A happy-go-lucky performance: Skilly and Duff team up with Operation Happy Note

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Mikko Cowdery’s Irish music show, which features Skilly and Duff and friends, will take place next Saturday, March 13.

The annual music show will take place at 7:30 p.m. at the Alexandria Area Arts Association (AAAA) Theatre in downtown Alexandria.

Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the AAAA box office or by calling (320) 762-8300.

Only one show is scheduled this year, so organizers encourage the public not to miss out.

This year’s show is a fundraiser for Operation Happy Note, a non-profit organization that sends free musical instruments to American troops deployed around the world, according to its founder and chairperson, Barb Baker.

The month of March is not only the fifth anniversary of Cowdery’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Irish music show, it is also the fifth anniversary of Operation Happy Note.

The annual Irish music show will feature the Skilly and Duff quartet, who were first place winners in the 2009 Minnesota Irish Fair music competition. The quartet includes Cowdery, Anne O’Flynn, Bruce Kelly and fiddlin’ Sam Steidl.

Other performers in the show include Chuck and Michelle Wencl, Terry Kennedy, concertina wizard Greg Lehrke, 11-year-old songbird Lily Satterlee and others.

One of the special guests of this year’s concert will be Cassie Wiesner, who is known throughout the region for her outstanding Patsy Cline performances.

Cowdery said, however, that what most people don’t know is that “Cassie is a superb singer of Irish ballads.”

Another feature this year will be the ever-adorable St. Agnes School Irish dance line, which is under the direction of Tonya Hetland.

This group of young dancers performed in Cowdery’s fundraising show for St. Agnes School in January and they did such a fine job, he said he had to invite them to perform at this show.

As always, Cowdery said his shows are about having fun for the whole family.

“It’s a great time for a grand cause!” he said.

About Operation Happy Note

Operation Happy Note was started when Steve and Barb Baker, owners of Fergus Music in Fergus Falls, sent a guitar to their son who was stationed in the Middle East.

His friends expressed an interest and soon, the Bakers were sending free instruments by the dozens.

Over the last five years, Operation Happy Note has sent more than 2,800 instruments to troops overseas.

All profits from the Irish music show will go to Operation Happy Note for the purchase and shipping costs of supplying free instruments to U.S. service men and women serving overseas.

Anyone who has musical instruments they no longer use that are in good condition can donate them to Operation Happy Note. Instruments can be brought to the AAAA Theatre the night of the show.

For more information about Operation Happy Note, check out its website at www.operationhappynote.com.

Tags: hot events, skilly and duff, operation happy note, entertainment, events, irish, music