History of the Mid-Winter Blues Jam

Although the roots of the Mid-Winter Blues Jam came from the early 70’s, the 1990's event had its start January 22, 1994 at Partner’s Pub in Troy Grove, Illinois. I was looking to have a party, but didn’t want it to cost much and yet be able to invite as many friends as possible. After talking to the owners of Partners Pub, Jon and Deb Bradford, and with a number of my musician friends I found that there was interest in a jam session. So I set the date and time and started making arrangements. I sent out about 125 invitations to the first Musical Extravaganza as it was called then. There was a very good turnout with about 150 people during the course of the night and about a dozen musicians playing. Before the evening was half over the musicians were anxious to do it again.

The following year we did a repeat with about the same number of people and musicians. But then Jon and Deb decided to sell the Pub, so being on the Mendota Civic Center Board of Directors I struck a deal and in 1996 the party was moved to the Civic Center.

The first year there were two rooms with two different types of music. The Mission Room as it’s known had acoustic guitar, upright bass, fiddle, mandolin, and such. The Feik Parlor had electric blues. There were about 36 musicians total that year with about 300 attending. Due to overhead expenses, I devised a free will donation at the door - just a box into which you placed donations. No one making sure that everyone paid, although I stood close to the door all night and greeted my friends as they arrived. $1200 was taken in with my cost being $600. The musicians decided that they wanted the remaining money to go to Wally Baker, a long time Mendota resident and saxophone player who was battling leukemia. A few weeks after the event I presented Wally with a check.

The following year 1997, we moved into the Grand Ballroom. Due to inclement weather and my getting the invitations out late, there were about 18 musicians and about 250 in attendance. We were however, able to make a $56 donation to both the Grade School and High School music programs.

In 1998 we did it again in the Ballroom at the Civic Center. Again, there were about 18 musicians with about 300 in attendance. We were able to donate $467 to the Mendota Kanteen Youth Fund, which is a trust fund that distributes interest from the fund to various youth oriented programs in the Mendota area.

1999 saw a change of venue due to my resignation as Chairman of the Mendota Civic Center Board of Directors and political games that were being played at the Center. The Mid-Winter Blues Jam as it was now known, was moved to The Country Ranch located on the old Time Was Village Museum property four miles South of Mendota on the Route 251. This offered several advantages. Drink prices were lower, rent was the same (through negotiations), and those not needing to pass through Mendota on their way home could avoid the "city’s finest" who are known to be quite aggressive as far as DUI’s are concerned. Those who live in town could also enter from alternate routes if desired. Although weather was good many heeded the warnings of the weatherman and opted to not attend. There were around 18 musicians playing again with about 300 in attendance and, although originally billed as a benefit for the Mendota Ambulance Service, at the last moments it was changed to benefit Jack and Sandy Coss. Jack had recently had a football-sized tumor and one of his kidneys removed and was in need of financial aid. The following day I was able to present them with $610 cash as a result of the freewill donations.

All of the above events were by invitation only. Each year I send or hand out almost 500 invitations. To view the invitations for each event, click here.

The millennium Blues Jam scheduled for January 22, 2000 at the Country Ranch was canceled due to lack of enough musicians committing to it. There was interest, but not enough to guarantee a good response.

The "2001: A Mid-Winter Odyssey" took place January 20, 2001 at the Country Ranch location. Click here for more information about that event.

The 2002 Mid-Winter Blues Party was held Friday January 18, 2002 at the Chalet in Mendota. It was a cold but beautiful night. Say Uncle provided the musical entertainment. About 130 people were in attendence. Follow these links to view the invitation and to see financial information.

The Tenth Annual Mid-Winter Blues party was held Saturday January 25th, 2003 from 8:00 p.m. 'til 2:00 a.m.at the Chalet in Mendota (formerly the Water Tower Inn). It featured Crossroads Blues Band as the core band, with emphasis on getting back to the "Jam" part of Mid-Winter Blues Jam. Approximately 20 musicians played to a crowd of over 200 people. Click here to see more.

For various reasons there were several years that the event was not held.

On Labor Day weekend 2010, Tony Martin - a good friend and the lead singer of many groups over the years - was in an automobile accident. It is hard to say this, but even before we knew whether it would be a benefit or a memorial service, plans were underway for a Mid-Winter Blues Jam to be held the following January (2011). This was to be the first event that had more than myself planning it and also the first to not have invitations sent out. Through the efforts of many, many people and with the love of the community, the Tony Martin Benefit/Mid-Winter Blues Jam took in nearly $20,000 to help with Tony’s expenses. More than that, it showed Tony how much he was loved by family , friends and the community. Had not a cent been raised, it would have still been a huge success. The Mendota Moose Lodge was filled to capacity and many hoping to attend had to turn away due to lack of space. I am told that the Moose had to go out thrice to get more beverages to quench the masses. Records were set. Tony was in attendance and even sang a song with “his band”. I wish everyone could have stood where I did to see the look on Tony’s face as he watched the bands. Priceless. View the webpage here.

(Last Updated 01/8/2012)