Dover Uke Heads ~ DUH!

January Vacation in Cuba With Ukuleles

Cat — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 23:39:45 +0000

Just a few of the really decent gentlemen we travelled with.

Late January 2012, Peter Shebib and Bill Dowding visited the Cienfuegos area of Cuba for a week break away from the Canadian winter. In addition to Bill’s son Troy, “a professional trumpeter”, and his friend Richard, “a professional drummer”, we joined up with a great group of childhood buddies from Hamilton, some coming from other parts of Canada for their yearly get together in Cuba.

Troy and Richard.

They have met there a number of times before and we were glad to be asked along. They knew everything and everyone in the area, therefore made it easy for us to enjoy ourselves. In addition to the regular resort stuff, we had an original lobster meal at a Cuban home, took a 60ft. catamaran to a remote Cuban island with corrals and Iguanas and giant rats. All very friendly. Also a great meal under the palm trees.

These guys could really sing, the Beach Boys for example, and we played all the way out to that island, for over 2 hours. We also visited the historic city of Cienfuegos. One evening, Troy and Richard went in town to an outdoor dance where there were one thousand people all dancing to a fifty-piece rumba band.

Havin' a good time!

The part of our trip we enjoyed the most was the music. We brought two ukuleles with us and took them everywhere, so played our way through our whole holiday. It certainly added to the fun and enjoyment because everyone joined in singing.

Bill, on the catamaran.

One of the local Cuban band members trying out Pete's uke.

There was a great Cuban band at the resort and a few evenings after their set they joined us to play ukes. This was the first time they saw a ukulele and seemed fascinated. They spent a lot of time siphoning my brain for strums. I showed them the ukulele flip and they loved it. After I showed them of course, they could play them better than I could ever have dreamed of. It was interesting how well their Cuban rhythms lent themselves to the ukulele. They also played them in their sets. We also brought along two electronic tuners, which were something they never saw before.

The band "OBBARA" used our ukes in their sets at night, then come strait over to our table afterwards for learning and siphoning our brains for instruction.

It was a privilege for us to be asked hang around such a nice group of decent gentlemen and also a few others who joined us for the week. Of course we left them our ukes and tuners and books, but hopefully we’ll be back next year to hear the band play them.

As always, Our Fearless Leader!

Uke-Toon Says It All

Cat — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 01:09:06 +0000

Uke Head Stew emailed this and said it was a very nice uke-toon!

Outing to Parkview Was Entertaining For All

Cat — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:11:37 +0000

Our Tuesday night outing to Parkview Centre in Townsend turned out to be very entertaining not only for the residents there, but for us as well!!

We had a great turn-out for our group: about 18 members. Uke Head Gord arrived late as he got lost in the maze of driveways in the sprawling complex. We brought some shakers, bongos, and spoons, and I brought a big sign from November’s parade float. It’s a good thing Lynn brought a tambourine because the lady who got it kept time for us the whole time.

We played in the centre’s huge dining hall, and the place was packed with residents and staff (over 50!). They sang along with most of our songs, and clapped and made noise. We were having a lot of fun and acting up, which is important because it gave our audience permission to relax and have fun, too. We didn’t want them to just watch us play some songs for them, we wanted them to participate, too, and I think we achieved that pretty well. We had a little visit with Fraser McClung, formerly of McClung Nurseries fame, and afterwards we enjoyed a quick coffee-tea break in their snack room. Emily, the centre’s activity co-ordinator, invited us to come back for a repeat performance which I hope all Uke Heads can be excited about!

I’d like to announce that we have some hidden talents in our group. During our last song, our gospel version of I Saw the Light, Uke Head Stewart stood up and gave a moving harmonica solo for a verse. All I can say is “Wow”, and

SEE YOU TUESDAY NIGHT AT THE ROBOT!

“LOVE” is the theme for February 14th

Cat — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:56:52 +0000

Next week we are having our first theme night of the year. In honour of Valentine’s Day, the theme night will be “love songs”.

“Uke-N be my Valentine. I want you near me all the time!”

HAPPY STRUMMING!

Visiting Parkview Centre, Townsend on Feb 7th

Cat — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:40:40 +0000

All hail, the call has gone out for us to visit with the residents of Parkview Centre in Townsend on February 7, 2012. This was arranged by “Uke Head Doug”, and our contact there has offered to provide coffee, tea and snacks for our group. We are playing from 7:15 to 9 p.m., so plan on arriving anytime after 6:45 ~ front doors facing the Parkway. We are playing in the dining hall.

What to bring: music stand, music and….ukulele!

What to play:

#1. PORT DOVER’S UKULELE BAND

#2. Jamaica Farewell: http://doctoruke.com/jamaicafarewell.pdf

#3. Hukilau in Key of F: http://ukulele.lanaicityrental.com:8081/USA%20songs/Hukilau_Song_Key_of_F.pdf

#4. Singin’ in the Rain

#5. Under the Boardwalk: http://doctoruke.com/undertheboardwalk.pdf

#6. Yellow Bird

#7. Deep In the Heart of Texas, from the 2-Chord Song Book

#8. How Much is That Doggie/Window, from the 2-Chord Song Book

#9. You Are My Sunshine: http://www.scorpex.net/Uke/songs/You_Are_My_Sunshine.pdf

#10. Five Foot Two: http://doctoruke.com/fivefoottwocomb.pdf;

#11. Help Me Rhonda

#12. Teenager in Love Dion and the Belmonts 4 – Copy

#13. Tiny Bubbles by Don Ho

#14. I Saw the Light in C – sorry, the link I had provided earlier was in G!

Some of these songs are uploaded to this site in MS Word 2010. If you are having problems printing them out, try clicking on the “Home” or “File” tab, then select “Print” from the list of options, OR you can try putting your cursor in the center of the document and right-clicking on it. A list of options should appear and you should be able to select “Print” from there. I say should because I don’t know what operating systems you are all using. I always bring 4 or 5 printed out copies for people who have encountered problems getting the document to download and/or print.

Welcome Back, Uke Heads

Cat — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 03:13:08 +0000

The first night back for ukulele enthusiasts will be Tuesday, January 10th, at Robot Cafe on Main Street, Port Dover.

Here are some links to the online newspaper sites where Dover Uke Heads got a nod – even though we are mentioned as “Port Dover’s ukulele band.”

http://www.simcoereformer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3377196

http://www.inportdover.com/online_news/paperdata/2011/04-20/17.pdf

And here is the link to our Utube video of “Christmas Don’t Be Late – the Chipmunk Song”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXI8VJ20DHY

Happy Strumming!

December, the Busiest Month

Cat — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 02:36:37 +0000

It’s a good thing Dover Uke Heads started practicing Christmas songs back in November because we had a few opportunities to play them in December. Starting with our very own Christmas Luau on the 6th, our month got off to a great start. Barbara Hutton generously offered the group the use of the party room in the basement of her apartment building in Port Dover. We had a nice dinner of potluck faire, and afterwards we…..played our ukes!!!! How lucky: two Luau’s in one year! I hope next year is as fortuneate (yummy). I speak for Peter and Dennis, too, when I say how grateful we are for the thoughtful gifts from our group – thank you everyone!

But this was not our only outing: on December the 10th we played Christmas and holiday songs outside of the LCBO in Port Dover with Lynn Post who was taking her turn at the Salvation Army donation kettle. I hear she was joined by Peter, Jenny Gedye and Michelle Crandall. Way to represent everyone and keep the spirit of Christmas alive, too!

On the 13th we were “booked” to entertain the residents at Dover Cliffs Nursing Home, so Peter brought his big bag of red Santa hats, passed them out and then we played a nice little variety of Christmas and holiday songs. This was Doug’s idea and I think we can look forward to making the rounds on the “Nursing Home Circuit” this winter! Now that we have mastered the next level of ukulele playing: the “kazoo solo”!

I’m looking forward to another great year of playing ukulele and working on learning new tricks and techniques, meeting up with my ukie buddies and meeting some newcomers in the following months of 2012. Until then, take care and happy strumming!!

Cat Krestel Porritt

November: Dover Uke Heads at Port Dover Santa Claus Parade

Cat — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 02:13:26 +0000

It was a blustery day, clear, very sunny, and c-c-c-c-cold! A really good representation of our group showed up for the float we put in the Port Dover Santa Clause Parade on November 19th.

Dan Pearson arrived early with me and my “next husband” Jeff, just in time to staple all the purple hula skirts to the outside of the benches. Peter tacked a cardboard hula girl on to the lighthouse at the front and we were good to go!! The music of choice was, of course, Mele Kalikimaka!!!!

OCTOBER!!!!

Cat — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 01:45:43 +0000

OKAY! I am a little biased here, but October was theee best month of 2011 for our group. A fraction of us went out to Liverpool, Nova Scotia to attend the 4th International Ukulele Ceilidh (pronouned, kay-lee). Peter Shebib travelled with his daughter Lisa and her hubby and 2 kids, and I went with Lydia Harrison and Lynn Post, all on the same West Jet flight to Halifax on October 20th. We stayed at the White Point Beach Resort in one of the cabins, walked on the beach every day and attended ukulele workshops. My goal was to learn some new techniques and then try to teach them to our group when we got back, but the most valuable thing I learned was what they called “Ukulele Attitude” and the “Big Finish”. Big Finish is where you hold your uke up on the last note of the song, step forward and twist it in your hands. The Ukulele Attitude was the open mouthed smile that goes with it - I kid you not!!

In all honesty it was impossible to take a bad picture during our stay at White Point Beach. The weather was also uber-co-operative, being an unseasonable 18 to 20 C. I could go on and on about our picturesque time there (really, I took over 500 pictures in 3 days) but I would have to devote an entire web-site to it to be fair!

We also made a few new friends. Both Friday and Saturday night featured a concert by all of the workshop instructors who are also recording artists. Below is Hank Mumps of the Halifax Ukulele Gang (HUG), and a “photo op” with Lil’ Rev held right after he concluded a workshop.

This is Lisa, Lydia, Lil’ Rev, Lynn, Cat, and Our Fearless Leader, Peter, in front.

August and September

Cat — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 01:18:22 +0000

The first order of business for me in August was to collect, collect, collect, by any means possible!! (LOL) the money for our t-shirt order. Once again, we voted for a colour and the winner was…..Yellow! As soon as I was able to get the order together I took it in to Second Ave printing in Simcoe and waited 3 agonizing weeks!! I have to say, it was a very positive experience for me in more ways than one, because through this experience I managed to learn the names of every single person in our group!!

The design was put together by one of our members, John Beswick, and I printed out a funky lettering style. The rest was left up to the design team at Second Ave and the results were awesome!

Before we knew it, the warm summer nights were getting chilly again and we had to move back into our cozy “home”, the Robot Cafe, which is really Fred Eaglesmith’s music store and studio, Hobo Music & Vintage Guitars. Below are Lydia Harrison, Doug Soulliere, modelling their yellow uke spirit!!