Associations
The North Florida Bluegrass Association will be awarding two scholarships for $250 each in November. Anyone studying bluegrass, age 18 or younger, may contact the NFBA Scholarship Committee before Aug. 31 for an application. Info: www.nfbgrass.org

The West Michigan Bluegrass Association will hold their first annual WMBMA Songwriter Contest in May, 2011. Each contestant is invited to submit two original songs to be performed and judged by a panel of judges and audience participation. Soloists or bands are welcome. Cash and prizes will be awarded. Contact Ruthie Ellers for more info: whiteriverpickers@hotmail.com

The line-up for the Americana Honors & Awards Show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. Sept. 9 includes Emmylou Harris, the Avett Brothers, Rodney Crowell, Wanda Jackson, Rosanne cash,  Patty Griffin, Sam Bush, the Carolina Chocolate Drops and more. Info: www.americanamusic.org

Broadcast Media
A June 27 article in The Tennessean reports that Nashville is the latest city to take part in a real-time radio audience survey system that has led to surprising ratings changes and shifts in music formats the past three years at stations across the country. The PPM (“portable people meter) is a cell phone-size listening device based on submarine technology that tracks every radio broadcast its wearer hears. 
Donna Ulisse was featured on the Sirius XM show, Track by Track, hosted by Kyle Cantrell on the Bluegrass Junction channel, broadcast July 21-18. Ulisse chatted with Kyle about her new bluegrass gospel CD, Holy Waters.  

Gracie Muldoon, founder and DJ of www.WorldwideBluegrass.com, has suffered a stroke and is currently unable to return to work because of problems with vertigo. To send a card or donation to Gracie, write to PO Box 54668, Cincinnati, OH 45254-0668.

Event Producers
The Bethel Woods Bluegrass Jamboree is a new bluegrass festival planned for August 22 in Bethel, N.Y., hosted by the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. The line-up includes Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys, The Travelin McCourys featuring Dan Tyminski, Rhonda Vincent and Cherryholmes. Bethel Woods Center for the Arts is a 15,000-seat outdoor performing arts center and museum located 90 minutes from New York City at the site of the original 1969 Woodstock festival.

BanjoFest 2010 will be held Aug. 11 at St. Lukes Lutheran Church in Bloomington, Minnesota, and will benefit Guitars for Vets, a non-profit organization that enhances the lives of ailing and injured veterans by providing them with guitars and music instruction. Free guitars and lessons are offered to veterans through VA facilities. Performers include German banjo stylist Andy Glandt with Minnesota banjo players Eli Hoehn and Tom Nechville. Info: www.StLukes.ws, www.guitars4vets.org

The Big O Music Fest is a new festival planned for Owensboro, Ky. on August 13-14 at Reid’s Orchard. The line-up includes Mountain Heart, Randy Houser, Mark Wills, Josh Gracin, Gary Allen, Jamey Johnson, Phil Vassar, Colt Ford, Brian Davis and Jaclyn Graves. Info: www.bigomusicfest.com

Our sympathy is extended to Darrel Adkins, producer of Musicians Against Childhood Cancer in Columbus, Ohio, whose mother, Opal Whitt Adkins, passed away July 17 at the age of 95. Every year she made a hand-pieced quilt to be auctioned at the festival to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. and the YMCA.