Friday evening, the World Concertina Congress will kick off their 40th Anniversary Hall of Fame Banquet Weekend at Les & Jim’s Lincoln Lanes; officially inducting six members from around Wisconsin and as from as far as Alaska and New York.
The festivities begin Friday evening with a fish fry dinner for purchase at Les & JIm’s from 5-8 p.m., followed by an open Concertina jam session until 10 p.m.
Festivities resume Saturday at 11:30 a.m. with a cocktail hour and cash bar. A family style chicken and beef dinner will begin at 1 p.m., with reservations available for $25 per person.
World Concertina Congress awards will follow the dinner, followed by individual performances by inductees and another open jam session until 10 p.m.
In attendance both evenings will be Wausau resident Dan Gruetzmacher, a 38-year member of the Concertina Congress Hall of Fame, and his wife Sue.
“We will have a player every 15 minutes on Friday night and lots of dancing,” Sue explains. “We have been in the Hall of Fame Congress and organizing these events for almost 40 years. We are looking forward to bringing the banquet to Merrill this year and welcoming our new inducteees, This year was Wisconsin’s turn to host the banquet and we chose Les & Jim’s for the venue. They do such a great job hosting events and are such a pleasure to work with.”
For more information on this weekend’s events, Sue Gruetzmacher can be reached at 715-675-2455. George Dums is currently taking reservations for the event and can be reached at 715-427-3207.