Folks, I hope y'all have the last Saturday in August marked on your calendars for the annual worldwide celebration Play Music On The Porch Day! Here at our house, we are practicing the one we think we'll play for PMOTPDay. 
@alphie There's no accounting for tastes in music or anything else. :)
@canadian-dulcimer-boy Yes, you're right-- lots of difference in the two! Perhaps it's because I have heard so many different versions of the Reuben's Train/900 Miles tune(s) I hear the two versions as close kin done in different styles & genres.
Perhaps it's in the ear of the listener whether they're the same tunes or not? I hear them as two different takes (genres/styles) on the same basic tune (in the Reuben's Train/ 900 Miles family).
When I am learning an old-time/traditional tune to play on mountain dulcimer, I, likely, will listen to fiddle and/or banjo versions then translate the tune to mountain dulcimer. A big part of my music education is and has always been listening to different versions such as you've presented here, @canadian-dulcimer-boy, and figuring out where I hear the essence of the tune (absent ornamentation) and translating that to mountain dulcimer. It's a fun process.
Ah, wonderful, @sunvalleylaw!
I haven't decided what classes to view yet know I can't make a bad choice. Fortunately, I was able to attend a portion of the Hindman Dulcimer Homecoming in '15 and it was a wonderfully memorable experience.
The Hindman Dulcimer Homecoming is coming up soon! It looks to be a great fest and can be attended from the comfort of your own place. I inquired as to whether one could sit in on a class just as a listener-- this is how I absorb information best-- and was assured it wold be fine.
@sunvalleylaw, you will enjoy your Blue Lion! And, yes, Janita is great to work with.
I'm not a great player so measuring whether my skills were good enough to own a BL wouldn't have worked for me. Yet I own two and enjoy them ever so much. 
In a couple weeks, Joellen Lapidus is going to be teaching online at the free Hindman Dulcimer Homecoming and will, I think, be teaching a percussive technique with the mountain dulcimer. Information for "attending" the fest can be found here:
https://troublesomecreekguitars.com/2022-hindman-dulcimer-homecoming/
Good to have you here, @canadian-dulcimer-boy! Enjoy that new-to-you mountain dulcimer!
As far as I know, there were folks from 5 or 6 different countries who participated in IADD-- yay! It has been a joy to see so many deriving joy from playing Appalachian dulcimers.
@macaodha Val, I hope you had opportunity to make music to celebrate International Appalachian Dulcimer Day!
Wow, @dusty-turtle you had a great group for IADD! And your cover of Lucinda Williams's Lake Charles is so good!
@slate-creek-dulcimers Your Hand to the Plow is just right on that pretty instrument you made! And your singing sounds old (you know I mean that in a good way).
@steve-c So good you could share the good word of the joy of Appalachian dulcimer music-making!
How I enjoy seeing music from lovers of the Appalachian dulcimer from places near and far! Wonderful music, friends!
Friends, it's International Appalachian Dulcimer Day! I wish you all peace and joy and lots of happy strumming!
@ken-hulme it appears to be a chorded zither (autoharp). It is surprising to see a steel pin shear that way!
Friends, this is a free virtual fest sponsored by Troublesome Creek Instruments in Hindman. I've signed up and look forward to this event. I'm not in any way connected to the organization of the fest so share it here in a discussion thread in case any of y'all may have interest.
https://troublesomecreekguitars.com/2022-hindman-dulcimer-homecoming/
Tomorrow's THE day!
Enjoy your new beauty, Richard!
I'm glad y'all enjoyed the article!
I imagine we have many FOTMD members who own a McSpadden.
Thanks a bunch, Dusty!
@dusty-turtle, I like your sticker image and wonder whether I may share it on social media?
@steve-c Folks can do whatever they like. Personally, I'm all for keeping a focus on a single day and leaving things as they are. We are not an "official" group of any kind-- I think of it as whoever posts to celebrate on 26 March 2022 as an equal participant in the day. For my part, I hope to keep up with responding to the posts of all who respond on IADD which I see here and which come down my Facebook feed. For what it's worth, I saw no names with which I was familiar on the FB group you found.
EDIT: I just looked at that International Mountain Dulcimer Players Day group on FB again. It seems members were not posting their own music to celebrate the day but sharing the music of others. At least that's what it looked like may have been the focus.
@steve-c, I looked and found International Mountain Dulcimer Players Day. The page went up a year ago and the group has 90 members. I appreciate your posting about it here and agree with you that it doesn't change anything with us. For my part, I'm glad we have no Facebook page (nor website)-- we're all just friends spreading the word to all who'd like to participate in a grassroots celebration of the Appalachian dulcimer.
Neat, Dusty! Count me as in line to order a sticker. Or two.
That's a wonderful photo of Jean Ritchie with Bess Cronin, Val @macaodha ! I've tried to find out whether it is under copyright yet no luck. The idea of Jean introducing the Appalachian dulcimer to Ireland is such a lovely thought-- the first (or one of the earliest) steps in the instrument being introduced internationally.
Yeah, we should probably get @leo-kretzner's permission before we start circulating that pic. I'm trying to come up with something that can easily be made into a sticker or slapped onto a website.
I like it!
Is that image meant to be shared, @dusty-turtle? (I think I recognize that instrument as being one owned by @leo-kretzner . I've admired it before.)
The word is spreading about IADD-- yay!
Perhaps others will make videos to share with their friends to encourage participation in the day?
I made a very informal video to share on YT and FB. And included hashtags in the description, too. I don't participate a lot in various dulcimer groups on FB so will, likely, just share the video on YT and from my personal FB page. If y'all see anything amiss (other than the poor lighting and lack of fluidity in my speaking and Mark playing guitar downstairs), feel free to let me know and I can edit a bit. 
Thanks, @dusty-turtle! That helps a lot.
I plan to make a little video for YouTube to share to my Facebook in which I will hold up the little sign I wrote on the inside of a piece of a cereal box and invite folks to participate. On YT, I will add a hashtag (or two-- one spelling out #internationalappalachiandulcimerday and one using #IADD . And will do likewise on FB and encourage others to use the hashtag(s), too. If I do it correctly, great. If I don't, well, no harm done.
I look forward to what Bubbles has to say about hashtags, Dusty. I've used them for worldwide Play Music on the Porch Day but that's about it. If the two of you talk and think it's a good idea to use a hashtag for International Appalachian Dulcimer Day, we can give it a go.
On Facebook, I added this bit of text to accompany the picture of my little homemade sign:
A day to celebrate the Appalachian Dulcimer-- both its origins and its spread around the world! You choose how to mark the day and, please, feel free to share how you celebrate the day. Play music, write a poem, share a story related to the instrument, create an artwork-- the sky's the limit!
I'm wondering about us starting a hashtag? I don't actually know how they work so if y'all think it's a good idea, I'll add a hashtag.
I'm with Richard at thanking you for your original suggestion which got things rolling, @dusty-turtle!
In the way of many who have gone before us, I used what I had on-hand to make a little sign.
My apologies for the big photo-- I've tried to re-size it yet don't really know what I'm doing (obviously)!
