Hi everyone! It’s Jeff Renfrow, the new Board President.I will miss the wonderful articles from our Past President, Brad Sondahl. He has given a huge amount of time and energy to our organization. Now he can spend his time with family and business in Spirit Lake. We hope to see him at one our jams or at a Showcase this season.

The I.N.B.M.A. sponsored a great concert by the Appalachian Roadshow this spring at the Jacklin Arts Center that was fantastic and well received. This was made possible by the generous support of an anonymous donor. A BIG thank you to all who attended this event!

There is a great Board this year that will be addressing many issues. Returning as Events Director is Dan Gore.Also back as Secretary is Bryan Chaffe and Maggie Ruffcorn Haley as Newsletter Editor.We have three new members that are going to add a fantastic new energy to the Board with some wonderful fresh ideas. [I am the “old man’ of the group and find it challenging with all the new technology!]. We can NOW accept money electronically for our events which has been in the works for some time. The new Board members are Stan Moser as Treasurer, Jean Ballhorn as Vice-President, and Kent Riggs as the Public Relations and Marketing Director.

We will be working on updating the Bylaws, improving the Showcase format, and especially searching for a different location that will be more centrally located. Many have noticed that our attendance has decreased since our move from our last location—especially affecting our Idaho members. We have missed their participation and hope to improve on that soon. Our present facility has been one of the best for us since we can have jams, food, and storage for our equipment all at one location. These benefits were only available at our last location on N. Pines; but, we were forced to move because of their new time restraints [they wanted us to stop playing by 8:00pm].

We are trying to find a facility between Argonne and Sullivan that would provide the benefits of our current location and hope to resolve the issue this season. The season will be starting again on Saturday, October 3rd. Come and enjoy a fun evening with good friends, music, and an early jam. More great news will be coming soon. – Jeff Renfrow