Hello Friends,

It's been a while since we've checked in but thought we'd give an update on how we're doing. It's spring here in Montana, although you wouldn't know it by looking outside and seeing everything covered in white today. 

Ric's progress is doing very well, and he continues to keep a positive attitude. He still doesn't have the dexterity he used to have in his fingers, but he works them every day and they continue to improve.  He was not able to start his winter how he normally would, working at the Lone Mountain Ranch for their sleigh ride dinner driving a team and singing at the North Fork Cabin. Missing the first couple months, he worked hard at home getting his fingers more nimble, and changing some chord work and some keys to the songs. In February he was able to start up again, as he only had to play about 6 or 7 songs, and that was doable for him. Ric has also been playing some pedal steel with some local bands the last few months, and that has been a good thing for his spirits. 

Linda decided to work at a local ranch for the winter, doing something totally different, and learned the art of being a Barista! The Crazy Mountain Ranch, also called the Marlboro Ranch, gives free trips to contestant winners, and looks just like an old western town.

On to the current....we're starting to book some Open Range dates for this summer, and we sure are looking forward to it. We have some duo, and a few band things lined up, so please check our calendar as we'll be updating it soon. Ric will also be back at Yellowstone this summer singing and playing for the chuckwagon cookout at the Roosevelt location....his 21st year! 

Thanks again to all who have checked in, and helped out in so many ways. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Linda & Ric




 

Thanks again to all who helped make Ric's benefit so much fun, and to Joanne Gardner for compiling this amazing list! Here is the Thank You that appeared in the Park County Community Journal.

Well, Fri night Oct 16th in Livingston MT, will be a night that Linda & I will remember for many years to come. It was unbelievable how many musicians, friends, townsfolk & neighbors all turned out to support this benefit for my hand injury, held at the Livingston Elks Lodge. We heard there were about 400 in attendance. Thank you to the ‘ground floor’ organizers, Joanne Gardner, Faith Petersen(Crazy Mountain Catering), Rob Bankston, Jerry Mullen (Moon Over Montana sound), Joe and Sally Magalsky, and all the volunteers who worked so hard to get everything into place. John Zumpano did a great job the evening with photos...you can see album in my Photos. To everyone and all, we offer our heartfelt thanks, praise, appreciation and gratitude.

For folks that have asked where to send a donation if they can't attend, tax deductible donations can be made payable to:

Compassionate Neighbors, FBO (For Benefit Of) Ric Steinke

and mailed to:
Ric Steinke
PO Box 641
Livingston, MT 59047

From JOANNE GARDNER:  THANKS to all - this is going to be the auction to end all auctions! We have more than 100 items in ALL price ranges. And, we're set up to take cash, checks made out to Compassionate Neighbors FBO Ric Steinke as well as credit cards. All will be tax deductible! The bands will start at 5:15 and include Danny Freund and Ian Thomas and friends up first, then an Acoustic Allstar band with John Lowell, Wes Horton, Ashly Holland, Duke Sharp, Mike Parsons, and Joseph D. Rockafellow performing without a net! For a spectacular surprise we've got Danny O'Keefe performing for us around 7 PM. You can all sing along with his old songs and enjoy some new ones! Next up, it's the amazing Buffalo Chips! These guys have so much history with Ric Steinke, it's going to be great. We'll have the following Buffalo Chips with us: Johnny Hale, Steve Anderson, Chris Peone, John Regan, Tom Holyszko and Tony Huiett. Then we introduce a Western Music interlude with Almeda M. Bradshaw, Wes Horton, Stanton Howe, Monica Hausler and hopefully a tune by Open Range! We'll stop the music for the LIVE Auction around 9 PM and a 50/50 drawing and then it's www.twang with Buck Buchanan, Michael Gillan, Marcus Engstrom, Marc Mattix, and Russ Olsen. And rounding up the night is The Shufflebums! Bob Bramblett, Scott Boehler, Oscar Dominguez and Mike Gillan with a couple of songs from...ahem, Joanne Gardner. If you can't have fun at this event, your fun button might be broken!!!
 

Ric's hand is healing, but slowly, and it will still be a while till he can be playing music again. We are looking forward to that day, but in the meantime, we have some very thoughtful friends that have put together a benefit here in Livingston on October 16 to help cover medical expenses and lost wages. 

For folks that have asked where to send a donation if they can't attend, tax deductible donations can be made payable to:

Compassionate Neighbors, FBO (For Benefit Of) Ric Steinke

and mailed to:
Ric Steinke
PO Box 641
Livingston, MT 59047

 An evening full of friends, music, dancing, food, drink, and very generous auction items.

As some of you have already heard, and some are just finding out now, on Aug 2nd Ric Steinke had an accident at home with a table saw. It resulted in him losing his pinky finger on his left hand, a slashed and fractured index finger, and the other fingers and thumb all cut/slashed and needing stitches. He has since gotten the stitches out, and is wearing a splint on the index finger for a while yet, and will probably lose that nail. Luckily he does have most of the feeling and movement (although stiff & limited) in all of the remaining fingers, and the tendons are all OK, and he is seeing a hand therapist once a week. We were so thankful that it wasn't worse.

We are fortunate that Xanterra, the Yellowstone Park company that Ric has worked for the past 20 years, with the chuckwagon cookout, agreed to hire Linda on, so she could either finish out the season for him or with him for his two days a week. As it turns out, he is able to play harmonica while Linda plays guitar and both sing. The season ends next week, but we are glad to have the work. We've had to cancel all of our other jobs, as well as our fall tour as we're not sure what shape his hand will be in by then. He has every intention of playing guitar again, but  will probably be able to hold a steel bar to play steel and dobro before he can press down on guitar strings. 

Since we had to cancel our fall tour, which usually allowed us to attend the Western Music Association annual convention in Albuquerque, we're sorry to say we won't be able to be there this year, and will sure miss seeing all of our friends there. 

Several friends have asked where they can contribute to help with medical expenses and loss of wages, we will keep you posted on that. 

We sure appreciate everyone's prayers, encouragement, and kind words to help us throught this.