South Tampa Ukulele Jam

South Tampa Ukulele Jam starts in 1 month!  Jan Platt Library has opened its doors and arms to embrace the Ukulele!  Starting on July 18th, at 1:30 pm, South Tampa Jam re-ignites its engines and rolls out music every 3rd Saturday!  

Just like before, STJ will always have a theme each month, and per tradition, will have a mic and a P A set up so that invited performers can also perform for the group.  

In the past, we've had some amazing performances from the Tampa Bay Ukulele Society members.  I am looking forward to this new journey within the library system, and hope that all of the members love the new venue too!  

We are rolling out the first jam at Jan Platt with the theme, "Elvis is IN THE HOUSE"!   23 songs, 12 are in the key of C, many are three to four chords and some are challenging.  There will be something for every level of player.  We might even have a power point to put the music up on a screen.  Now that would be cool!  

I will be hosting the jam with my band mates, Vinny Mungo, Rick Alley and Pete Spera.  Our ukulele band is called Reenee and The Rollers.  Reenee comes from my name, NoREEN, (actually spelled Norine, but for the sake of pronunciation, I give you the traditional spelling. Reen, Reenee!  We play originals and rock n roll with Tenor Ukes, Baritone Uke, Bass Uke, and Cajoun!  Well practiced, we are working hard to make your jams seamless and energetic!  

See you all in a month!  The countdown starts now!  Ever yours, 30s Uke Girl, Norine Mungo

Tampa Bay Ukulele Society Library Lending Program rolling out May 26th 2015

That's right boys and girls, the Tampa Bay Ukulele Society has been growing exponentially over the last two years and now tips over the 800 member mark.  People from all over the continental USA as well as those from Europe and beyond are joining up with Florida's West Coast Ukulele group.  Based in the Tampa Bay Area, with events just about every week in many parts of 4 counties, TBUS has made an impact in the community and is ready to Give Back!

The Library Lending program is just another example of the TBUS non profit outreach to those who might not either have the funds to buy and learn the ukulele, or might think that they wouldn't be able to play the instrument.  The program includes workshops at a multitude of libraries spanning the counties of Hillsborough and Pinellas.  Dignitaries and news media plan to attend the first workshops which will be held on May 30th at two libraries in each county.  The workshop for the trainers will be held on May 26th in Clearwater and you can get information from the site on the locations.   The Tampa Bay Ukulele Society link will take you to the meetup.com site where events are posted for the membership.

The society is still taking donations of Ukuleles and funds to buy Ukuleles to place in the libraries with books, tuners, and gig bag.  The workshops will have multiple ukuleles on hand for the attendees and the workshops are free to the public.  The format will be simple and easy for the beginner who might not have ever picked up any instrument in their life. This is amazing folks! So, if you are of a mind to help out, or you have so many ukuleles that you might want to part with some that would help others out, please contact the society and they will welcome your generosity as will the libraries.   Organizers to contact are Jay Nunes, Cosmo Sagristano, and Tom Hood.

 This is such a go give moment and we hope that our example and those of other ukulele groups who have rolled out these programs to the libraries, will catch fire across the country.  If you are reading this from afar, you might want to find out how to roll this out in YOUR neck of the woods.

As always, Happy Strumming and all that, 30s Uke Girl