Friends, it's International Appalachian Dulcimer Day!  I wish you all peace and joy and lots of happy strumming!   

It's so cool that this is taking off.  Tull Glazener will be posting as well and just sent out an email with @steve-c's poster and offering tab for an original composition, available only on IADD!

That's a wonderful idea and I have just finished my recording for tomorrow

Tomorrow's THE day!

Ah, so now we know: 1) why Leo could not attach a word file, and 2) why there was suddenly a .pdf there that Leo did not put there. Mysteries solved!

To explain the confusion, I turned Leo's Word file into a pdf and posted it in his thread.  I was trying to be helpful , but this appears to have caused enormous confusion .  Just call me an agitator (or maybe a gremlin).

Leo, I have our site code set to not allow people to attach word docs to posts, because that type of file can contain malware code. It's just a site safety setting that has nothing to do with you.

I conclude (half believing it) that it was necessary for me to leave the page, the computer and the room it's in for it to work!! Have no idea how it turned into a PDF from a Word doc. It's all voodoo and gremlins, but sometimes they're friendly...  

Thanks, Gregg, for posting about our Saturday get-together and open jam at Claremont's Shelton Park! We'll be there on Saturday from Noon to 3 - or longer if the turnout warrants it! C'mon down!! 

(I'd post the flyer with all details, but Word docs are not showing up after choosing 'Attach File.' (Computers still hate me.))   [And yet, lo and behold, a flyer has appeared -- DT]

1st Annual Mountain Dulcimer Day.pdf  •  185KB

Hi Dusty, just saying I'm going to be meeting up with Leo Kretzner and as many Dulcimer Players that show up at the Shelton Park Dulcimer Statue, corner of W.Bonita Ave and Harvard Ave.N. in Claremont CA for International Appalachian Dulcimer Day!  

The IADD stickers arrived today. The coloring came out significantly darker than I had expected, but they're perfectly fine otherwise.  The yellow lettering is easy to read against the background, but you have to look closely to see that the background shows the soundholes and fretboard of a dulcimer.

If anyone wants one (or a few), contact me by PM.

Thanks a bunch, Dusty!  

Of course, @robin-thompson.  I'm sharing the image specifically so that others might make use of it.

@dusty-turtle, I like your sticker image and wonder whether I may share it on social media? 

I just ordered some square stickers using this design. Shipping costs may prevent me from sending them around to everyone, but feel free to download the image yourselves.

IADD for stickers.jpg  •  144KB

Sorry, I was just kidding about making it a month, but I did think it was interesting to list events going on in the month.

I agree with the approach of keeping it simple- go with our original name and designated day in March. Don't worry about what others may/may not be doing.
I agree with Robin's thoughts about it being a simple celebration that anyone can be part of from their own home in whatever way they can or would like to. Complicating things or broadening the scope only makes people not want to do anything themselves.

@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.          

FOTMD member @david-bennett is the one who maintains that heritage dulcimer material, and he provides links to the relevant pages in the Mountain Dulcimer History and Traditions Group.  I would encourage everyone to join that group and give that compelling stuff a read, not only in March but all year long.

Got it.  

Steve- I'm sorry but i had to delete a couple of your posts that were copied from another site. The formatting of the text, ads, headlines, and pictures was so gigantic that it screwed up the page here on fotmd. Plus run-on lines. It made everything here impossible to read and would also generate Google errors concerning posts with huge items or text that doesn't fit on a page. Try to not copy/paste chunks of content directly from other sites, thanks! 

Lots of Jean Ritchie and Ed Thomas history in March…

Today in Mountain Dulcimer History for March:

https://heritagedulcimers.wordpress.com/today-in-mountain-dulcimer-history/timdh-march/

@robin-thompson, Maybe if we have a couple of groups designating March for Dulcimer events we should make it International Appalachian Dulcimer Month?  

@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.    

I have found a Facebook page entitled international Mountain Dulcimer Players Day, March 9th.   I am not on Facebook so I don’t know if it is active or not…I don’t think it affects us, but wanted you all to know.

If you are on messenger you could send a flyer for IADD to your dulcimer friends….just saying…🥴

Neat, Dusty!  Count me as in line to order a sticker.  Or two.   

OK, here's the latest version using @leo-kretzner's photo.  I had some square stickers made of something else a while back, and I as soon as I can get a discounted rate, I'll have some of these printed up.

square IADD with yellow letters.jpg  •  138KB

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.  

We should be careful about using photographs taken by other people. For example, many of the nicer photos of Jean Ritchie were taken by her photographer husband George Pickow, and of course the family owns the rights to them.

I love my John Stockard!

Yes, Leo, the other photo is one of my own.  It's a John Stockard baritone.

Dusty, I don't recognize the dulcimer in your 'another potential sticker' mock-up. That photo is from elsewhere, isn't it? Very distinctive sound holes and nice details - who made that one? 

For what it's worth, the heart motif is SO much associated with dulcimers and the older dulcimers especially, a photo that includes hearts in the design would seem very appropriate. 

I have a beautiful photo of Jean playing dulcimer in the kitchen of Bess Cronin, having difficulty posting this picture. 1952 possibly the first time a mountain dulcimer was ever seen or heard in Ireland. 

The dulcimer is by James Tranthum of Canton, NC. Photo taken in the mid-80s.

I've got a number of photos of dulcimers with this sort of 'heart-modified f-hole,' each by different makers, but the smaller hearts on the fretboard mark that dulcimer as J Tranthum's. While MD sound hole design is delightfully all over the map, this is perhaps a popular sub-type. See also Force and d'Ossche, for example. 

Here's another potential sticker.  Still playing around with the possibilities.

IADD on Stockard with red lettering.jpg  •  121KB

Leo, I stole the image from among your soundhole photos,  It was made by James A. Tranthum.

I changed the coloring and some other details, but it was pretty red in your original.

Very keen eye, Robin! It does look like a dulcimer I've photographed, but I don't own the instrument. Fine with me for it to be used. Let me look and see what info, if any, I've got on that photo - in particular, who made the dulcimer! 

I like it!  

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.

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.) 

It's good to know word is getting out there!   Here's another simple image some folks might like.

I saw this, posted by Dulcimer Society of Dayton  on FB, this morning. Word is getting out.

dulcimer day.png  •  1.3MB

The word is spreading about IADD-- yay!  

I held my monthly online dulcimer club today and told everyone about IADD.  About 20 people attended and they're all excited.  We meet next on the last Saturday in March, so we'll be celebrating together.  I'll try to get a screen shot and post it here.

Well I'm a child of the 70s, so this is the ad I imagine:

Here, maybe try this version, I upped the contrast a bit with the white text. Here's a jpg and a pdf of same thing.

Should look fine printed out either in color or in greyscale...

INTERNATION APP. DULCIMER DAY-page-002.jpg  •  246KB

INTERNATION APP. DULCIMER DAY-page-003.pdf  •  1.3MB

I hope this poster is better...fingers crossed.

INTERNATION APP. DULCIMER DAY.pdf  •  354KB

Perhaps others will make videos to share with their friends to encourage participation in the day?  

Yes, the link works now, Robin.  I deleted my post since it wasn't needed anymore.

Thanks for doing all you do!

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.     

https://youtu.be/9IeJbS_tb48

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.     

The hashtag will only accomplish anything if your comments are public and if others start using it.  By all means, @robin-thompson, go for it, and encourage others to do so.  So at the end of your short explanation (which you italicize below) perhaps you could ask that people use the hashtag when they share their stories, videos, etc.

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. 

That's a nice description, Robin.  It captures the spirit of the day perfectly.

And I'm not the right person to ask about hashtags.  I can check with my teenage daughter, though.

Strumelia: Dusty, you are a mover and a shaker! 

Well, my belly shakes when I move like that dancing smiley!

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.  

Dusty, you are a mover and a shaker! 

In the positive thread, FOTMD members came to a consensus that there ought to be a day dedicated to the celebration of our favorite instrument, and we arrived at the last Saturday in March as International Appalachian Dulcimer Day.

Let's use this space to share resources, outreach ideas, and photos, video, and text descriptions of celebrations of this new and special day.