March 13, 2018

By Paul Mack
Photos by Bob Nelson

The East Bay Banjo Club put on an outstanding performance at the annual Orinda Masonic Lodge Crab Feed on Friday February 23, 2018. The place was packed as each table was filled. Not only did the audience dine on crab, they also dined on an hour of great tunes.

All 21 of us had to fit onto the small stage, but that didn’t stop us from entertaining the crowd. Banjo players and singers included Bob Malucelli, Rich Combs, Karen Hefter, Don Granberg, Bud Pearce, Sheila Welt, Ardie Jarrett, Jan Ruzicka, Slavka Ruzicka, Tom Brunetti, Dina Melamed, Clyde Dedmon, Paul Mack, Garry Kerr, Deb Hodson, Bob Ehrhorn, Doug Johnson, Kit Nelson, Phil Myers and Linda Myers. Guy Black played bass, Bob Nelson served as photographer and Bob Malucelli handled the equipment.

Bud Pearce was the Master of Ceremonies. He gave a little history of each song as he introduced it. We had two duets as Kit and Don sang “Bill Bailey” and Don and Sheila sang “Your Cheatin’ Heart”. Some audience members loved all of the music so much they stopped eating crab and got up and danced! They also got in their exercise as Sheila, Paul and Deb got the crowd moving during “When the Saints Go Marching In.” It was a wonderful audience and we received a standing ovation.  As Karen Hefter wrote, “It was a great team effort. Everyone did their bit as part of the team and it really showed tonight.”