A few weeks ago, I was asked by one of our Church Life Groups whether I was available to come and accompany their Christmas Carol evening. This was to take place outside their house, and was for everyone living in their area. I was very happy to oblige, and dug out my Christmas music and got practising.
I was given my first accordion in my early teens, I had shown some ability in playing the piano, and my father was eager that I would follow in a family tradition and play my instrument for the Open-air outreach of our church. David who was probably my closest friend also acquired an accordion and we set to work to master the instrument.
We managed to figure out the vast number of buttons on the left side, and soon could play a number of popular hymns with an acceptable degree of skill, including “And can it be,” and “Guide me O Thou great Jehovah." They then let us loose on the Sunday Night Hymn Singing in the square in Camborne, Cornwall. On Friday evenings in the summer (weather permitting), we plied our trade in such villages as Baripper, Brea and Penponds, to name just a few.
As my skill increased, my reputation spread, and when the CSSM (Children’s Special Service Mission) came for their annual Beach Mission to Perranporth, I was asked to provide the musical accompaniment for their Hymn Singing in the Park on Sunday nights. The first time Joyce saw me was in the role of accordionist on one of those occasions. It was not “love at first sight” so I have no recommendation to budding suitors to rush off and buy themselves an accordion!
Later on I became a regular member of the team on the Beach Mission run by the CSSM in Nefyn, North Wales. Once again the accordion came into its own as I accompanied the choruses at the daily service on the beach. I was a team member on this Beach Mission for a number of years and the ravages of the sand took its toll on my accordion.
By the way, Joyce and I met at Nefyn, I was attracted immediately, but it took me another couple of years before the feeling became mutual, and we fell in love and later married. The accordion was tucked away in our family home and came out at Christmas and on other rare occasions, but because of the amount of sand it was of limited value.
When our son Daniel went to college, he had a friend who was an accordion fanatic and I was persuaded to give it to this fellow student, and thought my accordion days were over. However, just a few years ago someone in Living Waters Church found out about my accordion prowess and asked me to accompany carols for a church outreach at a Victorian Fair. I hired an instrument, got practising and did my stuff.
This kindled a desire in me to again own an accordion, so I set about finding how much they cost. The prices had gone through the roof, new instruments were in the £1000’s and second hand ones several hundred pounds. I thought my aspiration would have to be abandoned, however, shortly after this we were visiting our family in Bulgaria and Joyce suggested I look for a second hand instrument. We found the accordion shop down some steps in the bowels of Plovdiv, and to my joy there was a beautiful Weltmeister Meteor, 80 bass, three voice accordion. The price was 140 leva which when translated into UK pounds became £42 – probably 10% of its true value.
So once again I have an accordion which sits beside the piano, gets played occasionally, has its public airing at Christmas and evokes many past memories.
I was given my first accordion in my early teens, I had shown some ability in playing the piano, and my father was eager that I would follow in a family tradition and play my instrument for the Open-air outreach of our church. David who was probably my closest friend also acquired an accordion and we set to work to master the instrument.
We managed to figure out the vast number of buttons on the left side, and soon could play a number of popular hymns with an acceptable degree of skill, including “And can it be,” and “Guide me O Thou great Jehovah." They then let us loose on the Sunday Night Hymn Singing in the square in Camborne, Cornwall. On Friday evenings in the summer (weather permitting), we plied our trade in such villages as Baripper, Brea and Penponds, to name just a few.
As my skill increased, my reputation spread, and when the CSSM (Children’s Special Service Mission) came for their annual Beach Mission to Perranporth, I was asked to provide the musical accompaniment for their Hymn Singing in the Park on Sunday nights. The first time Joyce saw me was in the role of accordionist on one of those occasions. It was not “love at first sight” so I have no recommendation to budding suitors to rush off and buy themselves an accordion!
Later on I became a regular member of the team on the Beach Mission run by the CSSM in Nefyn, North Wales. Once again the accordion came into its own as I accompanied the choruses at the daily service on the beach. I was a team member on this Beach Mission for a number of years and the ravages of the sand took its toll on my accordion.
By the way, Joyce and I met at Nefyn, I was attracted immediately, but it took me another couple of years before the feeling became mutual, and we fell in love and later married. The accordion was tucked away in our family home and came out at Christmas and on other rare occasions, but because of the amount of sand it was of limited value.
When our son Daniel went to college, he had a friend who was an accordion fanatic and I was persuaded to give it to this fellow student, and thought my accordion days were over. However, just a few years ago someone in Living Waters Church found out about my accordion prowess and asked me to accompany carols for a church outreach at a Victorian Fair. I hired an instrument, got practising and did my stuff.
This kindled a desire in me to again own an accordion, so I set about finding how much they cost. The prices had gone through the roof, new instruments were in the £1000’s and second hand ones several hundred pounds. I thought my aspiration would have to be abandoned, however, shortly after this we were visiting our family in Bulgaria and Joyce suggested I look for a second hand instrument. We found the accordion shop down some steps in the bowels of Plovdiv, and to my joy there was a beautiful Weltmeister Meteor, 80 bass, three voice accordion. The price was 140 leva which when translated into UK pounds became £42 – probably 10% of its true value.
So once again I have an accordion which sits beside the piano, gets played occasionally, has its public airing at Christmas and evokes many past memories.
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