December 13, 2011  Greg and Geri Baker  3434 Nancy Creek Road  Charlotte, NC 28270-0442  

Merry Christmas!
Things seem to have slowed down a bit this year or else I just don't remember all the things we did.  But a tour of my 2011 calendar did refresh my memory a bit so here are the highlights for the year:

Allegro Kids performing 
at the 
Ambassador's Ball Fundraiser.

(Click image for larger version)
Geri and I are still active volunteers and sometimes contractors to the Allegro Foundation, a non-profit organization to help disabled children.  I have produced a few promo videos for them as well as volunteering as technical coordinator at their Ambassador's Ball and Golf Tournament, their two major fundraisers.  I usually coordinate the sound, lighting and video capture for these events.  This is a pic from last year's Ambassador's ball.  

Singalong
 at the 
Tosco Music Party

(Click image for video clip)

Our other volunteer / contractor activity is with the Tosco Music Party.  It is another non-profit dedicated to the promotion of family musical entertainment.  This organization puts on 4 shows a year, one which focuses on all Beatles songs.  Geri and I are in charge of capturing each show on video and providing archival copies to the organization.  We also produce and sell video to the performers for their use.  You can see many of these videos plus others on YouTube here:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gnbaker14&search_filter=0

GB & ME at Artfest of Matthews

(Click image for video clip)
Our little duo GB & ME is still playing a few band gigs now and then.  This year we were the background music for a silent auction at the Jewish Community Center, played for a Rotary Club dinner, and an evening gig at Sycamore Commons Shopping Center  as well as Earth Day, Matthews Alive and ArtFest, all in Matthews, NC.  Plus we have our group of 5 or 6 that still play jam sessions every Wed evening at Michael Everitt's "Therapy Bar(n)" where we relieve the weekly stress and keep our chops up.  Geri and I also get out once a month with our friends Bruce & Linda Johnson for dinner and to take in some local talent.  We often go to the Sylvia Theater in York, SC as they showcase a lot of local songwriters most of whom are our friends.  I still to the web site for the Sylvia as well.

We have not done a lot of traveling lately but in Feb we hooked up with my sister Joni and her husband Bob and went to Lexington, NC to see my brother Ken and his wife Bonnie.  It is not that far from here but we never seem to get there.  It was the first time we got to see their new house. In April we had a visit by Geri's sister Bev from Eagle Bend, MN.  We all then went to Peachtree City, just south of Atlanta to visit Geri & Bev's brother Dwayne and his wife Drew.  We spent Easter with them and it was great to see them again.  In July my sister-in-law Dianne and nephew Tom Baker came up from Florida and spent a few days with us. 

Waiting for Wind on Lake Norman

(Click image for larger version)
We spent less time sailing this year than the last couple as most of our trips to the sailing club have been to work on the boat or work on the club facilities.  In Feb there was dry wall to fix and painting to do.  In August we helped fix some of the docks.  In the meantime we are working on getting some upgrades done on the boat like leading the halyards to the cockpit and swapping out the cabin lights with LED's.  We also pulled the boat out and cleaned the bottom this spring.

The Whole Clan

(Click image for larger version)

Front: Sean Carton, Gregory Baker, Geri, Alexis Baker, Greg, Chris Carton & Daniel Carton.
Back: Chris Baker, Carrie Baker, Pam Carton & Stephanie Carton
We are both grateful to be quite healthy for our age and still enjoying our family, friends and each other.  Since all the family is close by, we see them often and sometimes even do some babysitting for them.

Well, that's about it for another year.  Hope you and yours have a Merry Christmas, a great holiday season and  a happy and healthy New Year.

Cheers…….

Greg and Geri Baker

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