Words from the Webmaster 5
Where We Listen ~ Where We Live

Fairfield, California

I grew up in a small town.  The City of Suisun City. I knew everyone in town and they knew me.  I went to school with the same 20 kids every year.  We had to get along and so we did.

I loved the big old Victorian my parents owned. It was one of six homes and one church on the block.  My parents bought their home from Anna Kyle and she had been a teacher and then superintendent of music for Solano County. We even had her piano and harp in our living room until she settled in with her sister Harriet.  I attended Anna Kyle Elementary School, named in her honor as a kindergartener. After that, I attended Crystal, a wonderful old school that has since been replaced with a new modern facility.

 

I learned to roller skate around the same time I learned to walk.   Pioneer Skateway & Ballroom was 2 blocks up the street from my California Street home in Suisun.  I spent most of my days 'over my feet' as I learned to waltz, foxtrot, dance the blues with my dance partner Billy Mackey and of course speed skate and my favorite, skating pairs. Between attending Crystal Elementary and Middle School, playing intramural sports, 4H, piano lessons, church choir and skating, I was a happy and busy child.

I moved to Fairfield, California, which is next door if you will, to Suisun. Fairfield is slightly larger in size and growing rapidly. I wish it would stop growing as I see the Valley I so love, disappearing. Houses taking up the space where ranches used to be.  If I feel worn or tired after a long work week, I put Andre's CDs in the car and take a drive through the valley, stopping at roadside fruit stands, maybe a winery and an old church.  It never fails to renew me.

Fairfield is also home to Travis Air Force Base.  Home to Heroes who protect our freedoms and serve our country.

I enjoy the quiet life, living outside the rush of the Bay Area.  While I am only 1 hour from San Francisco, it is as if I am a world away.

I share my love of Andre's music with those I meet. Rosanna's Bakery makes the very best cakes and pastries in town bar none.  And the best thing about this is, Rosanna is an Andre Rieu Fan!  I have stopped by the Senior Citizen's Center to share with them the news of Andre's upcoming concerts.  I am hoping they will get a bus trip together and go!

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Rosanna's Bakery

707-422-2253

This coming December I will see Andre and his JSO at the Arco Arena in Sacramento and then have a Meet & Greet with them in San Jose at the HP Pavillion.

 

And Who I Listen With

Sometimes I am too close to see so today I stepped back and looked at
 AndreRieuFans.com.

I wonder if our Maestro knows of the friendships formed by our common bond. Does God look down and smile, knowing he put all of us here together and we made the right choice? The choice of Friendship.

 We have chosen to be Friends, You and I. Yes, we have a bond of enjoying Andre Rieu's music, and we chose to go further and become Friends.

Iris from Germany reaches out with her stories and photos to share with us. I think of her as a very dear friend and have promised myself we will meet some day.

Ineke has brought us to her home with her photos and words, and Eric and Anne have taken us to work in The Straussmobile. We share Edgard's concert thanks to his story. Mike & Annette share their hearts with so many via Andre's music, as they bring joy to others in nursing & retirement homes.

Kati Krisch born in Hungary, now living in the States is our Friend as is Arthur, who came from Russia and now shares his interesting photos. How I hope they write their life's story and share it.

Just take a look at the Featured Fans page, scroll to the bottom and click the links. All of our Friends are there and more will be added. Friends who have not met. Perhaps your story is yet to be added?

Who could not smile while reading Monique Hoogzaad's pages or Rita Bullitis' poems? Many of us are animal lovers and we see Lance Ciepiela on Cinders and Kyle & Judy Sandvik on Shiska. It seems most of Andre's Fans have love enough to share with animals. And so we see Audrey Clough's shelties, Shirley Kirk's Miss Kitty and cats and dogs and birds and lizards from around the world.

Some of us have met and it was a blessing. Judy Carr and I go roaming the country side while listening to Andre. Ruth Morgan was my best friend I had not met yet. I think I've known her for years, even if I just met her in person last May. Ruth shares her generous heart with everyone, but be warned, Ruth and Lawrence & Pauline Sudduth can cook up a good Fan Dinner and TailGate party. They bring together 20+ people who have never met and we all come out as Friends.  For fun and laughter, we can visit with Charlene and her mother Ruth.  We'd be the better for it.

I can not imagine a time when I didn't think about Barbara Wilson. Everyone needs a Barbara Wilson in his or her life! (And Jeff Wilson too) Someone who is always kind and the girlfriend you have fun hanging around with. It might be something about the Barbara name, because Barbara Henderson is just as lovely. I count it as a blessing to have met them, and I am excited as I look forward to seeing them again next April.

I cannot tell you enough good things about Jerry & Nita Stover. Nice words are not nice enough. They have both given so much to our world but are too humble to realize it, or maybe too busy still giving to even be aware of it. That is just how they are, and I would never want them to change. I look at them and know God got it right.

Some couples look like couples. Just look at Alice & Charles Stevens dancing in Maastricht or John & Bobbie De Jong at the fan dinner at the Vrijthof or the picnic in the park. Andrea & Michael Barfoot at the Fan Dinner, John & Maria Prins via their page. I am better for knowing them, in person and/or via email. Fans & Friends. I wonder if Andre knows.

When you look at Maggie Worman's quilt page what do you see? I see Maggie's heart being so filled with love and joy,  it spilled on to her fingers as she stitched a quilt. I see the friends who came by to visit as she worked on it and those that watched as she presented it to Andre.

I see Trudy's smile and I think of Sylvia's emails. I see Linda's sweatshirts so pretty, knowing they are a reflection of her spirit. I think of Laurie Crowley as she gathers information to share with us all, hard work but we never hear her complain. Ursula, Virginia, Suellen and more. All smiling from a website.  All giving of themselves. All sharing Where they Live and Where they Listen, and most of all sharing their hearts. Mike and Annette with so much goodness in them, they give to others the joy of Andre Rieu's concerts and music.

Yes, when I look at AndreRieuFans.com I do not see a website. I see Friends. People who have made this site a beautiful tribute to Andre Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra. Ages, Nationalities, Languages and Miles ... We have formed our own union. One Kindness, One Music.

We are Friends, You and I. And I am thankful.
 

 
 

 

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