SoCal Gathering: Part Tres...

[Steve314]

I just got home from Vito's, where I spent the better part of the afternoon. What a great time it was; you all really do wish you were there! Even our own fearless leader, J.R. Rogers, made an appearance!

I have to edit come pictures and then I'll post them. Hopefully I'll have them up by late tonight or tomorrow morning.

A hardy "THANK YOU" to Vito and his lovely wife for having us all over. It was a blast.

And hey, Vito, did you find a pair of brown metal Panama Jack sunglasses?

Steve

[Rejoice Music]

Sorry, Steve, I should have just added my post to this thread. I didn't see it until afterwards.

I enjoyed meeting you and playing with you today! That was just so much fun. Can I contact you sometime about getting a guitar?

All the best to you. :)

[cpmusic]

Hear, hear! We had a great time, even if some of us (i.e., me) had occasional brain freeze about chords and lyrics. I gotta tell ya, I find it really embarassing when I can't remember all the lyrics to "Hey Jude"....

Regardless, it was great seeing folks from the first So Cal gathering again, and meeting new folks too. Everyone has a different approach to the guitar, but somehow it all came together.

A big thank you and round of applause to Vito and Mary for making us feel so welcome.

[Steve314]

Here are some pictures from this afternoon...

Our gracious host, Mr. Vito Francone...

http://bigsteve.stringdancer.net/images/vito.jpg


The Livingroom...

http://bigsteve.stringdancer.net/images/vitos.jpg


Chris (cpmusic) and Russ (Koaguitarman). Russ was having an off day. He only brought seven of his Koa guitars with him!

http://bigsteve.stringdancer.net/images/vitoschrisandruss.jpg


The Dining Room...

http://bigsteve.stringdancer.net/images/vitosguitars.jpg


Our fearless leader, Jared Rogers, playing my beloved 1986 Alvarez-Yairi DY-66...

http://bigsteve.stringdancer.net/images/vitosjaredandyairi.jpg


Marklyn and Ryan (rsimper)...

http://bigsteve.stringdancer.net/images/vitosmarklynandryan.jpg


Rebecca (Rejoice! Music) and JR...

http://bigsteve.stringdancer.net/images/vitosrebeccaandjr.jpg


As you'd imagine, there was a lot of guitar playing going on, and some on (and off) key singing, as well. In between songs, there was plenty of food and drink to partake in. Hell, I even got to play with Lucy the Dog, who's only slightly neurotic.

I think it's safe to say we had a great time, and it was nice to meet some of the other SoCal folks, including Rebecca and Russ. A special "thank you" goes out to Vito's lovely wife Mary, for indulging Vito on this! Vito, take that lady out for a nice dinner and some dancing!

Again, and this will be said more than a few times, big time thanks to Mary and Vito for hosting this get-together. It's no small undertaking...

Steve

[Lisa]

Looks like you guys had a blast! Wish I could have been there. :)

[rsimper]

I want to throw out a big huge thanks to Vito and Mary for the wonderful hospitality and great afternoon/evening!

It was great seeing everyone, talking, and jamming...whether it be music about gettin' high with Willie or Voodoo progeny.

Hopefully we can all get together again sometime soon...and maybe we can convince Jared to make another appearance...besides, he likes visiting the San Diego area anyway so it shouldnt take much persuasian :)

My fingers are absolutely killing me!

[anzan]

My hearty thanks to Vito and Mary for their generous hospitality. We had a great time in a great place with great people. Doesn't get much better than that. It is always great to see you guys again and meet new TGF'ers. My wife fell in love with Marklyn and did I miss meeting J.R. or was I, er, having too much fun?

Koaguitarman, you are my new Hero!

Jordy

[marklyn]

Add my thanks to Vito here also!

So cool playing and talking and just hanging out with everyone. I had a totally inspiring and entertaining time.

Thanks also to Russ for letting me play so many tasty Koa treats.

Great time with everyone! Thank you all!

[VFran]

Thanks to everyone for making it a special afternoon. It was a pleasure for Mary and me to host. I know many of you came from far distances to attend and kudos to our fearless leader Jared who fought 2 hours of LA traffic to make it down to OC.

When playing with so many different styles of music, I usually get inspired to learn something new and Saturday was no different. It was great seeing all of you and I look forward to the next get together!

Originally posted by Steve314
And hey, Vito, did you find a pair of brown metal Panama Jack sunglasses?

Steve

Yes Steve, we found them on top of the kitchen cabinets and I had to use a chair to get them down :roll: I can pack them carefully and send them to you unless you're going to be in the area.

[Steve314]

Originally posted by VFran
Yes Steve, we found them on top of the kitchen cabinets and I had to use a chair to get them down :roll: I can pack them carefully and send them to you unless you're going to be in the area.

You know, I put them up there so they wouldn't get lost amidst everything else. "Easy to overlook" I told myself. Well, there ya' go.

I'll be in touch, man... thanks...!

Steve

[koaguitarman]

Vito and Mary what can I say, you are two of the most gracious people I have met. Thank you for the wonderful time on Saturday. Maybe it's because I had never been to a "get together" with the TGF before, but everyone attending were some of the greatest people I have met in some time and I was overwhelmed. It was great to meet the TGF'ers and play guitars. Here are some photos, as the day progressed they tended to get a little blurred (or was it me getting blurred?)

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=2351347&uid=1071418&members=1

It makes me proud to be a member of the TGF and to be associated with such a fine crowd. Let's do this again, soon.
Russ

[koaguitarman]

Originally posted by anzan
My hearty thanks to Vito and Mary for their generous hospitality. We had a great time in a great place with great people. Doesn't get much better than that. It is always great to see you guys again and meet new TGF'ers. My wife fell in love with Marklyn and did I miss meeting J.R. or was I, er, having too much fun?
Koaguitarman, you are my new Hero!
Jordy
Hey Jordy
Yes you missed JR.
I enjoyed meeting you and your wife on Saturday. You two have been married for I think it was 26 years. You are a matched pair, both extremely nice people with same love and interest in music. Contact me by email so I can keep contacted to you both.
vaddicks@aol.com
Let's do some pickin', just let me know when & where?
Your new friend
Russ

[anzan]

Originally posted by koaguitarman

Let's do some pickin', just let me know when & where?
Your new friend
Russ
You bet! I'm looking forward to it anytime. If you come to the Ranch we'll do some Baja Buggin' and I'll show you some of this Anza paradise! By the way, you have mail.

[koaguitarman]

Originally posted by marklyn
Add my thanks to Vito here also!
So cool playing and talking and just hanging out with everyone. I had a totally inspiring and entertaining time.
Thanks also to Russ for letting me play so many tasty Koa treats.
Great time with everyone! Thank you all!

Marklyn
Same here had a great time pickin', and a talkin', and a hangin' with everyone. It was great to meet you in person. You are welcome for the loan of my Koa's. You can play the H*&% out of them anytime. Contact me by email so I can keep in touch with you.
vaddicks@aol.com
Let's do some pickin', just let me know when & where?
Your new friend
Russ

[Cisco]

Hi guys
hey I had fun..even though I had to leave early. Something came up and I thought I could make it back. I missed JR and killer58 and marklyn....I'll see ya next time.

Ron

[J.R. Rogers]

Huge thanks to Vito and Mary - two of the nicest people I've ever met! This get-together was so much fun... Can't wait to do it again. It was great to see my TaylorStock friends again and to meet so many new ones. Even though I got there really late, it was a treat to get to hear the jam session in progress. I've never seen so many gorgeous Koa guitars in one place (thanks Koaman!), and I even played a few great non-Taylor guitars like Cpmusic's all-mahogany Martin, and Steve's "classic" Alvarez. I also got to hear Rebecca sing, which was awesome... I can't believe the level of talent we have in this group. Spent half the time talking to disco daddy himself, rsimper. :D All in all a great time! Once again, thanks to Vito for putting this on... and for letting me check out his fine electric collection too. :) I had a great time!!! It was worth the 2hrs in LA traffic.

Cisco, Anzan, and anyone else... sorry I missed you!

JR

[bradley dr20]

How close are y'all to Biola University? I think it's in La Mirada (sp?)

My sister goes there and I need to get out to visit her sometime. If y'all are close, I could schedule it during a TGF get-together...

Of course, I'd have to bum a guitar from you guys, but that wouldn't seem to be a problem... :) You'd miss the joys of strumming my SurfCity, though. :lol::lol:

[Imapickn]

Sounds (and looks) like you all had a great time. Wish I was there. It is so great to be able to put faces on the names I have come to know. You all made me smile this morning... Thanks.

[Jim Burns]

Wish I had known about it- Sounds like it was a great time.