Ukulele Group Kicks Off on November 5

Group leader Nancy Harrison and Sun Lakes Ukulele Group members Barbara Thompson and Linda Market serenade the CWPV Open House attendees.

The Sun Lakes Ukulele Group, led by Cottonwood Palo Verde resident Nancy Harrison, will kick off its eighth season on Sunday, Nov. 5. We meet on the first and third Sundays of the month in the winter season in the Computer Learning Center, Room 1 (Phoenix Room). We learn songs, chords, strums, and fun licks and tricks on the ukulele. If you are just getting started, come to the Beginner group and join the fun!

The fee for each Beginner session is $3, and the group is open to everyone. The Beginner session runs from 1 to 1:45 p.m. Beginners (with standard GCEA tuning ukuleles) will need to purchase the beginner book for $15 (available at the first session). There is no fee for the Jam Session this year. It runs from 2 to 3:30 p.m. and is for all levels. The Jam Session (standard and baritone ukuleles are welcome in this group) uses songs from our website www.sunlakesukes.com.

If you have a ukulele in playable condition (which means that the tuning pegs work, don’t slip, and the strings are relatively new), please come and join us. All songs are projected on the wall, but you may find a music stand is useful for your book if you want to make notes. If you’re just curious, we’d love to have you drop in, share the fun, and see if the ukulele is the instrument for you.

Upcoming sessions are as follows:

2023 Fall Schedule: Nov. 5, Nov. 19, Dec. 10 (on the second Sunday due to schedule conflict), and Dec. 17

2024 Winter Schedule: Jan. 7, Jan. 21, Feb. 4, Feb. 18, March 3, and March 17

Go to the Sun Lakes Ukulele Group website, www.sunlakesukes.com, for more information or call 503-702-7021. Leave a message and call-back number.

Nancy Harrison moved to Cottonwood from Portland, Ore., as a full-time resident in October of 2013. She studied music education at the University of Iowa and recently completed a Ukulele Teacher Certification program with James Hill in Vancouver, BC. She taught public school music for several years in Iowa and is a retiree from Intel Corporation. She is a former member of the Luongo Ukulele Ensemble based in Reno, Nev. In July of 2018 the group performed 11 concerts in Waikiki, Hawaii, including the 48th Annual Hawaii Ukulele Festival.