will be united with one goal.

On Jan. 31, these locations will be the scenes of a united national acoustic jam fund raiser event, held in support of the Fisher House Foundation. Fisher House provides a "home away from home" for the military families of patients who are receiving medical care at major VA medical centers.

Beginning at 2 p.m. in Birchdale, an Acoustic Marathon Bluegrass Music Jam will include anyone who wants to play, or listen. The celebratory gathering (guests are asked to bring their own bottle) will continue as long as participants are willing to play. Chili by the bowl will be offered by Buzz Hultman. Everyone is welcome and those interested in performing should contact Judith Nelson and Soren Oleson at 218-634-2800.

The event was started by author John Santa, five years ago in Chapel Hill, N.C. and his music cohorts in Iraq. The "Baghdad Bad Boys" bluegrass gang will be jamming at Camp Victory in Iraq at the same time as area jammers and listeners gather in Birchdale.

Santa circulates this message about the services of Fisher House Foundation: "This wonderful group provides lodging for the families of our military who have been wounded and are back in the states receiving medical attention. What an amazing group!"

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All free will offerings from the public will be sent to the Minnesota Fisher House. Those who attend are also welcome to bring snacks and desserts.

John Santa is the author of the book "Bluegrass is My Second Language: A Year in the Life of an Accidental Bluegrass Musician." More information about his relationship with the soldier musicians in Iraq for whom he wrote the song "The Baghdad Bad Boys", is available at http://www.blugrassbook.com/.

More information on the Birchdale jam session can be found at http://www.sloughgrass.com/.