STL 2011 December Contest Entry

This is our entry for the 2011 December Contest that Ocarina Diva is promoting with prizes from STL Ocarina (stlocarina.com). If we win, we would like to have our ocarinas go to our mission in Barahona, Dominican Republic. They would be used to teach 15 poor, Dominican children of our community how to play the ocarina, and make music.

Four of my children, my wife and I visited four different nursing care centers on Christmas day, 2011, to try to bring some joy, and Christmas spirit into the lives of these elderly people. The video only shows scenes from two of those places. The video could have easily been 15 minutes long, but I tried to keep it down to only 6 minutes.

This was such a good thing for my family to do. We have gone to nursing homes to play before, but it was special to go on Christmas day. My family gave up their Christmas meal to do this, and I was proud of them to be willing to do so. We really enjoyed ourselves, and it was good to see the people we played for enjoy our music.

Of course, the MaxRange Triple Bass will go to our entire family to play and enjoy. Thank you for watching, and Merry Christmas!

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• stl
• ocarinadiva
• ocarina
• diva
• 2011
• christmas
• contest
• entry
• stlocarina.com
• jewell
• care center
• december

[AngusMacFurgus]

Congratulations on winning! You were truly a blessing to those who were fortunate enough to hear you play for them on Christmas Day! I loved your music choices and played along with you, while I listened to your video. Thank you so much for sharing with those folks you visited and for gifting us with your Christmas spirit and joy!

[CrownofJewells]

@AngusMacFurgus - Thank you for your kind comment. We played a lot more music than what is on the video. I just didn't want to make the video extremely long. It was a lot of fun for us, and is a memory that I think my kids will have for the rest of their lives.

[mlcool96]

Hey, amazing video and project! I just wanted to ask how the whole family got into the ocarina. Was it one member that inspired the rest or was it a group thing? Once again I just want to say how much I liked your video. You almost caught me singing to my computer once or twice- :)

[CrownofJewells]

@mlcool96 - We learned about the ocarinas a long time ago through an internet search. I discovered the Mountain Ocarinas first, but decided to purchase a set of Hind inline ocarinas since he had them in ranges from Soprano to Bass. I arranged some music for the ocarinas we purchased, and added the number coding that Mr. Hind recommends to the music, and we were off. It just progressed from there.

[ocarinadiva]

I think it's really amazing that you guys came together as a family to do something wonderful like this on Christmas day! Thank you so much for entering the contest!

[CrownofJewells]

@ocarinadiva - Thank you, Cris, for your kind comment. It means a lot to us when people say such nice things. Your contest is the best thing I have seen anyone do in a long time. I think it is great the way you encouraged people to help other people.

[Gyzyn]

You guys deserve a gold medal for this, this is what christmas supposed to be all about.

[jeremyfrancis]

I work as an aide at a nursing home and am also an ocarina enthusiast! What an inspiring video! love it! Congratulations!

[SilentlyFuming]

Wow, to see your whole family go out and do this. Congrats on the win, it was clearly deserved.  :)

[CrownofJewells]

@earthwolf150 - I am glad that my kids were willing to sacrifice the big meal to do this for these people. We did get some food later on, and were able to spend a couple of hours with my wife's family afterwards. Thank you for your very kind comment.

[CrownofJewells]

@HiroshiZMatsu - Thank you for being so kind with your comment.

[CrownofJewells]

@agocska - Thank you for your comment.  My children and I really appreciate it.

[CrownofJewells]

Thank you to everyone who congatulated us for winning the contest put on by Ocarinadiva and STL Ocarina. We are donating the plastic ocarinas to poor children in the 3rd world country of the Dominican Republic. We are going to attempt to teach those children how to play their new instruments. We know that they will be very happy to own a musical instrument of their own, and learn how to play it. Thank you Ocarinadiva and STL Ocarina.