Please watch this whole video:
To review:
– March Camp is moved to July 2-4
–April Camp is moved to July 9-11
–All instructors and staff are remaining the same
–Confirm your reservation by end of day Friday, March 20
–If you can’t come in July but want to come to a future camp, I will let you pre-register to guarantee a spot (watch video!)
–Again, watch the video!
–Finally, and most importantly, thank you for being so kind and supportive. I really do love y’all and can’t wait to see you!
Hi @BanjoBen Totally understandable. Just wanna say that events over here being postponed too. My three youngest granddaughters were all set to perform at an annual school music festival in Perth tomorrow with bands visiting from all over Scotland… Sporting and other events are being cancelled too following advice from local government and health officials. I pray that this will pass quickly and things get back to normal soon. Stay safe everyone.
Well, unless my flight gets canceled due to travel restrictions I will not be able to attend 
sad I won’t get to meet all of y’all, and I hope to see you all next year
Aw darn. I was looking forward to meeting you. Well - stay in touch!
Sometimes situations like this train us to set our sight on things unshakable, on things that remain, with guaranteed no disappointments. I know it is difficult while going through such situations but later on when you look back you would appreciate whatever you learnt is incomparable to things you “lost” that is not really a gain to consider it a loss.
I have mixed feelings on cancel or no cancel too, especially when gathering is not too large. Schools, colleges closing and other public closings I understand. My daughter is doing remote for the rest of her college year. Son’s school is closing too for sometime. But I guess mostly all public events - large or small - is being cancelled too.
So sorry you’re going to miss this my dear. I was really looking forward to hangin with you 
Well, we were all looking forward to it and it’s a tough thing to accept, and I believe we as a nation are overreacting just a tad, but I think Ben has done the right thing for all the reasons he brought up and more.
I hope most of us can still attend in July, I should know by next week if I can; I sure want to meet you all still. It sucks for all of us indeed, but I think @BanjoBen deserves an Atta Boy, so let’s all give him a word of encouragement for trying to accommodate us in light of a bad situation, hey?
All the best to you all too, my Banjo Ben Buddies, during all this… whatever it is.
We’re all hurting in different ways with this Virus! I was born in Dayton, OH and still live about 35 miles NW. Dayton’s Basketball team is ranked 3rd in the nation and they cancelled the whole NCAA tournament! I don’t know who I feel worse for, the fans, the team, the city, me! But, if it saves lives and slows the spread, it will be worth it.
I feel bad for all of you who were planning on going to camp. I’m sure you were full of anticipation and excitement and now a huge let down. I’m sure Ben and crew is hurting even more so. Hopefully, most of you all can attend on the later dates mentioned!
God Bless!
First, what a cool shirt! Congrats! I wish I could earn one of those by attending. Man, the chance to attend the camp AND get that shirt would be awesome!
You certainly don’t need MY approval… and as much as I would like to be an attendee, I am not in a position to attend anyway - but I am going to say this anyway… after watching the video as an unaffected but empathetic observer.
I am darned PROUD of you!
I can see your suffering in your video! Frankly, it is touching on so many levels… and for sure, you are correct that despite your own personal efforts to make the occasion awesome (had it proceeded), this whole situation would have affected the event in countless ways despite your efforts to overcome them… there are just too many outside your control.
This is a tough time but you know, we can actually try to make the most of the “downtime” by digging deeper into Bible Study (for those of us who enjoy reading the Bible, that is) or perhaps quiet reflection… well, aside from the fact that I’m sure you have so much more logistics and planning now to do becuase of the rescheduling.
I am sure you have spent more time, effort and struggle in making this advised and difficult choice to postpone. This speaks to your caring and your character.
This situation certainly is unprecedented (aside from the Tornado you endured besides) and all we can do is support each other in the faith of brighter days to come when all this passes.
You know, it reminds me of that Andy Griffith show where the Traveller (Malcolm Tucker, I still remember!) has his car break down in Mayberry on a weekend. He was in such a hurry to get where he was going… he fought the reality of accepting that Mayberry simply slowed down… honoring Sunday as a day of rest.
When at last, he accepted and realized that his mad pace was bulldozing his own life away in reflection as Andy and Barn sing the hymn “Church in the Wildwood” in the background on the front porch. At the end of the show, he decided to stay an extra night - just to have the mechanic double-check that the car was safe… an obvious excuse to stay and relax in Mayberry.
If we must, let us grow wiser in this time of reflection where we are being forced to pull back!
July (my B-Day month also) will be here in the blink of an eye… and God Willin’, this will be a nothing more than a “Remember when…” memory.
Until then, those who are fortunate enough to go will have been granted more practice time and a fantastic summer event to enjoy where Nashville will also be at its’ active best with shows and hot weather.
Keep the faith and know that I, for one, feel we (site members) are fortunate and blessed to have such a thoughtful teacher!
God Bless… in faith of the brighter days to come.
Oh… and CHURCH services are even being affected up here also!
Fortunately, my church will be steaming on their site (as they do each Sunday anyway)… but the actual church has already advised that it won’t be open to the public.
Yeah me too. Oh well there’s always next year
Our church is still going on but we are live streaming and they are advising the sick and elderly to stay home. Some other local churches are closing though. I’m excited cuz this will be my first time playing on a live stream!
Hopefully most of y’all can go to the rescheduled camps.
A very difficult decision, Ben. There is so much unknown and certainly not worth the risks you thought through and stated so well. Though I cannot attend this, am hoping to in the future. Plus, I enjoy hearing the planning and the stories.
My Birthday is the 4th of July, so had I been there…even more birthdays! Meli and I would just love to attend a Camp one of these times. I’m trying to talk her into Mandolin 
Prayers to all as we collectively navigate through the COVID-19 virus. Fortunately, picking at home is a low-risk activity!
There’s a mandolin spot open that I left…
It’s too bad you can’t go it sounds like a lot of people wanted to meet you. Now if only I could convince my parents I need to get better on the mandolin and not the banjo…
There are two sides to every coin. As I’m looking forward to my first camp in July, I just found out this morning that a co-worker in my building at work has a confirmed case of COVID-19. She’s been contagious all week without realizing it. Please pray for her safe recovery. I’m now on quarantine for two weeks and would have missed the original camp schedule. Please take this crisis seriously now so we can all celebrate better days in July. Oh, and Ben, thanks for being such a great leader. You did good. God bless.
Oh my! Wow, that is incredible to hear. Amazing how fast this situation has affected the Camp.
Probably I wouldn’t suggest going that far as for churches are concerned, but then you know what my stand on today’s churches is. So I understand why they cancel services. Bible says the wicked one toucheth him not, I john 5:18. God’s promise of protection as in Psalm 91 is there for those who are under the shadow of almighty or who are willing to come under this power. I reminded this to my kids.
Just start playing the mandolin badly really loud…