Dear _____, Plans are moving ahead for the four-day Yiddish Culture Festival, February 12-15, 2010 at Congregation Etz Chayim in Palo Alto. Be sure to put these dates on your calendar! We have been talking with some of the world's klezmer greats to lead the music portion of the Festival. We are pleased to tell you that we have commitments from dance leader extraordinaire Steve Weintraub of Illinois, clarinetist Christian Dawid of Germany, fiddler Cookie Segelstein of Connecticut, tsimbalist and accordionist Josh Horowitz of Connecticut, and multi-instrumentalist and bass player Stu Brotman of Berkeley. Their talents will be supplemented by those of other great Yiddish language, literature, culture and music teachers from near and far. We had an terrific meeting July 12 with seventeen volunteers from Palo Alto and other Peninsula and South Bay communities, and twelve more eager to help but unable to come to the meeting. We are now working with each volunteer to find just the right projects. What we need this summer is outreach to Jewish institutions throughout Northern California and in Southern California, Oregon, Washington as well. We want to contact synagogues, day schools, JCCs, Hillels, Israeli folk dance teachers, folk/ethnic music communities, stores and restaurants, Yiddish clubs, Holocaust survivors' groups, klezmer bands, and many more. To join the fun, contact our volunteer coordinator Rosie Kaplan at volunteer@klezcalifornia.org. To summarize: put the dates on your calendar, volunteer, and make a donation to support the Festival (see last item below)!

Yidishe Salon far pamelakh reders Sunday, August 16, 7:00-9:00pm, private home, Berkeley. The next in our ongoing series of Yiddish conversation salons will be in mid-August. This one is for nisht azoy ay-ay-ay speakers, i.e. you speak some Yiddish but mix in a lot of English. We put questions in a hat, draw them out one at a time, and have a conversation about summer vacations or food or jokes or whatever. And we nosh! What could be better if you speak a bisl Yiddish? Facilitated by native Yiddish speakers Ben & Helen Stern. Contact us at salon2@klezcalifornia.org for the location. No charge.  Klezmer Music and Yiddish Dance Party   Sunday, August 23 6:30-9:00pm Tannourine Restaurant, San Mateo. KlezCalifornia and Tannourine Restaurant present an evening of dinner, klezmer music and a dance party with dance master Bruce Bierman and music by Jeanette Lewicki and Friends, also known as The Gonifs because they steal music from everywhere. Organized by volunteer impresario Gil Rosoff, this event will be fun for all ages! $25 (fixed price) includes a Lebanese/Mediterranean dinner (including vegetarian options) and party. Come to dance or watch and listen. Bring your friends. Location: 120 West 25th Ave. in San Mateo. The July 26 dance party sold out, so be sure to call for reservations: 650/638-1960. For directions, see www.tannourinecuisine.com. Community Events Sunday, August 16, 5:00 pm The Wronglers and Margot Leverett & The Klezmer Mountain Boys It's a fiddlin' fest at the Peninsula JCC with a double dose of bluegrass. Bring a blanket, pack a picnic and round up all 'yer pals for the Klezmer/Bluegrass concert event of the season. Yeehaw! Mosey on over for a fiddlin' fest of foot-stompin', toe-tappin' hand-clappin' bluegrass known around these here parts as "Jewgrass*!"    * "Jewgrass" = soulful mix of klezmer and bluegrass. Tickets $8 - $18.   Additional details:  www.pjcc.org   Thursday, August 20, 8:00pm Ashkenaz, Berkeley. For an evening of dancing and klezmer/gypsy/world music, join hot local klezmer band Kugelplex (www.kugelplex.com) at Ashkenaz, followed by Caspian Hat Dance from Amsterdam. The evening begins with a klezmer dance lesson with Bruce Bierman. $10 advance & students; $13 day of show. For directions or to buy tickets, see www.ashkenaz.com. Coming Soon Put these exciting events on your calendar now: September 13, 2:00-4:00pm, Yidishe Salon far flisik reders. If you can carry on a complete conversation in Yiddish, join this Salon. Contact us at salon1@klezcalifornia.org for location. Previous Salons have been in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, and Burlingame. Location TBA. Sunday, September 13, 10:00-6:00pm, Solano Stroll. If you are going to this year's Solano Stroll, the huge annual street fair along Solano Avenue in Berkeley and Albany, be sure to stop by the KlezCalifornia booth and say hello! Presidents' Day Weekend (February 12-15, 2010) in Palo Alto, KlezCalifornia Yiddish Culture Festival. Four days and three nights of klezmer music and Yiddish culture. For all ages, all interests, musicians and non-musicians, Yiddish speakers and non-speakers. Put this event on your calendar now and invite out-of-town friends and family to visit you then so they can participate! Presented by KlezCalifornia and Congregation Etz Chayim. Help KlezCalifornia Flourish With your help, KlezCalifornia is building a thriving Yiddish culture community in the Bay Area. We welcome your participation (come to one of our events), your energy (volunteer - see above), your friends (forward this newsletter to five people interested in Yiddish culture or klezmer music, and (drumroll) make a donation. Gifts of any amount are welcome throughout the year and are tax-deductible. Give yourself the gift of Yiddish culture by contributing via credit card through our web site, www.klezcalifornia.org, or by mailing a check to KlezCalifornia, c/o 1728 Allston Way, Berkeley CA 94703. A sheynem dank! Thank you.