We passed our constitution in June 2008 and became a certified Not-For-Profit organization which
meant we had to vote in an Executive. That process is now complete.
Voted in on November 16th, 2008
 PRESIDENT: WAYNE MORRISSEY Email: wayne@westmanjams.ca |
Once upon a time in a province bordering on This obsession drove him to become the person he had
been dreaming of. Now it just so happened,
that a town in northern Around this time he decided that an office job might be a nice change, so he became a city manager. All the while on this road he was walking he picked up a guitar and learned all the chords he needed to be able to sing his songs. This is how he must have developed his pleasing personality and easy going manner. From what I hear, most of the folks around Thompson didn’t even know he played and sang. I guess we’ll just call this his closet years. Hmm… I can think of a lot of our jammers who really aren’t much different. A couple of years after we got Westman Jams rolling he walked into the hall one day and sat down and sang for us all. The only problem we had was with the mic stands. They all had to be re-adjusted to suit his stature. In fact, a couple of ‘em broke down from the constant up and down motions and we had to find some new ones. After all, to make enough room for his immense knowledge and talent, a large frame to house it all in, had to grow up with him. It was obvious we had to get this guy more involved in our jams, so I asked him if he would like to assist me with running and wiring the PA system. Thankfully he accepted. I quickly noticed after spending some quality time with him, that he had far more reaching talents than messing with some electrical gadgets and such. His organization and people skills are second to none. Now as it also turned out, he has a flair for writing constitutions and we took advantage of these skills as we ironed out some details, for our newly forming official club. Any club needs some officers to manage and maintain it’s day to day operations, so we all voted for these officers. Hence on Nov. 16th, in the city of
|
Reg was born in Madoc, Ontario and started playing guitar at age 12. The first guitar he ever owned was a $6.95 Eaton's special that he claims was a no-name brand. His favourite acoustic guitars are a Martin HD-35 and Yamaha YG580 now that he is a connoisseur. He loves all types of music but ranks bluegrass and classic country at the top. Lonesome River Band and The Dillards are the groups that come to mind when you ask him about bluegrass music. His favourite country musicians are the members of the group he played with for years around southern Ontario, The Land O' Lakes Crusers which included Kathy Whalen, Bob Young, Gerard Freeman, Sheila Ervine, Ruth Johnson, Joe Saunders, Carl Wood, Pat Dowling and he includes all the special guests that jammed with them in the early years. He loves to watch and encourage the up and coming musicians and help them emerge into entertainers. Upon moving to Manitoba to be close to his new love, he was lonely for someone to play with so he decided to advertise a jam session and see how many people turned up. The first session had 6 musicians and that was way back in 2002! Since then he has brought Westman Jams to the fore in southern Manitoba and can now count over 200 musicians as his friends and 'family'. His non-musical hobbies include woodworking, photography, amateur radio, & computers. Musically he also loves dancing, teaching and now the Westman Jams.
|
VICE PRESIDENT: REG JONES Email: reg@westmanjams.ca |
( I WILL get a bigger and better picture of Jenine if I have to hog tie her LOL) TREASURER: JENINE MORRISSEY email: jenine@westmanjams.ca |
Jenine, while not being a musician herself, found herself married to one and as a result has spent a lot of time hanging around with the Westman Jams crowd. She has, in her past life, been trained in accounting and when the organization went looking for a treasurer she threw her hat into the ring and lo’ and behold, guess who is now the Westman Jams head bean counter. Jenine is what you would call a very “artsy/craftsy” person. Her long list of hobbies includes, curling, carpentry, quilting and cross stitching. She has a house full of ceramics, has dabbled in oil painting and is a fanatical gardener. From spring to fall during the daylight hours you’ll very seldom catch her indoors. If you want to find her you must search through her garden, her greenhouse or one of her many flower beds. Fall is canning season for her garden produce and Wayne says if you don’t keep on the move around there at this time of year you could find yourself in a pickle jar. During the winter months if she isn’t at the Carberry Curling Club or one of the Brandon clubs you’ll likely find her working on a quilting project or another one of her many, many cross stitching projects. One of these or one of her quilts finds its way each year into the silent auction at the annual Westman Jams Christmas show.
|
Cathy was born in Portage La Prairie and moved to Grandview Manitoba at the age of four years. She started playing guitar and learning music in 5th grade at the tender age of 10 yrs old when her older brother bought her a guitar. He played in a band and felt that music was important so he got his little sister started. One wonders if he knows what a gift he created? By the age of 13 Cathy was playing and singing with a local band called "The Generations" in Grandview. She has since played and sung all over the country as a solo act as well as with bands including Dauphin's Melody Kings, Northern Saskatchewan with Country Express, in the Yukon with Yukon Sack and Hank Karr and in the Swan River Valley with Richard Adams & FoxFire. Cathy now lives in Rivers with her daughter, Kailyn and has been a Jammer since 2006. Her daughter has accompanied her at the Jams on occasion and has a sweet voice of her own. Cathy also has 8 years of "painful"(her words) piano lessons and dabbles in keyboard but we have yet to hear that talent. She is always willing and eager to help struggling Jammers and is also a great asset to our volunteer force. AND she is now our new secretary!!
|
SECRETARY: CATHY OLSEN email: cathy@westmanjams.ca |
