Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Christmas in Cokato

Diane made two special appearances in Cokato this month.   At the Finnish-American Society's Pikku Joulu (Little Christmas) on December 4, after the lighting of candles at the Finnish Cemetery, many of Diane's kantele students performed with her at the Township Hall.

Diane also entertained the audience at the Cokato Historical Society Holiday Dinner at City Hall on December 7. She performed a set of original and traditional songs interspersed with stories of her Finnish-American heritage.  For the finale one intrepid kantele student (Audrey!) joined Diane on kantele and vocals for a selection of Christmas carols.

Students get ready to "rock the house" at Little Christmas.
Diane Jarvi sets up instruments at the Holiday Dinner

Monday, December 6, 2010

Give to the Max Day Results...

We were very pleased to be part of Give to the Max Day on November 16th. All of Minnesota got together to raise 10 million dollars plus for non-profits! (For more information and results of Give to the Max Day, simply click on the title of this post.)  With the assistance of our fiscal sponsor Springboard for the Arts (they even covered the online processing fee) we raised $200 for Ancestral Fires in one day.  Heartfelt thanks to those of you who donated through Give to the Max day--and a double shout out to the extraordinary fans who had already contributed to the project but found it in their hearts to give more.

Please join us in acknowledging the following individual contributors to date:
Lyle E. Lofgren
Harvey and Heidi Barberg
Ralph Tutilla
Daniel Newton
Victoria L. Woolley
Steve D. Wagenseller
David Braslau
Vergene Routhe
Barbara L. Pratt
Liz and Sophia Cherif
Richard J. Broderick
Marion J. London
Phillip J. Riveness
Cynthia Gentling
Judy Gallas

Thanks so much! We could not do it without You!