Cabin Fever String Band

www.rthum.com 

www.cabinfeverstringband.com

I'm here to tell you about an evening of sheer delight!

Bill, Will, and I met the Bisigs at Nick and Elena's.

If you've read the other post about Nick and Elena's, you will guess we had salad and pizza.  But that is not all.  Since one of our readers, Lisa, recommended Nick's toasted ravioli as "the best", we felt obliged to test her theory.  And you know what? Lisa was right! These were some seriously good ravioli.

However, tonight was about more than food. The Cabin Fever String Band was playing.  Rick Thum is leader of the band with his hand crafted and self-created dulcimer.  You may have seen his neater than nifty truck as you drive around town. (Man of many talents, Rick also refurbished this 1935 Ford Truck.)

Entrepreneur of excellence Rick used to manage a major music store in town.  Now he produces his uniquely designed hammered dulcimer, teaches, travels all over the country  and saves time to play for us here in St. Louis.  

We ordered our pizza and ravs while eagerly anticipating the music to come.

Bass fiddle,

banjo, guitar, harmonica, and 

hammered dulcimer came together to create some truly beautiful music.

Will had made a mountain dulcimer last year and has been thinking of sharpening his skills by making a more difficult instrument, the hammered dulcimer.  Mr. Thum with his convivial nature talked with Will at length and was more than gracious in his encouragement of Will's endeavor.  Not only are these guys outstanding musicians, they are really nice, too.

There are so many pros and cons with each new technology.
Who can deny the pleasure of recorded music at home?

....the fun of going to Webster Records, Record Exchange, or Euclid Records to buy a record or CD that brings joy to your heart?
....or the satisfaction of choosing from your own collection of musical favorites to enjoy while studying, cleaning or just relaxing?

Yet, before CD's, tapes, and records there was another way.  To hear music folks would come together with others either at home, the town square or a local gathering place. Those in the village who were good at beating a drum, blowing a horn, or playing a fiddle would provide the evening's entertainment.  It was good for everyone.  The gift of music was honored and appreciated, giving musicians a reason to develop their talent for the good of the community.

In St. Louis we have so many opportunities for live concerts, whether at Powell Hall with our world class orchestra or at a pavilion in the park with a small band. All of these offer us a chance to experience what that life might have been like, at the same time supporting our local musicians.

 Thursday, September 15th, the Cabin Fever String Band will be back at Nick and Elena's Italian Restaurant. So turn off the TV and come on down...it is the perfect non-smoking, family-friendly space 

for a night of great food and entertainment by local talent.

Read It and Weep

drumheadquarters.com

Drum Headquarters has been a Maplewood mainstay for 30 years.  Offering a great staff of percussionist professionals who gave private lessons and 4,000 square feet filled with every imaginable type of drum or drum accessory....timpanis, snares, tomtoms, bongos and bass.
A musician's dream world.
Micha became quite a good drummer from the excellent instruction he received there. I loved the place with it's dazzling drum sets and shiny cymbals.

Just walking through Drum Headquarters made me feel it would be worth the effort to learn to beat out a rhythm on the drums.

I talked with the owner, Jim Uding, a few times. He was extremely knowledgeable, always friendly and helpful with whatever I needed. With so many years of experience he was truly a veteran of business and an expert in all things drum related. There were always people in the store and the lesson slots were all filled.  I assumed it was his excellent management and a solid following of loyal music people who made this place so successful. I never considered that Drum Headquarters could be an endangered business.

However, I learned differently while driving home a few days ago.  Trucks backed up to the door were being loaded with all those beautiful drums.  A "For Lease" sign was posted by the sidewalk.

WHAT???!!!  Surely not!  It could not be closing!

But it was.  Why? Must be some family tragedy, serious illness, something other than lack of business.

Their website (click here) with accompanying news story makes it all clear.  Too many of those 'customers' I had seen were using Drum Headquarters as a place of research not commerce. For them it was a showroom where they decided what to buy online. Couple that with the slow economy, it simply was not possible to keep the doors open.

The building that was bustling with people shopping and learning and visiting together while weaving their way amid a maze of drumsticks, books and tamborines, now looks like this:

So what do we do?

Take a while to weep, feel the sadness of a man who worked for 30 years to build and maintain a fine local business and who now must walk away.  Realize the loss to our community both socially and economically.

Then resolve not to so easily shop with a click.  Go out today, before it is too late and buy something from a local vendor and take a minute to thank him.

J. Noto Bakery and Chocolatier

jnoto.com

It has been a busy week with Isabel, so not a lot of time to write. However, I have been eager to tell you about a great discovery.

One afternoon Bill and I were walking along Main Street in lovely Old St. Charles

when we glanced up to see this sign.

Perfect!

Isabel's nursing staff at her new St. Charles residence had been particularly helpful and I'd been trying to think of a way to thank them.

As soon as we walked in the door, I knew we could find the perfect gift among all this yumminess.

What to choose?

Cake?

Pie?

Fresh Italian cookies?

Hand dipped chocolates?

Everything made right here on site.

I liked Noto's right away:  Italian Opera playing quietly in the background,

family pictures on the wall

in an old building in an historic part of town.

With scenes of Italy all around Bill and I talked about Isabel's progress over a cup of tea and some dainty cookies.

 We even talked with J. Noto himself.

What a great story:  When Mr. Noto was 20 years old he decided to open a bakery.  His sister, Janice, decorated cakes, why not buy a bakery?

 (I love that sort of energetic optimism.)

So they bought a little place called Spanish Lake Donuts on Bellefontaine Rd. in North County. 

"But you were 20 years old....how did you know what to do?!", I queried. Some great St. Louis bakers like Mr. Bommarito and Werner Knoll came along side this young man and taught him all he needed to know.  They came to his kitchen and shared their many secrets of great Italian and German baking.

A few years and a lot of learning later the Notos moved to Florissant as a full service bakery with all manner of breads as well as donuts, cakes and cookies.

Everything was great until the late 70's when supermarkets opened bakeries within their stores.

The convenience was irresistible for many of us and these small bakeries were forced to close their doors one by one. For the Notos life was in one of those sad times, Janice had been very sick with Lupus and had died a few years earlier. Without a loyal customer base in their neighborhood, it was time to put this dream to rest for a while.

But the good news for us is Jasper Noto tried again. He opened a specialty bakery in 1997 on Main Street in St. Charles.

Now he works with his Mother and lovely daughters. The chocolates are created by Courtney and Kendele has continued her aunt's tradition by decorating amazing cakes.

His mother, Florence, is there to help out wherever needed.

The Notos have always been active in support of various community needs. From the earliest days they made hundreds of loaves of bread to give the Church to be blessed for St. Joseph's feast day.  Now they donate baked goods to help raise funds for Lydia House and a shelter for abused children in St. Charles.

What a day!  We had met a great family, enjoyed a perfectly delicate cookie and found a beautiful tray of cookies to thank Isabel's hard working staff.

Several of us have been back to J Noto's since that first visit. Each time we return Jasper greets us warmly, inquires about Isabel and asks about the play Will, Lindi and Micha were practicing.

We are touched by his thoughtfulness and remember again the  advantage of kindness that comes with shopping local.

Look and then Buy

I was reading our most recent issue of "World Magazine" yesterday.

 This is what I found on the Quotable page:

"It's nice to be able to touch, feel, and hold the books before you look online."

This comment was about the habit many folks have of going to a brick and mortar store to see an item before actually ordering it online.

But let's think about this for just a moment.......

Hmmm...

That doesn't really work, does it?  It is not a sustainable system.

Because, the problem is shop owners are not independently wealthy.  They are struggling to pay their bills just like the rest of us.  It is impossible for them to carry all the expense of taxes, inventory, rent, gas, electric, payroll and on and on and on, just so that we have a nice place to look at a book before going online to buy it. 

 By going to one of St. Louis' many and charming 

local booksellers we can have fun looking at and buying books.

If we do, when we drive along Lockwood Avenue, we'll see this: 

Webster Groves Book Shop on Lockwood

NOT this: