Lustige Leute Newsletter March 2022

Warmer weather and brighter days are around the corner.  According to that pesky groundhog, there are 3 more weeks of winter to go, but here along the Texas gulf coast, we should reach 80 degrees later this week.  Like everyone else, we are also looking forward to better weather, open windows, fresh air, and green grass.  Our bikes miss us and are waiting in the garage by the door, wagging their tail lights and looking expectantly at us!  Ross' shoulder is feeling much better, there's lots of work going on around here, and finally some rehearsals too!  

March performances: 

--The Sauer Kraut Grill,734 Crabb River Rd, Richmond, TX; Stubenmusi (pub music unplugged) with the Duo 
Thursdays March 3, 17, 31;  6 - 8pm  

-- Krause's Cafe, 148 S. Castell Street, New Braunfels, TX; 
Wednesdays March 16, April 20, May 25, 6pm - 9pm; Polka Wednesdays with The Duo 
Spring break and St Patrick's week... A couple of Irish tunes might find themselves in the mix... 

-- Tomball German Heritage Festival, Market Street between Elm and Pine, Tomball, TX;  
Friday March 25; Das ist Ross, 6:30 - 8:30 in the Heritage Center 
Saturday March 26; Das ist Lustig Band, 1:45 - 3:15 & 3:45 - 5:15 at the Grady & Sandra Platz; With Robert Herridge on Fiddle and Glen Renfro on drums 
Sunday March 27; Das ist Lustig Band, 12pm - 2pm at the Grady & Sandra Platz; With Robert Herridge on Fiddle and Glen Renfro on drums   Link to full schedule from Valina's desk HERE 

-- Volksfest Deutsches Haus, 1700 Moss St, New Orleans, LA; 
Friday April 1, 6pm - 9:30 and Saturday April 2, 3pm - 4:30, and 6:30 - 8pm; The Duo. 
Admission and Covid info on their website 

The homepage of our website reflects every performance except the private ones.  Often when we're on the road, we don't have access to update our facebook pages, but will always (as long as my cell phone works) update the home page on our website if there is a last minute change.  You're always welcome to give us a call or send a text if you want to make sure we're going to be where our calendar shows we're going to be.  

Host your own Backyard party!  Call us for pricing and availability if you have something to celebrate this spring!  We can play for you as a duo unplugged, or we can bring the sound equipment and specialty folk instruments.  It's always a good time to celebrate good times together accompanied by a little Bier and happy German folk music! 

Looking ahead: 

-- Volksfest Deutsches Haus, 1700 Moss St, New Orleans, LA; 
Friday April 1, 6pm - 9:30 and Saturday April 2, 3pm - 4:30, and 6:30 - 8pm; The Duo. 
Admission and Covid info on their website 

-- Sauer Kraut Grill Thursdays in April 14, 28. 

-- Krause's Cafe, 148 S. Castell Street, New Braunfels, TX; 
Wednesdays April 20, May 25 6pm - 9pm; Polka Wednesdays with The Duo 

-- Momma's at Sengelmann, Main Street, Schulenburg, TX; 
Wednesday, Apr 27, 6:30 - 8:30; Dinner and a Show; 
April 27 is Koning Dag (King's Day) in the Netherlands, so Dutch folk music, wooden shoes, and the color Orange might well be part of this show! 

Hosting our trips to Europe   Both trips for the summer of 2022 are still reserved, and a couple of rooms have become available.  Would you like to travel with us to Germany and the Czech Republic, Tuesday June 7 - Tuesday June 21, 2022?  Or to the Black Forest and Switzerland June 22 - July 7, 2022?  Our small groups have a ton of fun together!  Can't choose?  There is an option (and a discount) if you go on both trips.    The number of guests for each trip will not exceed 20, so there is plenty of space to spread out.  If you're interested, let us know soon!  https://www.prostyall.com/lustig-tours-holiday   Our bus company and the hotels are optimistic that most restrictions and possibly even quarantines for Covid may be lifted by the time we travel.  However, now there is war in the Ukraine, which could spread into Eastern Europe.  We are keeping a close eye on the developments, and will be making an informed decision of whether to travel or not toward the end of March.  In the mean time, we are still hoping to go.  

If you'd like to join us for travel in the future, we'd love to hear from you!  There have been requests to return to Austria, The Netherlands, requests to do a Christmas Market tour, and some interest in traveling to different places around the US.  We tailor these trips to your wishes! 

Website:  You can always find out what's happening with us at http://www.prostyall.com.  We update our calendar as information becomes available, and always keep the upcoming gigs and last minute changes on the home page.  The shop page https://www.prostyall.com/shop has koozies! (they fit party cups, pint glasses and Wurstfest cups!)  The famous "Prost Y'all" sign is in stock and available for sale too!  Won't that look awesome on the wall of your favorite relaxation spot!  We also have shirts; including the brand new "Das ist Ross" shirts!  Hat pins, and CD's that can make lunch at the office a little more like a Biergarten! Who doesn't love a 45 minute escape mid-day?  

Social Media:  You can find us on Facebook, and Youtube.  You can subscribe to our Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/valinapolka , friend us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/valinapolka  "like" us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prostyall/  We have an instagram, but don't know how to use it.       

Behind the scenes:  I think we told you about our drummer Jeff retiring so he can travel with his wife Kat, who is retiring this year.  They're headed to Peru in just a few days!  Well, as a result of him retiring, we are searching for new drummers.  We just auditioned Lynn and had a good time working through some stuff together.  We're looking forward to her being on stage with us at the Muenster Germanfest in north Texas April 22 - 24!  We're auditioning a man named Michael from Austin in mid March, and hope to add him to the performance rotation as well.  We've already interviewed each one of them and had very good visits.  The fall calendar is filling up nicely for the 4 piece band!  If you know someone who is a drummer who enjoys polka and folk music, let us know if they're looking for a band to work with.  There is no such thing as too many drummers who know our material!  Ross has been pretty busy building a cabinet for the smaller equipment we've been purchasing; He's been cutting the wood we salvaged from the neighbor's bed, fitting it, gluing and fine tuning.  The components will fit perfectly and hopefully the cabinet will be something even I could handle by myself.  I've been busy getting paperwork for Tomball put together.  Most of the contracts have gone out, many are back before the due date, and the schedule is jam packed with great entertainment!  Ross has been doing physical therapy for his shoulder for about 3 weeks now, and the improvement is great!  He's not in pain any more, and has gained most of the range of motion back.  He's carefully doing his 90 minutes a day to work out the entire area so he'll get his muscle tone back, work the scar tissue out, and protect the small tear the MRI found.  The doc is great, and is working with us to minimize our out of pocket.  By that, I mean that he's not insisted on another $160 office visit to tell Ross he can take the next step in the PT.  He's very good at listening, and knows his craft.  We're thankful for some new jobs coming in, so we can continue to cover all expenses!  This past weekend, we took a couple of days off to visit a friend for her birthday.  I also had the pleasure of judging the State level German contest.  This time I got to judge polka bands, and I was in excellent company!  The other judges who volunteered their time were Brian Berlin, who we know through the old accordion studio Shelia Lee had, Alfred Tapia from the TubaMeisters, and Alex Meixner.  It always just makes my heart fluttery happy when I see youngsters choose to take on the difficult task of learning the folk music that I love, and they do it as an extracurricular activity.  So many of those students have gone on to graduate, then become involved with other German heritage things around Texas.  It's good for them, and good for the community. 

Attached photos: Ross sanding the bones of the new cabinet for our smaller sound set up.  Enjoying dinner with John from Altstadt Brewery, his wife Deborah, and Chef Eric at the Sauer Kraut Grill.  The flyer for the March 16 show at Krause's Cafe.  

Our hearts are heavy with the overwhelming violence and destruction in the Ukraine.  We don't have direct ties to anyone there, but we have friends who do.  Our prayers are with all of them, and with any of you who have loved ones in the region.  

That's all for this newsletter.  Your support and friendship means a lot to us!  Stay healthy, stay safe, share a smile with a stranger.  We hope we get to "prost y'all" sometime soon! 

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