Ukulele players meet monthly to strum at Indiana library

LOGANSPORT, Ind. (AP) - If you're ever in the mood to jam or learn a new instrument, there's a class for you.

On the third Monday of each month, a group of musicians, and anyone who wants to be, strums and sings along to the likes of "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" and "Daydream" at a ukulele workshop and jam session at the Logansport-Cass County Public Library.

Husband and wife Gary and Jan Wooten co-lead the class, which has met at the library since November. The group learn new songs, practice old tunes and just catch up on life.

"We jam," Jan said.

Gary Wooten has been playing the guitar for about 50 years, so picking up the ukulele was fairly easy, he said. He regularly plays guitar and other instruments at the library's acoustic round robin that meets once a month.

"I like (the ukulele) because I can play in the car," Gary Wooten said. Of course, that's when Jan Wooten is driving, she added.

She started playing ukulele about a year and a half ago. Jan and Gary Wooten occasionally play ukulele with friends around campfires. That's how Jan Wooten bought her first ukulele. She was picking up sticks for kindling on the side of the road, and a lady asked what she was doing.

"I said, 'Well we have campfires and sit around playing ukuleles.' And she says, 'Oh, I have a ukulele I'd like to sell.' So I went to her house and looked at it and bought it," she said.

Sara Walthery has been coming to the class with her husband Pete almost every month. She primarily plays the harp, but the ukulele, she said, brings her back to childhood. Walthery always wanted to play the ukulele as a kid, but never got around to learning the instrument.

She even has a banjo ukulele from her grandparent's house that dates back to the 1930s, but she spent more time on other instruments, such as guitar and recorder, during her high school years.

Now she's getting that chance.

"It's just fun from the get-go," Walthery said about the ukulele. "It's more fun if you play with somebody else. We could have two dozen ukuleles in here and it would sound fine."

June Zinn had last played ukulele as a kid before strumming along at last month's jam session. She also plays the flute and violin.

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Source: (Logansport) Pharos-Tribune, http://bit.ly/2u1QP8u

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Information from: Pharos-Tribune, http://www.pharostribune.com