President’s Letter
Folknotes 05/22/25
This Sunday is the final Leo Coffeehouse for our regular season. Join us for our season ending potluck featuring food, fun, and acoustic music. Bring a dish to share, and songs to sing, or just come and hang out with your friends and listen to the music.
This summer we will be continuing the music with a song circle and an open mic each month for June, July and August.
You can read more about all of that below.
We Began to Sing Documentary
Leo Coffeehouse, Sunday, May 25, 2025
Looking Ahead: Leo Coffeehouse Summer Schedule
Reference Information (Below my sign off)
We Began to Sing Documentary
From Janice Alvarado:
“OMG! I just watched this documentary and IT IS NOW REQUIRED VIEWING FOR RISE UP SINGERS!
“It tells the story of how the Rise Up Singing and Rise Again books came to be, and clearly illustrates Annie and Peter's dedication to their vision.
By the way, we buy the books directly from Peter and Annie. We sell them for $25 each. If you'd like to pay a little bit more, we have an autographed set.”
From the film makers:
“In this time of profound social upheaval, it behooves us to strengthen our innate capacity to find common ground. Our 23-minute documentary is a testament to the power of singing together—allowing us to find our collective voice and affirm our shared humanity.
“Through the month of May click - WE BEGAN TO SING. The film features Annie Patterson and Peter Blood, the creators of the best-selling group singing ‘bibles’ -Rise Up Singing and Rise Again—and the late Pete Seeger, the irrepressible folksinger-activist.
“Annie and Peter will join us in conversation on Saturday, May 31st at 5:00 p.m. ET. Please join us too, on Zoom, at that time!”
Leo Coffeehouse, Sunday, May 25, 2025
Year End Potluck And Mic-Less Open Mic
5:15-6:45 PM: Potluck
Bring a dish to share. Plates, utensils and cups provided.
6:15 PM: Sign up for Open Mic
6:45-9:00 PM: Open Mic
Time limit will depend on the number of performers
Sound system will not be set up
6:45-9:00 PM: Song Circle upstairs
Looking Ahead:
Leo Coffeehouse Summer Schedule
Leo Coffeehouse will be open at Zion United Church of Christ on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of June, July, and August, from 5:15-9:00 PM.
On the 1st Sundays we will have song circles downstairs and up.
On the 3rd Sundays we will have an open mic, with the sound system set up, if sound volunteers want to practice using the soundboard, or without the sound system, if the sound crew needs a break.
The sign up sheet will go out at 5:30 PM and performers will start playing at 6:00 PM.
Summer Song Circles: June 1st, July 6th, August 3rd
Summer Open Mics: June 15th, July 20th, August 17th
That’s all for this Folknotes, I hope to see you soon.
Neil Harrell
President, Queen City Balladeers/Leo Coffeehouse
Facebook:
QCB/Leo Coffeehouse Membership
We are keeping our standard annual QCB membership dues at $20.00 for a family, or for a single person plus a guest. Last year, knowing that the pandemic cut into our contingency funds, as we continued to pay overhead expenses with no income, some members donated larger amounts to QCB. We very much appreciate the support of all QCB members at all levels.
We are exploring setting up our website to allow the payment of different levels of dues support. For now, if you’d like to pay the standard dues, you can pay them online here or by a check at Leo. (We’ve discontinued our P.O. Box, I will have a mailing address in the next newsletter for those who wish to mail their membership dues.)
If you would like to donate more than the $20.00 standard dues, you can do so by check, or through our website. When you get to the page with the box to relay instructions, just note that you are paying a larger amount for your dues.
For visitors who prefer not to become a member, a donation of $5.00 (cash) per person helps us pay the rent for our non-profit organization. Donations can be slipped in the box at the welcome table outside our performance room, Founders Hall. If you can’t afford that, pay what you can afford or nothing at all. We will welcome you to join us either way.