Good King Wenceslas looked out on the Feast of Stephen, When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even. Brightly shone the moon that night, though the frost was cruel, When a poor man came in sight, gathering winter fuel. One of the best loved Christmas Carols is the 162-year-old carol, "Good King Wenceslas." In 1853, John Mason Neale chose Wenceslas as the subject for a children's song to exemplify generosity. It quickly became a Christmas favorite, even though its words clearly indicate that Wenceslas 'looked out' on St. Stephen's Day, the day after Christmas. For the tune, Neale picked a spring carol, originally sung with the Latin text 'Tempus adest floridum' or 'Spring has
The Great Plains Dulcimer Alliance is a pretty awesome organization. I've been quite impressed with it since I first moved to Wichita and got involved in 2015. There are educational opportunities, performances, and lots of great food and fellowship. Every year, I like to take stock of the things we have accomplished, areas we could do better, and dreams for the future. When we gather together at the Winter Retreat on January 19th, let's all share our ideas together! At Winter Retreat 2018, we tried some new things - we expanded into "the back room" for some classes and a designated "slow jam" area. This seemed to work, so we are building on the concept for 2019. This year, the open jam
