Hello all. As I am sure that you have heard, our good friend Randy was diagnosed with lung cancer a short time ago. Initially, they thought it to be 2 tumors--one on the lung and another on the lung near the heart. It appears now that there is another on one of his vertebrae. Randy is currently home after spending several days in the hospital due to a coughing spasm which involved coughing up blood. This happened on his and Shelly's 26 wedding anniversary. He was taken by ambulance to U of I Hospital where they informed him of the danger he was in. Saying that there was chance of bleeding out in a matter of minutes if he did not control the coughing. For this reason, Randy is not taking calls because talking tends to make him cough. He is currently undergoing double doses of radiation and chemotherapy to try and kill the cancer cells. Over the last year or so, Randy has gotten in real good shape walking and riding his bike, but he will need our thoughts and prayers though to get through this. His family is asking all in the flute community to send their best.

Randy's family is trying to manage this all without the benefit of health insurance. The last thing they need is more stress or to worry about how to pay for the treatment. We would like to help in a small way by auctioning off a flute - we hope that the community will be generous and that the flute can go for even more than it's asking price. We will be offering an Old Growth Western Red Cedar right-handed bass F# with Osage orange side-blown mouthpiece and Thunderbird block with a woodlands wrap, valued at $415.00. It's a beautiful flute with a sweet voice. 100% of the proceeds will be given to Randy and Shelly Stenzel. The auction will begin at noon Monday, October 6th and continue until noon Monday, October 20th. Bidding will start at $400.00. A photo and description of the flute will be posted on our website: http://www.woodlandvoices.com The highest bid of the day will be posted daily by 9 pm on the website and again at 11:00 am on October 20th. Bids should be sent by e-mail with Benefit Flute Auction in the subject line.

We invite anyone else to find creative ways to support Randy and his family during this difficult time.

Sincerely
Colyn Kitty & Sam

Bless you for your effort.

I will pass this along to as many folks as I can think of. Best of luck with the auction and my thoughts and prayers go out to Randy and family.

Ed

Thanks, Colyn. Appreciate the update. I will cetainly be praying for Randy and will play the flute he made to send blessings his way.

Thanks, also for being so generous and hopefully others will follow suit. We're a big family and we need to take care of each other.

Blessings!
Jan >^..^<

Colyn,
Thank you for making us aware of Randy and his families situation. Of course, he and they will be in my thoughts and prayers...
Aside from the flute auction (which is a wonderful and generous idea), I wondered if there is a fund set up for Randy, so that those who cannot afford to bid at the level of this flute may still contribute whatever is comfortable for them to help out. Please let us know if such an option exists.
Thanks and bless you all,
Tom

On a couple of different forums I visit there have been times when a member is in need of focused intent (prayer/healing....) The members of the forum agree to a specific time then all light a candle, say a prayer, sing a song ...
I am wondering if we might offer a flute song to Randy and Shelly (their children too) in this manner?
What would be a good time/day for as many of us as possible to make this offering?

The Guest post above is from me. I forgot to sign in..

I've seen that somewhere else, too. Folks choose a time and everyone joins together by playing their flutes.

Great idea, Hawk!

Thanks for spreading the info, Colyn!
Randy is going through some really tough therapies that
are destroying many good and hopefully all bad cells.

We are called to send Randy life-positive support.
I like Hawk's idea that the members of the flute portal pray for
or offer a flute song to Randy - individually - and together, at a specific time.

Colyn, I hope this flute will go for what it is worth (that will be much
more than the price one would normally have to pay)!

Sending love and light to Randy, Shelly and family

The efforts were also underway at Tahlequah. Prayer songs were offered, and donations taken to help. We all are hoping for a positive outcome.

Wonderful thing you are doing Colyn - any chance I can add a $10.00 donation to be included as a total to send to Randy and Shelly?

I know I could just send it to them but I'd like to help you give them a larger amount.

Anybody else want to jump in on this idea if Colyn is willing?

Colyn if this presents some unforseen problems or hassels let us know and maybe a another way can be found for collecting donations.

peace,
David

Billy Crowbeak is also auctioning off one of his crow flutes on Ebay where all the proceeds will go to Randy and Shelly Stenzel. It is item # 320308949089 and can be found here.

Dave

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Randy and his family. If a time is set for prayer and a flute song, I am all for it. If a benefit fund is set up, also let me know.

Prayers and Blessings,

Larry

I agree. Let's do both!

He's in Iowa. We have fluties to the north, south, east, and west of him. We can surround him with prayers and flute songs. Let's set a date.

Also, is there a way we can set up a fund that we can collect money for him? Then we could send one lump sum.

Wow, Now thats a beauty!

I checked the local banks near the Stenzels and there is no fund set up , nor has there been anything in the local paper.
Colyn are you willing to be the receptacle for the donations it appears many of us would like to make? Penni

Great idea David. I'm in too if there is a way it can be done.
dd

Hello all. Just thought I would give you an update on Randy Stenzel. I briefly spoke with him yesterday and he seemed in good spirits. They have just completed the double radiation doses and are soon to begin single doses along with chemotherapy. His energy level is good for 30 minutes or so in the shop each day and then he has to rest. The by product of the cancer causes his joints to hurt. They still have him on codine due to the risk of coughing and he has a long way to go to get out of the woods. Please continue to send your thoughts and prayers for Randy and family.

Blessings
Colyn

P.S. I just noticed many replies to my original message asking questions of me. I apologize for not responding, as I only have an occasional Portal presence. For a more timely response, please e-mail me directly at info@woodlandvoices.com. I have instructed those who have asked to send additional donations to send them directly to Randy and Shelly. Thanks.

rfeatherridge@iowatelecom.net

Randy Stenzel
533 Green Ridge Road
Lisbon, Iowa 52253

I attended the Silverhawk Gathering in Dade City, FL this weekend and the generous and loving folks there donated numerous fantastic items for a separate raffle to raise funds for Randy. They also had a 50/50 raffle pot, and the gal who won it graciously gifted her winnings to Randy! I was told by Lynn Lipford (Jonny's Mom), that $747.00 was raised for Randy, . . . at this very much so . . . "Flute Family" event.

Dusty Moore came through with his promise to make Dock Green some of his famous "Three Sister's Soup" at the Silverhawk Gathering, and a lady saw the guys standing around enjoying their bowls of soup and she wanted to know where they got that glorious smelling soup . . . well, . . . Dusty offered this woman a bowl of his soup and she insisted that she pay for her soup but he said Nope, but you can make a donation to our friend Randy! Sweet!

And, since every little bit helps . . . I will be listing some of my flute stands on EBAY to help raise more funds for Randy & Shelly with many blessing to "Flute Family" folks everywhere!

If anyone is interested in getting something quite handy for your donation buckaroos, I now have a couple of flute stands listed on EBAY to help raise more funds for Randy.
The (standingflutes) auctions are for a "Flute Fever Seven" stand and an "Orchestrate Eight" flute stand which will end Sunday night! Wado Ya'll!

A note from Randy & Shelly:

To our friends and family,
Thank you for all of the prayers, flute songs, drumming, cards, time, meals, wood cutting, phone calls, and energy.
It feels as if we now have somewhat of a grip on life. There for awhile it was just riding the tornado. Now we have a foot down and do not feel so out of control.
Randy is continuing to receive radiation daily through next Tuesday. He had his first chemo on Monday and is scheduled for his second round next Monday. There were no side effects to speak of. His immune system will be compromised so we will be staying out of the public (like we go out a lot anyway :-) ). We are both doing fine and remain forever optimistic for his full recovery. The bleeding has not occurred for a week now and we are looking at it as a thing of the past.
This whole experience has so far been very humbling. We know that we could not walk this path alone. Thank you for walking by our side.We send our prayers to each of you for your continued good health and well being.
With much love and appreciation,
Shelly & Randy

Thanks for that update, Colyn. That is at least modestly encouraging.

Hello Marsha. I forwarded this information to the Miami Valley Flute Circle in Dayton. They have a fairly large group and folks and hopefully they will send an email out letting folks know about your two very, very nice flute stands.

dd

Thank You! I will see Lynn & Jonny Lipford this weekend and we will be putting our heads together to see what else we can do to help out the Stenzels! I will also see if the folks in the Tallavana Flute Circle have any ideas. . . . or a few extra buckaroos to donate!

Many Thanks & Hugs, to all the folks who lend a hand to those in need.

Thanks, Colyn, for keeping us updated.

I'll continue to play and pray for them!

Greetings Ya'll!
I just finished addressing an envelope to Randy & Shelly for the funds that were raised via two very kind portal folks who bid on the flute stands . . . for Randy!

Many thanks to Tom and Penni, for helping me send these wonderful folks a gift of assistance!

I apologize for being tardy about telling you this, but . . .
I received a very sweet thank you note many days ago from Shelly & Randy! They conveyed their vast appreciation and love for everyone's support.

Hoping that we will hear some really positive news about Randy's situation, in about 6 mos. or so. That's about as soon as we might hope for, I think, on positive news.

I've been thinking of doing this for a while now and while growing frustrated with some recording programs I was using on my Dell laptop, I suddenly remembered that our new Mac has something called Garage Band. So, I hooked my mic and mixer up to the Mac and presto, things started to jell.

I was thinking about Randy and how a flute he made for me provided me with many hundreds of hours of enjoyment and inspiration. And I was thinking that it might be nice to share a bit of that with all of you and most especially with Randy. So, attached to this post is something I recorded tonight on my mid G made by Randy. This is the flute that I requested Randy make for me as an exact copy of one of Mary's flutes. It's voice is crisp and clear and still makes wonderful music. (I hope.)

For you Randy. Get well.

Hi freckledsophie, That was a Great Song and a Beautiful Sounding Flute playing it for sure! My Hat is off to you and Randy both on that one! Our prayers are with You and Your Family Randy if you read this, Get Well real Soon! Many Blessings...Robert

Nice, Martin!

I played a song for Randy on the mid G I got from him, also. It wasn't very long and I only recorded it on my tape player. Never sent it. Wasn't much. Maybe one day I'll finish it.

For anyone who is contemplating a flute purchase in the near future, I noticed that Ed Hrebec has posted a whole bunch of really beautiful flutes on his "In Stock" section and he is donating a portion of every sale to help Randy and family. A worthy notion--you can check out the flutes by clicking HERE.

FYI,

There are a couple of Flutes up on E-Bay now with the proceeds going to Randy. One is a Butch Hall Low Cm and the other is a Andrew Begay Em.

The seller is jrice4155 Link:

http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/jrice4155