For years, our so-called Rock Island McPickers band has jammed inside and outside of a yogurt shop on the main thoroughfare of our capital city in the shadow of the Missouri state legislature building. Like all social gatherings, the global pandemic has sharply curtailed such musical get-togethers for well over a year. This autumn, as the curve of the recent delta surge has been flattening, the Bluegrass pickers elected to reembark on outdoor picking sessions on the shady afternoon sidewalk in front of the popular snack bar.
Passers-by were cheered by the reappearance of our street side singing and picking which offered glimpses of pre covid normalcy, and local townsfolk of all ages danced to the spirited music. A newspaper photo journalist happened upon the scene, and a picture of the musicians appeared the next morning on the front page of the Jefferson City News Tribune.
Our mandolinist, the jam hostess and co-owner of the yogurt shop, is poised to sell the enterprise, and so will bring an end to this venue of sidewalk entertainment (not to mention free yogurt for the musicians). We thank the proprietors for generously providing a performance platform for many years where faithful and appreciative audiences came to hear Bluegrass music and cell-phone video the festive scene.
P.S. A special thanks to the shop owners for pistachio yogurt- a BRC banjoist favorite.
From the BRC: Be safe, be well, be picking.
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