I came across the Vokuleles in Chico CA in the mid-1990s. They had been together as a performing ukulele group for more than 30 years. Each year they stopped meeting during the summer—temperatures commonly get over 100º in Chico. The second year I was with them, a young woman came to class with tears in her eyes. Her mother, the leader of the Vokuleles had just died on the operating table during heart surgery. The members asked me to take her place. The group played in a retirement home or assisted living facility at least once a month and met every Wednesday at the city’s recreation district. I led them for seven years. The final years of this group overlapped with the beginning years of the Strum Bums in Grass Valley. In 2002 the group decided to disband—most had reached their 80s or 90s and young people were not yet interested in the ukulele. The members of this group taught me numerous songs from the 20s, 30s and 40s. I wrote a tune for them, Song of the Vokuleles. I got to play it for them before we disbanded. A version of it is on the At The Knee of the Stone Mother CD.