Activities

The emphasis is on group jamming and just having a good OLD TIME but several activities have been scheduled:

~Friday ~

4 PM: Meet and Greet BYOB Cocktail Party

We provide some of the snacks, you provide the drink(s) of your choice for this fun time to meet each other and share a drink or two, maybe even some tunes!

~Saturday~

5 PM: Pot Luck Dinner

IT’S A POTLUCK!

Is there a better way to enjoy an Arizona Saturday night than sitting down with friends by the Ramada at the Southwest Old Time String Band Gathering?  A Saturday evening pot luck is an honored tradition and we look forward to enjoying a meal with you!

Hello! My name is Steve Goeke and this year the board asked me (us – my wife, Gail and me) to be in charge of the 2026 potluck. 

In thinking about how to organize this event, we’ve struggled a little with trying to put rules or guidelines in place but every time I think about it, it gets simplified: IT’S A POTLUCK. No rules, just a few suggestions and that open invitation for you to participate in whatever manner you would enjoy.

The setup starts around 4:00p.m. on Saturday. A few folks willing to place tables and chairs makes the setup smooth; and after the meal, take down. I’ll ask for those volunteers at the Meet and Greet on Friday evening. Another opportunity to help out comes with the identification and placement of the dishes/items people contribute. I’ll have index cards and markers so that items can be identified and placed in a, I hope, logical serving order. Remember, we do need to be aware of and provide for the various food allergies that may be present and label all dishes accordingly.

In 2025, if there was a problem with the potluck, it was not enough quantities to provide everyone who attended with enough to eat. If we all think about what “adequate quantity” is, I’ll bet we’ll have enough and people will be pleased. I believe that if everyone brings an item that they enjoy in enough quantity to provide a serving for themselves and two or three others, there should be enough for an enjoyable, diverse in items to enjoy and memorable meal.

Moving on – while there’s no “theme” to the potluck, here’s what it would be fun to focus on. We all come from diverse areas of the country. Please consider bringing an item from where you live. Gail and I live north of Kansas City so our natural inclination is to bring KC style barbeque and sample bottles of KC sauce. Again, this is what we’re planning and we have the capability to bring a dish from home, frozen then thawed and heated. Others may need to get to the local grocery – there’s a Safeway about a mile south of Hacienda. So, no matter what you bring, it will be welcome, identified by name and region and for everyone to enjoy.

We are looking forward to having you participate in the pot luck this year – yes, it’s worth interrupting tunes to come for a meal. It’s always good to make connections and meet new friends at the Southwest Old Time String Band Gathering! Feel free to reach out to Gail and me if you have any questions, suggestions, or want to specifically volunteer to set up or take down, my email is steve.gail.goeke@gmail.com. Phone for text is 816 718 9010. Sure looking forward to sharing a meal with y’all!

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