The Biggest Ukulele Club in the World!

Article by Nina Koocher. Andy Andrews and Peter Thomas are seen here by the pier in Santa Cruz, California. They are the ‘legendary founders’ of the Ukulele Club of Santa Cruz, the biggest ukulele club in the world!

Andy Andrews and Peter Thomas are seen here by the pier in Santa Cruz, California.

When Andy Andrews met Peter Thomas, shortly after the fourth Ukulele Extravaganza, a huge house party hosted by Peter and Donna Thomas, it was kismet. Soon after they agreed to start the club but neither could have guessed how many ukulele players there were hiding in the Santa Cruz woodwork. The first meeting drew 30 people. A notice was put in the local paper and by the third meeting they had doubled their size and outgrown their meeting place, a brew pub called 99 Bottles. They were floored. The agenda was simple. They had a few strum alongs, a little bit of ukulele education and a performance. Ukulele Dick was the first “special guest performer.” And Tony Graziano (renowned ukulele luthier) gave the first tech talk. (More about these characters in the next installment.) Their first strum-along was “Under the Boardwalk” and it quickly became the club’s anthem. The club was a force of nature.

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