The Trio will be in Pittsboro this Thursday (Nov. 6th) at the General Store Cafe. It will be our last show of the year so come on out. In case you've never seen or heard us we have some video on Youtube now you can check out.
Last year Linda Booker asked us if we were interested in doing a music video. Nothing fancy, just a simple one camera shoot. She told us she wanted to make a surprise music DVD as a Christmas gift for her husband. He apparently likes the band, and comes to see us often at the General Store Cafe. Linda is a documentary filmmaker (www.bythebrookfilms.com) based in Pittsboro. Her most recent work is called, "Love Lived on Death Row", which is being shown all across the country to critical acclaim. With one camera, a 16-channel mixer, and a hand full of microphones, she did a GREAT job! Now she's ready to try her hand at more music style videos!
Ed has edited the video and posted individual tunes on Youtube and I've embedded them here, too.
On September 13th and 14th Karen and I rode the Bike MS Historic Bike
Tour out of New Bern, NC to raise money for the National Multiple
Sclerosis Society. We rode a total of 175 miles - 100 on Saturday and
75 on Sunday. For both of us Saturday was our first "century" (100
mile) ride so it was an extra special occasion. We also both raised
over $1000 (over $1350 for me) for MS thanks to the generous help of
our friends. This is the third year that Karen has done this event and
my second year. Last year I was moved to tears at the start of the
event - over 2000 riders massed together at the start at the waterfront
park in New Bern, all the volunteers cheering - so many of them living
with MS themselves, the sidewalks lined with well wishers. It was last
year's ride that made me aware of the scope of this disease. Almost all
of you who donated wrote back to tell me of friends or family members
who had been diagnosed with MS. Realizing that so many of the
volunteers working the rest stops for the ride also had MS was a big
shock to me. It turns out that I knew some of those people. This year I
started noticing the number of riders who also had MS. Many riders wore
a sign on the back of their jersey listing the names of the people they
were riding for. On some of those signs I saw that the rider had also
listed him/herself. It also turns out that one of the guys we ride with
almost every Tuesday night has MS. I just always assumed this
middle-aged slightly overweight person who is usually the slowest rider
in the group was just trying to get back into shape. He's riding to
save his life.
Most of us know someone with cancer or AIDS or some other life threatening
or debilitating disease. There are so many opportunities to volunteer
or raise money for worthy causes. I like doing this ride because 60% of
the money we raise, that you donate, stays here to directly fund
services, programs, and advocacy for the 4,300 people living with MS
right here in Eastern North Carolina. The rest of the money supports
national research to find the cause and cure of MS. And I benefit, too.
Getting to the point where I can ride a bicycle 100 miles has made me
so much healthier and happier. It's a wonderful form of exercise and
I've seen more of our beautiful part of the state in 2 years of cycling
than I ever did in 25 years of driving around in a car. I've also met a
lot of great folks and so many of them participate in these fund
raising rides. You could do this, too! There are MS rides all over the
country and the one we do out of New Bern has added a 30 mile course
for those of you frightened by the idea of peddling a bike 75 or 100
miles in a day. 30 miles still sound scary to you? Really, it's not bad
and it's FLAT in New Bern (well, there are those bridges to go
over....). A little bit of training over the summer and you could join
us next Fall.
The weather for the ride this year was great
though a bit hot. On Saturday there were over 2100 riders at the start.
As you can imagine the first 10 miles or so things are a little thick
but the group stretches out pretty quickly. Four of us more or less
rode together - Karen, myself, Karen's brother in-law Rich, and our
friend Joanne. Sometimes we'd be four or sometimes we'd be two in
various combinations. You could go for miles and not see another rider
once the group got spread out. The rest stops, of course, were teaming
with people. Lots of food, water, and the life saver on this ride -
Gatorade. There are rest stops every 15 miles or so and I think we
stopped at all of them. The lunch stop on Saturday even had a band.
There are church ladies with home-made desserts, various companies
sponsor some of the stops, and there are even some impromptu things
like the woman on Sunday with a sign in her front yard thanking all the
riders and her standing out by the road with a garden hose spraying
anybody who needed cooling off. Sunday was very hot and, sadly, we lost
Joanne 11 miles from the finish. She had been feeling bad and at the
previous rest stop sat in a van with the air conditioning running for a
while until she felt better but I was riding with her a few miles down
the road when she just veered off into a shady place, got off her bike
and lay down in the grass. She was cramping so bad she couldn't move at
all. We called for help and eventually a van took her to the civic
center in New Bern to rest but they promptly sent her on to the
hospital where she spent the evening getting fluids to bring her
electrolyte balance back up. Other than that it was a pretty uneventful
ride but oh so satisfying. That's us in the picture at the start on
Sunday. From left to right - Robbie, Karen, Joanne, Rich. You ever
wonder about that spandex stuff that cyclists wear? It's all about the
padding. Those shorts are very padded on the seat and I can't tell you
what a huge difference that makes on a 100 mile ride. The jerseys are
all about being seen on the road - some motorists are not very
observant. Bright, obnoxious colors keep you safe. Just so you know -
I'm not into fashion - it's about comfort and staying alive.
Thanks again for your support. A whole lot of people appreciate it!
My gallery program crashed and I lost most of the pictures on the site so most links to photos will not work for a while. Most of those are in archived posts, anyway, so you may not notice any change unless you were looking for the beech tree beasties .....
Karen and I are doing the MS Bike Tour
next month to raise money to help find a cure for multiple sclerosis.
On September 13th and 14th, we will join more than 2,000 cyclists for
the 20th Annual MS Bike Tour in New Bern, North Carolina. We will be
riding 175 miles over 2 days to help end the devastating effects of
multiple sclerosis, a chronic, often-disabling disease of the central
nervous system that strikes people in the prime of life. Last year
approximately 1,800 cyclists raised more than $1.4 million in Eastern North Carolina alone, moving us
closer than ever toward a cure for MS. We hope to surpass last year’s
total and have set $1.6 million as our fundraising goal for 2008.
Karen and I have both lost friends to this disease and each of us
knows several people who are currently living with MS. As we have
contacted people in our fund raising efforts we have discovered that
almost everyone we have talked to either has friends or relatives
with MS. We are asking for your help in this challenge. By making a
pledge on our behalf, you will support national research efforts to
find the cause and cure for MS in addition to helping fund local
programs for more then 4,300 people in Eastern North Carolina who
live with and reach beyond the daily challenges of MS each day. In
the past 18 years, significant progress has been made in the
treatment of MS, particularly for those who are newly diagnosed. Last
year Karen and I raised over $3000 between us. Our goal this year is
to raise $2000 each. Please help us reach our goal. Any amount is
appreciated. If you can help you may donate in one of the following
ways:
1.) Checks in any amount made out to
National Multiple Sclerosis Society can be hand delivered to
us or sent to us at 2512 Mt. Sinai Rd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514. DO NOT make checks
payable to us!!! You may support either one of us or both (that
would require 2 checks, sorry). We have to submit all checks no later
than October 6th but we'd love to be able to turn them in the first
day of the ride on Sept. 13th.
2.) You can easily donate securely
online using your credit card at the National MS Society website.
Here are the links:
Click the "Donate to Robbie"
or the "Donate to Karen" button on top of the fundraising
thermometer and follow the instructions. We will be automatically
informed via email of your donation. Sixty percent of your donation goes toward programs, services, and
advocacy for the 4,300 people living with MS right here in Eastern
North Carolina. The rest of your donation supports national research to
find the cause and cure of MS. Thank you so much for your
support.
Consider joining a ride yourself! It's a great event and there are over 100 of them across the country. Just go to the National MS Society website to find a ride near you.
Brother Yusuf was the person responsible for me coming to this area in the early 80's. He brought me into the jazz community here and saw that I got good work. I had the honor of playing with him for several years along with Bus Brown, Eve Cornelius, Al Neece, Ray Codrington, Steve Wing, and many others. His greatest contribution to the community was in his bringing together people of all races and religious beliefs through his spirited music. Everyone was his brother or sister - even those that started out hating him for his race or religion. He overcame all with love and grace. All hatred, all bigotry, all intolerance melted in his beaming, joyful presence. He was a damn good jazz pianist, too, and brought up more musicians than any univeristy professor could ever lay claim to. Patience, love, encouragement, joy. Peace and love to you, Brother Yu!
The Bernie Petteway Trio gets a new look and a new sound for this Thursday's gig at the General Store Cafe in Pittsboro. Sadly, Ed Butler can't be with us this time but we're making up for his smile and great playing with not one, but two of the area's most loved percussionists: Beverly Botsford and Sara Romweber.
Plus, the GSC's new music room is a treat for both performers and listeners alike, and the food just gets better every time I go there. Come on out Thursday, June 5, starting at 8:00 pm. There's no cover charge but we do rely on the generosity of your tips!
Brother Yusuf was the person responsible for me coming to this area in the early 80's. He brought me into the jazz community here and saw that I got good work. I had the honor of playing with him for several years along with Bus Brown, Eve Cornelius, Al Neece, Ray Codrington, Steve Wing, and many others. His greatest contribution to the community was in his bringing together people of all races and religious beliefs through his spirited music. Everyone was his brother or sister - even those that started out hating him for his race or religion. He overcame all with love and grace. All hatred, all bigotry, all intolerance melted in his beaming, joyful presence. He was a damn good jazz pianist, too, and brought up more musicians than any univeristy professor could ever lay claim to. Patience, love, encouragement, joy. Peace and love to you, Brother Yu!