Highland Lakes

This October the Lakeside Café will celebrate its 19th anniversary. Nineteen years ago a group of about a dozen people got together and decided it would be not only fun but a good idea to hold an open mic in the new Lake Room that was being constructed and about finished. After some discussion, it was decided the 3rd Saturday of every month was the time to perform. So on Saturday Oct. 18, 1997, it began.

Over the course of time there have been many changes. Guidelines for running the evening were set up, adjusted and re-adjusted many times until it is what it is today, whatever that is. We’ve seen some of the kids in the community perform for the first time in front of an audience. While shaky at first, they came back better and more confident and we’ve been doing this so long some have graduated college and came back to play here again. We’ve had many interesting nights in the Lake Room and many different levels of talent perform. In the beginning there were plenty of people to help set up and break down the equipment even if everyone couldn’t show up every time. Over time the number has gotten smaller and smaller for a number of reasons. Now we have a group of 3 people who have been doing this for about 7 years with some occasional help (and we thank you for that help, you know who you are).

PASS IT ON! – After months of discussions between the three of us we have made the decision not to be responsible for the Lakeside Café open mic after October of this year. We would, however, hope that some other individuals would be interested in continuing it in some form – perhaps quarterly or every other month or even monthly as it is now. Anyone interested would have to be approved by the Club. Those of us involved now would be more than happy to assist in any way necessary. Thank you to anyone who has played, come down to listen, or helped with the set up. It’s been fun. IT’S BEEN 19 YEARS…PASS IT ON!

Read more about the Lakeside Café here.

Mike Jameson