~~WINNERS~~

So we had a nice little giveaway in the Banjo Lounge Tuesday night... and some of you have won some sweet prizes! In case you're wondering who won what, here's a list. Everyone was in the first round of drawings, but as a person won - his or her name was taken out of the list. The order of names was completely random, as were the numbers drawn. Everyone's name was put back in again for the second round of drawings for the DVD's. So, here's the Winners and the goodies they'll soon receive.

Rod Durst - Beacon Banjo Wallet Calendar and Ink Pen
Karyn - Bill Keith banjo strings
Jim Clark - Shady Grove Band CD - featuring John Boulding
Steve Tharpe - Dara and the Noxie Ridge Band CD - featuring Rod Durst
Joe Richman - National Banjo Champ Sonny Smith CD
Jack Baker - Durst Family Band "Much Obliged" CD
Jimbo78 - Dara and the Noxie Ridge Band CD - featuring Rod Durst
Jen H - National Banjo Champ Sonny Smith CD
Dennis Rose - Lone Mountain Band "Highway of Regret" CD
Ray Sharpe - Turbo Pro Project Daydream CD - Autographed, and a sticker too.

Charis - Acutab Jim Mills DVD
Jim Clark - Ron Block DVD set

I beg your forgiveness for any misspellings there might be.

A HUGE Thank You goes out to all of our donors, without them none of us would be reveling in the lovely gifts we are about to receive.

THANK YOU

~John Boulding~ ~Sonny Smith~ ~Bill Keith~

~John Lawless~ ~Rod Durst~ ~Adrian Trbovich "Turbo"~

~Lone Mountain Band~

Thanks to everyone who donated funds - it's your time and attention that make the Banjo Lounge a fun place to be, and everyone's donations keep it up and running. The weather is nice and we're all spending more time outside, but let's not forget our little home away from home. Banjos have feelings too, and they need to be played with now and then or they get grumpy. So... what better place to play with them than at the Banjo Lounge?

...Stop on over and Pick a while. :-)

~K~

Don't Forget...

...tomorrow's drawing!

I have the rest of the prizes to give out to the folks that have made donations.

Your name will go into the virtual hat once for each dollar you contributed. I'll be using random.org to select the numbers. You don't have to be present to win, but folks that are present will get 1 extra entry for every $10 they donated. That said, it's not too late to make a donation. As a matter of fact anything donated up until 9pm EST on the 30th will get your name in the drawing. So if you've not donated yet it's not too late! So get with it! Donate a dollar or three. It'd be a real shame if one person won all of these cool prizes.

CDs
Sonny Smith - National Banjo Champion (I have two of these)
Durst Family Band - Much Obliged (featuring our very own Rod Durst)
Dara and the Noxie Ridge Band - Like the Rain (featuring our very own Rod Durst)
Turbo Pro Project - Daydream (featuring our very own Turbo)
The Shady Grove Band - Back in Circulation (featuring our very own John Boulding)

DVDs
Jim Mill - A Winning Banjo Style
Ron Block - A Fresh Look At Bluegrass Banjo

I'll see you there tomorrow night!

-=Jim

Winners So Far

Remember I said we'd be having some door prizes and premiums?

So far we've had a couple of prizes go out. Charis got the ultra rare Bill Keith compact disc and a cool Beacon Banjo letter opener. Jimbo78 got a set of Ron Block DVDs (from Acutab) and a set of Bill Keith Banjo Strings). Rod D won a copy of the Lone Mountain Band's CD (featuring me).

There are still more prizes to win, like an Acutab Jim Mills DVD, Sonny Smith CDs, and more!

I bet you're wondering how to get one of these cool prizes. It's simple, just make a donation to the Banjo Lounge and you could wind up with one of our exciting door prizes. Or, if you want, check out the whiteboard in the chatroom for our donation premiums. As for the door prizes I'll be holding an online LIVE drawing for those on June 30th at 9pm EST. So mark your calendars to be there, and don't forget to donate; you can't win some spiffy door prize if you don't make a donation. :)

Thanks for your continued support.

-=Jim

Something New and Different

Whether you know it or not I spend a good bit of time looking for other chat solutions. Today I found something I think might be a good option for the Lounge. So I'd like as many of you that can to try it.

Banjo Lounge Chat "Beta"

There's still a few kinks, but it's an affordable solution.

I hope a few of you will get in there and give it a whirl. Let me know what you think.

-=Jim

Spring Fling Money Thing

You know folks, I just looked at the calendar and May is almost gone!  I've put off the task of rolling out the annual fund-raiser as long as possible.  This year we have a few "door prizes" for folks that participate in our SPRING FLING MONEY THING!

Yes, the Spring Fling Money Thing.  Say it how you want.  Spring Fling -- Money Thing is fine, but I'm rather partial to: Spring -- FLING MONEY -- Thing.

Now, you know the deal.  We stay online because of your donations.  And because of your generosity we've been here five years (well, almost; it'll be 5 years in November).  So, dig around and find some spare change and send it to the Banjo Lounge.  Every contribution counts.  Maybe you'd like to sponsor a month for $70?  You can even subscribe for $10 a month.  

If you enjoy the chatroom please consider donating this year.  

Did someone say door-prizes?  I have a rare CD from Bill Keith, and some DVDs from Acutab, as well as items from Lounge regulars Rod Durst, John Boulding and Sonny Smith.  All of these are up for grabs, and I'll be offering them up as the Spring Fling Money Thing progresses.  

Thanks in advance!

-=Jim

~Happy Mother's Day~

I hope all you Moms out there have a lovely day not doing what you don't enjoy. :-)

Mothering is often a thankless job, that's why they named this special day for us. I hope all you kids and mates of Moms let them know how special they are.

My mom has always been a practical person. She's not into froofroo gifts and overabundant bunches of flowers that last a few days and die. What she has always enjoyed was our Mother's Day tradition though, so I'll share it with you.

For years my sister and I and our kids would plan a whole day at mom's house on Mother's Day. We'd work the flower beds, plant flats of flowers, edge/weed/and mow the lawn, and get the entire outside looking ship shape. We did the grunt work that would kill mom's knees, and she got free physical labor without having to ask for it. She also got to spend time teaching her grandkids about green-thumbing it in the yard. The kids had fun playing in the dirt, we all got sunburnt, and almost always someone ended up having a water balloon fight -- which inevitably ended up with someone being chased with a kinked hose ready to drench. Lots of laughs. I miss those days, it made Mother's Day nice for us too.

So.. live a tradition, or make one. Enjoy your mom, or 'a' mom, and have a great day.

And when you're too tired to do anything else, come on over to the lounge and pick with us. :-)

~K~

It's Spring!!

Yes, it's Spring. The torrential rains have stopped, at least for the time being; sunshine is finding its way through the clouds, and tints of pink are beginning to show on the skin after a couple hours outside. Yes, Spring.

What a monumental time of year! We should have a party or something.. a Spring Fling. What better thing to do after the long dreary Winter?

Where's your banjo, come on over and start pickin'!

~K~