Steel "Panning" for Gold

Panning for gold! Anyone who lives out West knows the terms. Pioneers used it as one of the ways to strike it rich during the gold rush. It took some patience and perseverance to be sitting in streams and rivers hoping to find that one nugget that made their efforts worthwhile. (I wonder if they had just turned it over and tried to tune it, would they have made a better living or more fun?)

So why bring up the ancient history? Well as we continue to work on the Pan People Music Festival, it seems we too are panning for gold.  Every once in awhile, we strike it rich. We catch a lucky break and things fall into place. Sometimes it actually involves money! Yeah! It is the life of steel pan players. We try our best to share some of our riches with the pan community too.

Here are our gold nuggets for this week.

The Pan Ramajay Summer Steel Drum Festival announced its dates - it is one of the premier summer camps for steel pan players of all ages and abilities. It is headed by Tom Miller and Tom always pulls together an all-star faculty. Many attendees make it an annual event. You should too.

Pan People Music Festival - We launched our fundraising campaign for the festival and our logo. Our goal is $2000. We are welcoming any contributions starting at $5 on up. At the festival, we will be running drawings between band performances. We are already getting donations from such places as Trader Joe's and Core Power Yoga. Who knows? We also may have a steel pan to raffle off. We finalized our caterer for the Pan People dinner. It is Relish Catering and their menu looks scrumptious. Can't wait there.

Pan Magazine - It is one of the few publications on pan out there and it is entirely free. We let our members know about it too.

Be sure to register for the Pan People Music Festival soon if you are attending the film and dinner. Remember if you are a performer, volunteer, or SPC member - register under those categories and save some $$. Also make a contribution to our fundraiser. The monies go directly to the festival and our logo.