Thanks to everyone who Showed up, helped out and/or performed at the Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage on Friday, April 25, 2025. Some Photos can be found on our Facebook Group at Facebook Link. Thanks to Carol and the Sound Crew and to everybody else who helped out before, after and during the event. We had a great turnout and our lengthy performers list included lots of folks who have come back from our past to join in for the final meetups. Many performers chose to do only single songs to fit everyone in and still wrap-up at a reasonable time. Our next and final show will be Friday May 16, 2025. Our performers on April 25th were:

1. Egan Baird
2. John Walker
3. Sonny & Vivian
4. Eric Greenspoon
5. Kate Dudek
6. Jakki Annerino
7. David Maranta & Pete Ahrens
8. Russell Allen Scott
9. Gordon Castle
10. Wayne & Richard Reinhardt
11. Joe Forster
12. Edward J Barrington
13. Max & Jake & Norm
14. Ron Hammar
15. Ken Brown
16. Chris Lobsinger
17. Cam & Pat

For the last Black Walnut event we will have free admission and cake. There will be paid refreshments as usual.

We will be giving the Mill Courtland Community Association (Guitar Club) a donation in appreciation for our positive relationship with them for the past 20 years. They will be in attendance with several other people from the community centre.

Because of the expected crowd and also needed time for presentations, it will be a 1 song for each performer or group. And we insist that people leave their keyboards and extra instruments and gadgets at home. There will be cake. Break will be determined by crowd size, but may not happen.

We’d love to see you!!! Doors open and performers’ sign-up starting at 7:15pm. We will aim to finish at about 10:00 pm. A few other things that we are expecting are:
1 Strong reminder for performers: Don’t forget this is for music, not for stories, spoken word, magic tricks, etc… AND don’t play along when someone else has the stage, unless they ask you to share the stage with them;
2 We insist that people leave their keyboards and extra instruments and gadgets at home . We do not have enough time to get any benefit from the stuff that performers have been bringing. Sorry, but 5 minutes is not a very long time and our own mics work very well;
3 Performers may use removable foam pop filters (windscreens) which they will obtain, install, remove and keep for the next time. We hope all performers will bring their windscreens that we gave out previously. Now is probably a good time to hand wash the foam windscreens (separately so the dye wont stain any other stuff). They wash and air dry nicely. We will keep a small supply of these available which we will sell for $1 each to cover our costs;
4 Masks will not be mandatory but they will be welcomed, AND
5 Anyone who has been recently exposed to or has symptoms of COVID, Flu, RSV or other contagious illness is directed to stay away.
Bring your guitars, accordions, voices, acoustic instruments of all sorts or just your eyes and ears and make yourself feel at home. Do not feel shy because you have not played for us before.
The doors will open and sign-up for the open stage will start at 7:15 pm. When you sign up you get to play/sing one song in a set of 5 minutes or less and you need to be ready to start playing when your turn starts so you won’t lose any of your 5 minutes.
The entrance and free parking are at the back of the Mill-Courtland Community Centre and there will be no charge for admission. The facility is wheelchair accessible, alcohol, smoke and peanut free and every show is different. If you don’t come, you’ll miss it.
If you are having any difficulty with viewing any content, please post a comment or send a private email to: wayne@blackwalnutfolkclub.com We have posted our “Code of Conduct” and other details on our website: https://blackwalnutfolkclub.com .

Folks I hope you are doing well and that you are ready to come out on April 25th (One week later than originally planned) for the penultimate Open Stage. The Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage will be back at the Mill Courtland Community Centre, 216 Mill Street in Kitchener on Friday, April 25, 2025 at 7:30-10:00 pm. Our final 2 dates are:
Fridays, April 25 and May 16 in case you’d like to come out one last time. We’d love to see you!!! Doors open and performers’ sign-up starting at 7:15pm. We will aim to finish at about 10:00 pm. As a rule, if we have more than 3 performers left at 9:30 we may limit the last performers to one song and no more than 5 min. We find that this may be necessary when more than 14 performers are signed up or if there are unusual delays. A few other things that we are expecting are:
1 Strong reminder for performers: Don’t forget this is for music, not for stories, spoken word, magic tricks, etc… AND don’t play along when someone else has the stage, unless they ask you to share the stage with them;
2 We strongly discourage use of your own mics other than SM57 or SM58 and do not bring any add-on processor/pedals/effects, amps or other sound gear. We do not have enough time to get any benefit from the stuff that performers have been bringing. Sorry, but 10 minutes is not a very long time and our own mics work very well. If you need a keyboard please bring it in at doors-open so that we can set it up in advance;
3 Performers may use removable foam pop filters (windscreens) which they will obtain, install, remove and keep for the next time. We hope all performers will bring their windscreens that we gave out previously. Now is probably a good time to hand wash the foam windscreens (separately so the dye wont stain any other stuff). They wash and air dry nicely. We will keep a small supply of these available which we will sell for $1 each to cover our costs;
4 Masks will not be mandatory but they will be welcomed, AND
5 Anyone who has been recently exposed to or has symptoms of COVID, Flu, RSV or other contagious illness is directed to stay away.
Bring your guitars, accordions, voices, acoustic instruments of all sorts or just your eyes and ears and make yourself feel at home. Do not feel shy because you have not played for us before.
The doors will open and sign-up for the open stage will start at 7:15 pm. Remember when you sign up you get to play/sing two songs in a set of 10 minutes or less and you need to be ready to start playing when your turn starts so you won’t lose any of your 10 minutes.
The entrance and free parking are at the back of the Mill-Courtland Community Centre and admission is still $3 at the door. The facility is wheelchair accessible, alcohol, smoke and peanut free and every show is different. If you don’t come, you’ll miss it.
If you are having any difficulty with viewing any content, please post a comment or send a private email to: wayne@blackwalnutfolkclub.com We have posted our “Code of Conduct” and other details on our website: https://blackwalnutfolkclub.com .

Thanks to everyone who Showed up, helped out and/or performed at the Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage on Friday March 21, 2025. Some Photos can be found on our Facebook Group at Facebook Link . I am sorry that I did not get photos of all performers. Jakki helped me out with two of them. We had a couple of new to Black Walnut performers and several other performers who we have not seen much of for quite a while. Some performers were limited to a single song to accommodate our long list as follows:

1. Al Parrish
2. John Walker
3. Ellen and Dan Hergott
4. Eric Greenspoon
5. Jay Collins
6. Jakki Annerino
7. Gordon Castle
8. Michelle and Kevin (NEW)
9. Peter van der Maas
10. Richard and Arthur Wayne
11. Ron Hammar
12. Neil Light
13. Sunny and Vivian Tran
14. Carley and Joachim
15. Russell Allen Scott
16. Jack Cooper and Robert Reid (NEW)
17. Kate Dudek
18. David Maranta
19. Cam and Pat
20. Chris Lobsinger

Stop the Press: We have an important announcement. The next Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage Night has been postponed until Friday April 25. The Hall has been commandeered for the Federal Election Advance Polling. Please update your own calendar.

The Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage will be back at the Mill Courtland Community Centre, 216 Mill Street in Kitchener on Friday, March 21, 2025 at 7:30-10:00 pm. Our final 3 dates are:
Fridays, March 21, April 18 and May 16 in case you’d like to come out one last time. We’d love to see you!!! Doors open and performers’ sign-up starting at 7:15pm. We will aim to finish at about 10:00 pm. As a rule, if we have more than 3 performers left at 9:30 we may limit the last performers to one song and no more than 5 min. We find that this may be necessary when more than 14 performers are signed up or if there are unusual delays. A few other things that we are expecting are:
1 Strong reminder for performers: Don’t forget this is for music, not for stories, spoken word, magic tricks, etc… AND don’t play along when someone else has the stage, unless they ask you to share the stage with them;
2 We strongly discourage use of your own mics other than SM57 or SM58 and do not bring any add-on processor/pedals/effects, amps or other sound gear. We do not have enough time to get any benefit from the stuff that performers have been bringing. Sorry, but 10 minutes is not a very long time and our own mics work very well. If you need a keyboard please bring it in at doors-open so that we can set it up in advance;
3 Performers may use removable foam pop filters (windscreens) which they will obtain, install, remove and keep for the next time. We hope all performers will bring their windscreens that we gave out previously. Now is probably a good time to hand wash the foam windscreens (separately so the dye wont stain any other stuff). They wash and air dry nicely. We will keep a small supply of these available which we will sell for $1 each to cover our costs;
4 Masks will not be mandatory but they will be welcomed, AND
5 Anyone who has been recently exposed to or has symptoms of COVID, Flu, RSV or other contagious illness is directed to stay away.
Bring your guitars, accordions, voices, acoustic instruments of all sorts or just your eyes and ears and make yourself feel at home. Do not feel shy because you have not played for us before.

The doors will open and sign-up for the open stage will start at 7:15 pm. Remember when you sign up you get to play/sing two songs in a set of 10 minutes or less and you need to be ready to start playing when your turn starts so you won’t lose any of your 10 minutes.
The entrance and free parking are at the back of the Mill-Courtland Community Centre and admission is still $3 at the door. The facility is wheelchair accessible, alcohol, smoke and peanut free and every show is different. If you don’t come, you’ll miss it.
If you are having any difficulty with viewing any content, please post a comment or send a private email to: wayne@blackwalnutfolkclub.com We have posted our “Code of Conduct” and other details on our website: https://blackwalnutfolkclub.com .
No-Smoking Reminder: The entire Community Centre property is included in the City of Kitchener policy of a total ban on smoking on the property. That includes tobacco, marijuana and other smoking and includes both inside and outside the Community Centre.

At 8 pm we will lock the outside door and put a notice there to say, “The building is closed to all those who are not participating in the Black Walnut Open Stage Event from 7:30 pm – 10 pm. Please knock at the rear doors so that you may be admitted to that event.”

We started our open stage, on January 17th, with an announcement by Ellen Hergott that the Black Walnut Folk Club will cease to exist after the Open stage in May of this year. Thank you so much to all the musicians and volunteers, present and past, for making the Black Walnut Open Stage the great success it has been. Our final 4 dates are:
Fridays, February 21, March 21, April 18 and May 16 in case you’d like to come out one last time. We’d love to see you!!!

Back to our next Open Stage Nite: Doors open and performers’ sign-up starting at 7:15pm. We will aim to finish at about 10:00 pm. As a rule, if we have more than 3 performers left at 9:30 we may limit the last performers to one song and no more than 5 min. We find that this may be necessary when more than 14 performers are signed up or if there are unusual delays. If you miss this date, our next open stage date will be March 21, 2025. A few other things that we are expecting are:
1 Strong reminder for performers: Don’t forget this is for music, not for stories, spoken word, magic tricks, etc… AND don’t play along when someone else has the stage, unless they ask you to share the stage with them;
2 We strongly discourage use of your own mics other than SM57 or SM58 and do not bring any add-on processor/pedals/effects, amps or other sound gear. We do not have enough time to get any benefit from the stuff that performers have been bringing. Sorry, but 10 minutes is not a very long time and our own mics work very well. If you need a keyboard please bring it in at doors-open so that we can set it up in advance;
3 Performers may use removable foam pop filters (windscreens) which they will obtain, install, remove and keep for the next time. We hope all performers will bring their windscreens that we gave out previously. Now is probably a good time to hand wash the foam windscreens (separately so the dye wont stain any other stuff). They wash and air dry nicely. We will keep a small supply of these available which we will sell for $1 each to cover our costs;
4 Masks will not be mandatory but they will be welcomed, AND
5 Anyone who has been recently exposed to or has symptoms of COVID, Flu, RSV or other contagious illness is directed to stay away.
Bring your guitars, accordions, voices, acoustic instruments of all sorts or just your eyes and ears and make yourself feel at home. Do not feel shy because you have not played for us before.
The doors will open and sign-up for the open stage will start at 7:15 pm. Remember when you sign up you get to play/sing two songs in a set of 10 minutes or less and you need to be ready to start playing when your turn starts so you won’t lose any of your 10 minutes.
The entrance and free parking are at the back of the Mill-Courtland Community Centre and admission is still $3 at the door. The facility is wheelchair accessible, alcohol, smoke and peanut free and every show is different. If you don’t come, you’ll miss it.
If you are having any difficulty with viewing any content, please post a comment or send a private email to: wayne@blackwalnutfolkclub.com We have posted our “Code of Conduct” and other details on this website.
No-Smoking Reminder: The entire Community Centre property is included in the City of Kitchener policy of a total ban on smoking on the property. That includes tobacco, marijuana and other smoking and includes both inside and outside the Community Centre.
At 8 pm we will lock the outside door and put a notice there to say, “The building is closed to all those who are not participating in the Black Walnut Open Stage Event from 7:30 pm – 10 pm. Please knock at the rear doors so that you may be admitted to that event.”

I just want to let everyone know that after 30 years we are closing down the Black Walnut Open Stage. May will be our last open mic. We have been at the Mill Courtland Community Centre since September 2000 and they have been very supportive of our open mic nights. The centre will be closing for an 18 months long renovation, so we decided that this is a good time to complete this musical adventure. I have been part of the organizing group almost since the beginning in 1994. It has been a highly supportive venue for performers of all skill levels to share their music with a listening audience. We’ve had an eclectic mix of music over the years from hundreds of talented performers from far and wide. We have had a dedicated team of volunteers to run sound, set up and provide refreshments. For me personally, I am so grateful to have been part of this. I have met so many amazing musicians and have made so many wonderful friends over the years. I will really miss the Black Walnut. After the May open stage, we will sell our equipment and donate the proceeds plus any funds in the bank to local charities. Thank you so much to all the musicians and volunteers, present and past, for making the Black Walnut Open Stage the great success it has been. Our final 4 dates are:
Fridays, February 21, March 21, April 18 and May 16 in case you’d like to come out one last time. We’d love to see you!!! Doors Open at 7:15 for musician sign-up. 216 Mill St. Back entrance.
Here is the Black Walnut timeline for those who are interested. Autumn 1994-Waterloo Region Arts Council Office, February 1995 -Gerritt’s Village Tavern, July 1995 – Jester’s Court (the current Boathouse), September 1997- Laurel Room, September 2000 to present – Mill Coutland Community Centre.