Events and Activities : \'Idiot Jam\' returns for Vinton to raise funds for Dollars for Scholars

Brian Parr plays his guitar at the 2010 'Idiot Jam.' The 2011 event takes place Saturday night.

The Seventh Annual Todd Frank Guitar Jam, also called the "Idiot Jam," will begin at 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 10, at the Vinton-Shellsburg high school auditorium, at 218 W 21st St in Vinton. There will be a free will offering to benefit the Vinton Area Dollars for Scholars. This is a nationwide assembly of people who have traveled to Vinton to put on a concert for the public,

This group started with an acoustic guitar player in Minnesota meeting another player from Wisconsin, who introduces him to yet another from Indiana. That person introduces them to people from Mississippi and Arizona, and the web grows until a network of people spans the United States, then Canada, then eventually across the globe. These people keep in touch through the internet, but also gather in various areas to visit face-to-face. This is the seventh year this group will be gathering in Vinton to put on a concert. Todd Frank of Vinton is a member of the group. His nickname in this group is the Village Idiot; the "Idiot Jam" got its name from him.

During the show, each attendee, either in groups or solo, will perform two songs. Even though the music focuses on the acoustic guitar, the genres vary among folk, bluegrass, jazz, old time country and Hawaiian. There might be a couple of fiddles, mandolins or harmonicas spicing up the sound of the evening.

The Vinton Area Dollars for Scholars will be serving refreshments at intermission. Here is a great way to spend an evening enjoying music and supporting local scholarships for kids in the Vinton-Shellsburg school district.