Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving trivia:
The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt restored the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day in the year 1939. FDR did so to make the Christmas shopping season longer and thus help to stimulate the economy.
The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade tradition began in the 1920's.
Californians are the largest consumers of turkey in the United States.
There were an estimated 272 million turkeys raised in the United States last year.
Top turkey producing states:
Minnesota: 46 million / North Carolina: 39 million / Arkansas: 31 million / Virginia: 21.5 million / Missouri: 21 million / and California: 16.8 million. These six states together will account for about two-thirds of U.S. turkeys produced.

Cranberries:
The U.S. will produce ~ 690 million pounds of cranberries. Wisconsin is expected to lead all states in the production of cranberries, with 390 million pounds, followed by Massachusetts (180 million).
New Jersey, Oregon and Washington are also expected to have substantial production,
ranging from 18 million to 52 million pounds.

Pumpkins:
There are approximately 1 billion pounds of pumpkins grown in the U.S. The value of all the pumpkins produced by major pumpkin-producing states was approximately $101 million.
Cherries:
If you prefer cherry pie, you will be pleased to learn that our
nation’s forecasted tart cherry production totals 294 million pounds.
Of this total, the overwhelming majority (230 million) will be produced in Michigan.

Name that instrument
(Answer to last week’s quiz) It is one of the most recent additions
to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th
century, when it largely replaced the ‘ophicleide.’ The answer is the instrument which was the single most important influence in the history of instrumental music. It is the perfect blend of power and grace. The answer is the Tuba.


Thanksgiving History
The first official Thanksgiving Proclamation made by the American colonies, which rebelled against the Crown of England was issued by the Continental Congress in 1777. Six national Proclamations of Thanksgiving were issued in the first thirty years after the founding of the United States of America as an independent federation of States. President George Washington issued two, President John Adams issued two, President Thomas Jefferson made none and President James Madison issued two. In 1789 Washington designated a national thanksgiving holiday for the newly ratified Constitution, specifically so that that the people may thank God for “affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness” and for having “been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed...” After 1815 there were no more Thanksgiving Proclamations until the Presidency of Lincoln, who declared Thanksgiving a Federal holiday as a “prayerful day of Thanksgiving” on the last Thursday in November.

Bud: (716) 934-7734, email: tubamanbud@gmail.com
For choir / chorus or church music updates:
www.frombudsworld.blogspot.com

Key to success

"The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided."

~ Casey Stengel

Quotes to remember

"If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead."
~ Johnny Carson

"The first half of our lives is ruined by our parents, and the second half by our children."
~ Clarence Darrow

"Speak the truth, but leave immediately after."
~ Slovenian Proverb

"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow man, and I hate people like that!"
~ Tom Lehrer

"Always hold your head up, but be careful to keep your nose at a friendly level."
~ Max L. Forman

"Why do we play in recitals and recite in plays?"
~ Anonymous confused artist

"He can compress the most words into the smallest ideas of any person I know."
~ My father (describing me!)

Tuba Choir concert (11/23/08)

The Big Bore Brass Tuba Choir will be playing on Sunday, November 23 @ 3:00 pm at The First United Methodist Church (101 East Main - Route 20) in Westfield, NY.
Members include some of the finest tuba & euphonium players in Western New York state. The group will play everything from Christmas music to John Phillip Sousa marches. The concert is free and open to the public.
For further information, contact Bud @ 716.934.7734 or tubamanbud@gmail.com or the church office: 716.326.3243

Turkey Day forecast

Turkeys will thaw in the morning, then warm in the oven to an afternoon high near 190F. The kitchen will turn hot and humid, and if you bother the cook, be ready for a severe squall or cold shoulder.

During the late afternoon and evening, the cold front of a knife will slice through the turkey, causing an accumulation of one to two inches on plates. Mashed potatoes will drift across one side while cranberry sauce creates slippery spots on the other.

A weight watch and indigestion warning have been issued for the entire area, with increased stuffiness around the beltway. During the evening, the turkey will diminish and taper off to leftovers, dropping to a low of 34F in the refrigerator.

Looking ahead to Friday and Saturday, high pressure to eat sandwiches will be established. Flurries of leftovers can be expected both days with a 50 percent chance of scattered soup late in the day. We expect a warming trend where soup develops. By early next week, eating pressure will be low as the only wish left will be the bone.

Are you the best?

"Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever."
~Napoleon Bonaparte

"Anybody can win unless there happens to be a second entry."
~George Ade

Tuba Christmas

Low Notes & High Spirits

Christmas carols and bells mark the arrival of Christmas, but at yearly musical gathering across the US, a different sound rings in the holiday season. Dedicated groups of brass instrumentalists gather together to celebrate the beautiful, if unwieldy, instruments they play and to present familiar songs in a different, deeper setting.

Tuba Christmas brings out tuba, euphonium, and baritone players for lively concerts of holiday music and puts those big instruments in the spotlight. The celebration was founded by famed tubist and educator Harvey Phillips, as a tribute to his teacher, the late William J. Bell and the first was held at New York's Rockefeller Plaza in 1974. Players performed four-part arrangements of Christmas carols and hymns arranged for two tenor and two bass instruments -- the higher parts filled by baritones and euphoniums, and the lower ones by tubas and sousaphones.

The sound of Tuba Christmas is massive and melodious, with ringing high notes and deep bass. Many players deck their instruments with lights and ornaments and wear decorative hats and scarves.

written by Dave Allen - Nov/Dec 2008 issue of 'Making Music' magazine

Our Big Bore Brass Tuba Choir will be playing at The First United Methodist Church (101 East Main - Route 20) in Westfield, NY on Sunday, 11/23/08 @ 3:00 pm.
It is an impressively powerful group.

The New Horizons Band of Western New York will present their Fall Concert tonight (11/19/08) at 6:30 p.m. at the Fredonia High School Auditorium (425 East Main).
Get there early in order to get a prime seat enabling you to see me play the tuba.

The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.

~ Albert Einstein

If you like pun jokes...

A pastor who was badly overworked went to the local medical center and was able to have a clone made. The clone was like the pastor in every respect--except that the clone used extraordinarily foul language. The cloned pastor was exceptionally gifted in many other areas of pastoral work, but finally the complaints about the dirty language were too much.
The pastor was not too sure how to get rid of the clone so that it wouldn't look like murder. The best thing, he decided, was to make the clone's death look like an accident. So the pastor lured the clone onto a bridge in the middle of the night and pushed the clone off the bridge.

Unfortunately there was a police officer who happened by at that very moment and arrested the pastor for...

"making an obscene clone fall."

Thanksgiving exercise

EXERCISE FOR OLDER ADULTS IN PREPARATION FOR THANKSGIVING
Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side.

With a 5-lb. potato sack in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax.

Each day, you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer.

After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb. potato sacks.

Then try 50-lb. potato sacks and then eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb. potato sack in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute.

After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each of the sacks.


Today's funny:
"Forbidden fruit creates many jams."

Thanks to Mikey's funnies

I resign...

"I sent the club a wire stating, PLEASE ACCEPT MY RESIGNATION. I DON'T WANT TO BELONG TO ANY CLUB THAT WILL ACCEPT ME AS A MEMBER."

~ Groucho Marx

Stringed music machine (Animusic)

If you want to watch a great animated stringed music machine...
www.youtube.con/watch?v=JLBICSLL_uA

Bud's World

Director of Purchasing: Lois Bidder Instrument repairman: Anita Hammer Attorney: Gil T. Azell

The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture. “Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, ‘There’s Jennifer; she’s a lawyer,’ or ‘That’s Michael, he’s a doctor.’” A small voice at the back of the room rang out, “And there’s the teacher; ...she’s dead.”

I was wondering:
Is a chicken crossing the road considered “poultry in motion?”
If you keep trying to prove “Murphy's Law,” will something go wrong?
If you're an atheist and swear on the Bible, have you committed perjury?
When an elevator is overloaded with passengers, who is criminally responsible?

I’ll Bet You Didn’t Know and Didn’t Care…The dot over the letter “i” is called a ‘tittle’
A rat can last longer without water than a camel. (Have you ever seen a lawyer drink a glass of water?)

From the Sheridan Community Chorus Choir Loft
Our next meeting will be Tuesday, 12/2/08 @ 6:00 pm at The Saint John Bosco Auditorium. We are planning to go Christmas caroling in December to nursing homes, hospitals and to those who are “home-bound.” If you know anyone who is “home-bound,” please let us know. Why not go caroling with us? It’s a blast!

Quotes to remember:
“When an opera star sings her head off, she usually improves her appearance.”
~ Victor Borge

Name that instrument
(Answer to last week’s quiz): The earliest forms of this instrument were signaling instruments used for military and religious purposes, rather than for music in the modern sense. The answer is the trumpet.

This week: It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the ophicleide. (Answer next week).

What do you say to a guitar player wearing a 3-piece suit?

“Will the defendant please rise.”

How can you tell which kid on the playground is the trombone player's kid?

He doesn’t know how to work the slide and he can’t swing!

Why are a violinist’s fingers like lightning?

They rarely strike the same spot twice.

New Horizons Band concert:Wednesday, 11/19 @ 6:30 pm at the Fredonia High School

History of our neighborhood – SUNY Fredonia
The Fredonia Academy was built for about $75.00 and donated materials.
It was located on lot #159 site of the current Fredonia Village Hall and Fredonia Opera House. Fredonia Academy (1826-1867) was originally opened in 1826 as Fredonia Academy under its first principal Austin Smith, the Academy enrolled eight students. The first classes began on October 4, 1826. Within one year the Academy had 136 students, 81 boys and 55 girls. The Academy reached peak enrollment in 1856 with 217 students. Nevertheless, the school was plagued by financial shortages, and was forced to close its doors in 1867.



Bud: (716) 934-7734, email: tubamanbud@gmail.com
For Community Chorus New Horizon Band updates:
www.frombudsworld.blogspot.com

Band concert

The New Horizons Band of Western New York will present a Fall Concert at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 19 at Fredonia High School Auditorium in Fredonia, N.Y. The concert is free, but the band would appreciate donations of non-perishable food that will be donated to the Food Pantry of the Chautauqua County Rural Ministry.
The NHB Saxophone Quartet will open the concert with the National Anthem. Other ensembles will be a brass quintet (I'm the best tubist in this group), woodwind ensemble, brass chamber ensembles, and s German "oom-pah" band (I am the "oom") will also perform.

Unfair competition

"Organized crime in America takes in over forty billion dollars a year and spends very little on office supplies."

~ Woody Allen

Thought for the day...

"For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism."



"Trouble is inevitable, misery is optional."

Big Bore Brass Tuba Choir

The Big Bore Brass Tuba Choir will be performing on Sunday, November 23 @ 3:00 pm at The First United Methodist Church (101 E. Main - Rt. 20 in Westfield).
This powerful ensemble will include ~ 14 euphonium and tuba players and will be playing everything from Christmas music to Sousa marches.
Don't miss this thoroughly entertaining group performing as part of the Westfield Holly Tour.
For further information call Bud @ 716.934.7734 or tubamanbud@gmail.com
Church phone number: 716.326.3243

Veteran's Day Tribute

When America had an urgent need,
These brave ones raised a hand;
No hesitation held them back;
They were proud to take a stand.

They left their friends and family;
They gave up normal life;
To serve their country and their God,
They plowed into the strife...

by Joanna Fuchs

Beauty...

"What is beautiful is not always good, but what is good is always beautiful."

~ Unknown