Saturday Nights Benefit Concert was a huge success! Thank you Aimee Cox for organizing this wonderful event and thank you to everyone who attended, we raised $450 for the North Fork Studio!
We hope you can join us at our next event Coffee Music Jam Nights which are every first Friday of the month. Music – Coffee – Potluck – Games – Fun
The studio provided free space for the summer reading program, put on by the North Fork Library earlier this summer.
The event’s flyers can be seen at the links below.
Our own Paul Abram was mentioned in an article today in the New York times. It is related to the U.N.’s new investigation into the death of former U.N. secretary general, Dag Hammarskjold.
You can read the article by clicking this link.
Paul Abram of North Fork, was interviewed on Fresno TV about his book and his time working for the NSA.
Friends of the Studio,
We have come so far in improving the Studio! It is a beautiful space that is getting more and more use from the community. In the next couple of weeks, we are getting a donation of most of a kitchenette! Some of the events going on at the Studio include:
We are taking in more money in rental fees but it is still not enough to cover all of the bills. The mortgage payment is $400/month, insurance is $150, telephone and electric are around $110, water and sewer is around $90, plus a few other miscellaneous monthly bills. That means we need around $800 per month to keep the Studio alive. We have enough on hand to get us through February but at the current rate of donations, rental income and expenses we will not be able to pay all of our bills in March.
We have a few generous “sponsors” who donate $15 to $25 per month. Thank you!!
Donations to the Studio are tax deductible. Would you please make a donation now? Click the Donation link to donate online with PayPal or a credit card. You can also mail a check to the Studio at the following address.
North Fork Studio
PO Box 127
North Fork, CA 93643
Donation Link – On this page, you can make a one-time or recurring monthly donation. You can use PayPal, or, to the left of the PayPal box, you can click the link to donate with a credit card or bank account.
Thanks for your support!
Dan
PS: Having fundraisers periodically helps a lot to fund the Studio. We need volunteers to take on some leadership in organizing fundraisers. Let’s have another Hoedown! How about the Valentine’s dance?
If you want to see the Studio continue to be a valuable community center, please help!
Free income tax return preparation and electronic filing, for both state and federal returns, will be available again this year for mountain-area residents, offered by the AARP Tax-Aide program. Services are provided free of all costs and charges.
Tax returns are prepared by specially trained and certified volunteers. The returns are prepared on site, and then electronically filed the same day. Tax help is offered to persons of all ages – you don’t have to be a senior citizen, or a member of AARP. Indeed, last year, Tax Aide prepared first tax returns for several 17 and 18 year old students who had their first jobs.
This year the program is moving from the Sierra Senior Center, where it has always been hosted, to the community room at the Oakhurst Library. Services will be available Tuesdays between February 10 and April 7. Three Saturdays are also available, February 28, March 21 and April 11, to make the services more accessible for families and working adults.
For the first time, there will also be a day of services offered in North Fork, at the Studio, on February 21. Appointments for all of these dates and locations can be made by calling Brian at 559-285-1494.
Tax Aide services are also offered at the main library in the City of Madera. Services are provided there every Friday beginning February 13 and continuing through April 10. Appointments are available there, and also for two Mondays in the City of Chowchilla, by calling Jeannie at 559-673-4115. The program has been headed locally by Jerry Ephraim for over 25 years.
Ephraim is presently serving as regional coordinator for California district 3, a large area which extends from Modesto in the north to Bakersfield in the south, and from San Jose and Monterey in the west to Sonora and Barstow in the east. Although he has handed the day to day duties in Oakhurst and Madera to Darlene Kelly, Ephraim will still be present on most return preparation days in Oakhurst to lend a hand and to meet and greet his long-time clients.
AARP Tax-Aide is the nation=s largest free, volunteer-run tax assistance and preparation service available to taxpayers with low- and moderate income, with special attention to those age 60 and older. Over 33,000 AARP Tax-Aide volunteers, trained in cooperation with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), now help over 2 million taxpayers file their federal, state, and local tax returns each year at nearly 7,000 AARP Tax-Aide sites nationwide.
The rental rates for the Studio have now been posted to the site. Click this link to view.
The rentals are divided into separate categories. One is for regular, weekly classes or events. The other is one-time rentals such as for a party, concert or lecture. If the event is not for profit and community serving, the Studio Board might choose to help sponsor the event with a reduced rental fee. Fill out the form at the bottom of the Rentals page to inquire or book a time.
A Splendid Time was had by All, at the Saturday Afternoon Jazz Jam Fundraiser at The North Fork Studio. Thank you Friends, Family and Community for helping raise $250.
One person who attended the event wrote, “This was such a wonderful concert! Amazing to see we have so many accomplished musicians, in North Fork. A wonderful gathering.”
Thanks to John Kilburn for organizing the event and for all the musicians who participated.
Here are the most current Studio Financial Statements. They include an income statement, balance sheet and spending report on the renovation project.
If you didn’t get it, the May newsletter just shipped (er, emailed). You can see it by clicking this link. If you aren’t receiving it, you can sign up for the newsletter mailing list here. This list is different from the Studio listserv (group email list).