Do you remember Juke Box Music? Did you have Juke Box Saturday Nights with your friends at the local hang out? I sure did. In fact you could say I was a jukebox junkie putting another dime in the Juke Box over & over again. There was always another song on the jukebox that I wanted to hear. And I loved to dance.
It was always jumpin at the juke box. That jukebox rhythym, the jukebox jive set our toes to tappin. Because of where I lived we did a lot of down south jukin. In fact we’d call each other and say Let’s go jukin
And you know that old juke box kept a lot of us off the streets and out of trouble.
Yesterday my good friend Patric Juillet wrote a wonderful diary about a Juke Box and the dire need the youth in his little town have for something to do.
You might’ve missed it so I’ve copied it here:
I have a favor to ask you. Some of you know that I live in a charming fishing village in the West of Eire, Dingle, to be precise. We have tourists two, sometimes three months of the year, depending on the rain (and, man, it rains, buckets of it, but we don't complain, rain is water, water is good) and the rest of the year, well, it's pretty much empty save for a few stragglers and adventurous backpackers. The current austerity regime inflicted upon the Irish population means that there is less, much less money to go around and support programs such as youth clubs, rape crisis centers, child care, family support teams and just about every social program that looks after the poor and the vulnerable. It's up to us, the employed - for now - and the benevolent, to figure out how to help. My friend Tim, who runs the Youth Club, is at present banging his head against a wall of indifference as the local council is not renewing its pledge of support. Not for this year. Or the next.
Youth clubs are needed to offer an alternative to teenage binge-drinking which is prevalent in Irish society (I could write a volume on why and how to solve it but I don't think it's up to me to change the entire mindset of Irish culture which does involve a certain amount of alcoholism.) All we can do is help raising necessary funds to keep them going. A typical club has a sitting space, a couple of pool tables, a library filled with books and DVDs for lending, a small bar for soft drinks and snacks, recorded music and for those who can afford it, a juke box.
And this is where I come in, me and my big mouth. I said to Tim that I would raise the finance for a super-dupper juke box, a new version that can play MP3, CDs and iPods housed in a vintage casing:
It costs over $800 and I said I would pay half, and raise the other half somehow. And that's where you come in! That is, those good, generous Kossacks who make up the incredible community we have here. But I don't want your money for nothing. I have written a novel, volume 1 of a trilogy, and I'm willing to give the sale proceeds towards the other half until the total is reached. Amazon & Kindle don't make authors rich but it all helps. I will follow up with a diary when we get this gizmo, which the kids here will love. You want to know more about Dingle? I wrote a piece on it, under my old handle. There are some very funny videos at the end. See if you recognize me.
Here's the link for the book, both in print and the Kindle.
I think this is a fabulous project Patric & Tim have going.
What could possibly be more important than giving teenagers a safe place to hang out, provide the types of entertainment that kids enjoy and a way to hear their music & socialize.
Please help these kids get their music!
We only need 38 generous Kossacks to donate $15 each to get these kids jukin!
YOU can help this happen. Be a Juke Box Hero
Please purchase the delightful book Patric has written.
OR~
If you would like to donate money towards this worthy effort please:
Go To PayPal
find the tab at the top that says Send Money
click on the drop-down selection Internationally
From the list select Ireland which will change the currency to Euro’s.
(Right now ONE Euro = $1.47)
Click continue
In the TO box put: pjuillet@eircom.net
In the from box put your email
I thank you, Patric & Tim thank you
But most importantly these kids will have alternatives.... somewhere they will want to go to hang out & stay out of trouble.