By Diane Emeott

New owners of Markee, Keith Ridenour and Derek Assaf, recently back from building a new facility in Tennessee, acquired Markee Music from Mark Begelman in May.

Guitarist, songwriter and producer Keith and bass player and engineer Derek Assaf have been involved at Markee since its construction in 2010.

Ridenour got interested in playing guitar when he and his drummer brother Randy were kids watching a band rehearse in their living room.

“We would watch them rehearse, absorbing every fiber of the music and wanting to emulate them — and gravitated to playing. One year for Christmas, we got used drums and a used guitar! Our dad used to run dances at the old Chamber Building for the Deerfield Beach Jaycees. He used to run them at the Deerfield fishing pier as well.”

Ridenour’s father Ray also wrote poetry — inspiring Keith’s later songwriting ability.

Keith and Randy went to Deerfield Beach High School and played all the dances, including Homecoming, Sadie Hawkins … and all over Broward County, Miami-Dade County and West Palm Beach.

“We were in a band called Black Watch,” said Keith. “I was able to record my first record as a teenager, at age 17, at Mike Pinera’s studio in Miami.”

(Other bands Ridenour has played with include Harvest, a Southern Rock band; Uproar, a Pop Rock band; Razor Red, a Pop Metal all original band, and, most recently, Black Water River, a Doobie Brother’s Tribute Band.)

In 1993, Keith and a silent partner built Ridenour Studio in Oakland Park “where everyone from Ricky Martin and Aerosmith to Johnny Depp, Foreigner and Steve Winwood would play.”

Keith sold that Ridenour Studio in 2003 to move to Nashville where, for the next eight years, he continued songwriting and producing.

As CD sales became less prevalent in 2009 and 2010 (with songs available online), Keith decided to come back to South Florida to open Markee studio with former President and CEO of Office Depot Mark Begelman – who started Mars Music in Ft. Lauderdale in 1996 and later sold it.

At the end of 2017, Keith and Derek went back to Nashville. In 2018, they built ‘A Ridenour Studio’ in Murfreesboro, TN, a suburb two miles from Nashville. It caters to music students from nearby Middle Tennessee State University (MDSU), as well as the prestigious local talent pool of legendary Nashville, also known as “Music City.”

In May 2019, Keith and Derek returned to Deerfield to buy Markee from Begelman.

Offerings

As a one-stop venue for all things musical, Markee offers:

Music Lessons – In its three soundproof music lesson studios, Markee provides professional lessons on guitar, bass, piano, drums, vocals, technology and songwriting by highly skilled musicians who all have a wealth of band experience.

Rehearsal Studios – Known as ‘the finest rehearsal space in South Florida,’ Markee offers six, fully-equipped, 342 sq. ft. soundproof rehearsal studios.

Recording Studio – The state-of-the art recording studio is fully equipped with Pro Tools HD and Logic 10. From Focusrite to Genelec, Markee has what it takes to record any genre of music, from Hip Hop to Gospel to Rock ‘n Roll.

Markee Performance Room: The recording studio adjoins a beautiful 875 sq. ft, fully-equipped performance room with a six-piece DW drum kit and 24-channel soundboard, perfect for full band-based recording sessions, recitals and other performances.

What’s new

Keith and Derek are in the process of upgrading all the gear and equipment at Markee, ‘A Ridenour Studio,’ in Deerfield. This includesall new drum kits in the Rehearsal and Recording studios; guitar and bass amp[lifiers]; all new vocal monitors; all new mics; cabling and a new console in the recording studio.

A new venture for Markee is offering Backline Rentals, which literally means all of the back line of musical equipment that typically appears onstage when a band plays. For example, guitar amp(s), bass amp, drums, keyboard, microphones, percussion.

Whether you need a guitar amp, bass amp, drum kit, percussion or instruments, Markee has it to rent. Keith said he and Derek were recently in talks with Pompano Beach Amphitheater about Backline Rental, as well as all other surrounding cities.

Special deals

Lesson Special – Buy three lessons, get one free ($30 per half hour, $55 per hour).

Recording Special – A Markee customer exclusive: Recording package: five hours. Get four hours of recording time plus one hour of set-up time to record up to three songs.

What Markee recommends:

Set up and mic-ing begins one hour prior to playing

You arrive 15 minutes prior to playing (for personal set-up)

Sound check 20 minutes

Recording tracks: 1 hour 10 minutes

Markee engineer mixing: 2 ½ hours

Walk out with a CD!

Regular Price: $375. Markee Customer: $262, which equals a 30 percent savings!

*If you need or desire more time, Markee will discount the regular rate of $69 per hour down to $60.

For more information, call Markee at 954-794-0033 or visit www.markeemusic.com.

Shriek Week

Oct. 19 to 27

Sugar Sand Park

300 S. Military Trail

Boca Raton, FL 33486

Haunted houses, black-light games, animal exhibits, LED robots & DJ shows, magic shows and more are all happening on various days during Shriek Week. Kids can even Trick or Treat here. Find out all the details at www.sugarsandpark.org.

Annual Halloween Festivity

Friday, Oct. 26, 6 to 8 p.m.

Oveta McKeithen Recreational Complex

445 SW 2 St.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Get a sugar rush as you “Trunk or Treat.” Stay busy with the cookie decorating station, participate in a pie eating contest, enjoy bounce houses, balloon artists, face painters, and arts & crafts! Don’t forget to dress up for the costume contest at 6:30 p.m. Awards will be handed out for age groups 12 & under. Also, walk through their very scary Haunted House, if you dare! For more information, contact Constitution Park at 954-480-4494 or Oveta McKeithen at 954-480-4481.

Trick-or-Treat Trail

Saturday, Oct. 27, noon to 4 p.m.

Deerfield Island Park

1720 Deerfield Island Park

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Kids of all ages are invited to explore the Trick-or-Treat Trail at Deerfield Island Park. Visit the Mad Scientist’s Lab and try to figure out what’s cooking in the Crazy Chef’s Kitchen, and stop by the Creature Feature station! To sign up, e-mail info@friendsofdip.org by Oct. 24. (Please include name, phone number and number of attendees). $8 per person donation to the Friends of Deerfield Island Park. Donation includes water bottle and candy! A free boat shuttle for the island departs from Sullivan Park (1700 Riverview Rd., Deerfield Beach). Shuttles take approximately five minutes. For additional shuttle information, call Quiet Waters Park at 954-357-5100. For more information about the event, call 954-357-5100.

Halloween Hoedown

Saturday, Oct. 27, 5 to 8 p.m.

Villages of Hillsboro Park Center

4111 NW 6 St.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33442

This family fun festival includes games, a Kiwanis cookie station, a pumpkin patch, a bounce house and hayride. Live music from Juna N Joey starts at 5:15 p.m. followed by the costume contest at 6:30 p.m. Parking is located at Quiet Waters Elementary School, 4150 W. Hillsboro Blvd, where a free shuttle will run from 4:45 to 8:30 p.m. For more information, contact Constitution Park at 954-480-4494 or Oveta McKeithen at 954-480-4481.

Send us pics from your Halloween & Harvest events. E-mail observereditor@comcast.net.

Fall Festival

Saturday, Oct. 20, Noon to 4 p.m.

Pioneer Park

501 NE Eller St.

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Pick out the perfect pumpkin from the pumpkin patch, run through a hay maze, enjoy live entertainment, pet some animals in the petting zoo, ride on a hay ride, enjoy tasty treats and more! Complimentary shuttle from the Middle School Athletic Complex (501 SE 6 Ave.) to Pioneer Park. The shuttle will run continuously from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Trick-or-Treat Trail

Saturday, Oct. 27, Noon to 4 p.m.

Deerfield Island Park

1720 Deerfield Island Park

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Kids of all ages are invited to explore the Trick-or-Treat Trail at Deerfield Island Park. Visit the Mad Scientist’s Lab and try to figure out what’s cooking in the Crazy Chef’s Kitchen, and stop by the Creature Feature station! To sign up, e-mail info@friendsofdip.org by Oct. 24. (Please include name, phone number and number of attendees) $8 per person donation to the Friends of Deerfield Island Park. Donation includes water bottle and candy! A free boat shuttle for the island departs from Sullivan Park (1700 Riverview Rd., Deerfield Beach). Shuttles take approximately five minutes. For additional shuttle information, call Quiet Waters Park at 954-357-5100. For more information about the event, call 954-357-5100.

Shriek Week

Oct. 19 to 27

Sugar Sand Park

300 S. Military Trail

Boca Raton, FL 33486

Haunted houses, black-light games, animal exhibits, LED robots & DJ shows, magic shows and more are all happening on various days during Shriek Week. Kids can even Trick or Treat here. Find out all the details at www.sugarsandpark.org.

Have Halloween or Harvest Festival happenings? Let us know. E-mail observereditor@comcast.net Also, send us pics of your events too!

You shall observe the festival of harvest, of the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall observe the festival of ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. Exodus 23:16 NRSV

The transition from summer to autumn is something we all experience. Even if we live far from the closest farm or in a place where the trees remain green and the weather remains hot, we know it is autumn because school is back in session and football is back on TV. There is an energy that comes with this change of season and we see attendance pick up in church as well.

The word autumn and fall are used interchangeably everywhere, even in places where leaves do not fall from the trees. In rural America, another word can be used in lieu of autumn or fall — harvest.

Harvest brings back memories of my youth in rural Minnesota. My town’s entire economy revolved around the single time when farmers gathered their crops. In the rural Midwest, we put the word “culture” in agriculture because our culture was so dependent on the farms that surrounded us.

During the summer, we followed the crops. I remember my grandma and grandpa, retired farmers, would hop in their car and drive out to the fields just to see how the crops were doing. In the café, you would hear people talk about crops the way some people talked about their favorite sports team.

“Looks like a rough year for beans.”

“How ‘bout that corn?”

“Tough year for sugar beets but I have high hopes for next year.”

Even town people earned money doing work for farmers.

Harvest was a happy time. Even during difficult years, God always found a way to provide and we were grateful. We celebrated in church with worship and potluck dinners. Even though our liturgical calendar did not specify a day of celebration, we artificially inserted the harvest and, truth be told, it was right up there with Christmas and Easter. Well, not quite, but pretty close.

My kids are native Floridians. Even though Florida is every bit as agricultural as any state in the midwest, my kids grew up close to the beach and far from any fields.

My wife and I would joke: “I think they think fruits and vegetable grow in boxes in the produce section of the grocery store.” (If we didn’t make an effort to show them the contrary, they probably would have believed that).

I love the autumn with the change of routine and the slight change of weather. I love the excitement that goes with the beginning of school. Even as an adult, I love the smell of a brand new notebook or a box of crayons. I enjoy a good game of football, as much as the next guy. But I do miss the harvest. I miss the spiritual component of autumn that reminds us all that God’s providence is abundant. And I do believe that it is time to bring it back.

For our friends in the Jewish faith, the High Holidays definitely have roots in the agricultural cycle of God’s people. There is a connection between the New Year and the harvest that is scriptural. God commands his people to celebrate!

When I look at our liturgical calendar, the calendar that sets the seasons of our liturgical year, we are in “ordinary time” until Advent. Ordinary time? Give me a break. Yes, Thanksgiving is generally connected with harvest, of sorts, but it is not officially recognized as a liturgical holiday, at least not for Lutherans.

If we bring back the harvest, we bring a spirit of gratitude and thanksgiving back to our culture. We recognize the link between our Creator and the food that we have on the table. We stand to gain and lose nothing in the process. The need to bring back the harvest is so self-evident to me, that I cannot believe that we didn’t do this sooner. God is the Lord of the harvest, let us celebrate as God commands us to do.

It is time to bring back the harvest!

Pastor Gross is a pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, located at 959 SE 6 Ave., Deerfield Beach, FL 33441. For more information, call 954-421-3146 or visit www.zion-lutheran.org.

The fall season is a time of cooler temperatures, brightly colored leaves, and anticipated fruit and vegetable harvests. Northern states tend to see and feel the season more than we do here in South Florida, where 80 to 90 degree temperatures still taunt us. The many harvest festivals, pumpkins, apples and store displays serve to remind us that it is here nonetheless.

Fall, also known as autumn, is so named because of what happens to leaves as the weather grows colder in most parts of the country – they eventually fall from the trees. The season was originally identified as harvest due to its status as the last opportunity to reap a crop for the year.

We live in a time when you can buy just about any fruit or vegetable year ‘round regardless of the season. Importing from various countries with different climates from ours translates into mangoes, watermelon, and coconuts in winter. Our tropical climate means we get to enjoy these things practically year ‘round. The more that is locally grown, the better for us and local farmers. The farmers can only sell what they grow, however. And they can only grow what they intentionally plant.

This principle extends beyond agriculture into our lives and experiences as well. You reap what you sow. Sowing happens when we invest, put in, or contribute to something. If you invest in learning, you will reap an education. If you put effort into your exercise regimen, you will reap better health. If you contribute to the productivity of your employer by possessing a good work ethic, you will reap a salary and perhaps a bonus or raise.

This idea of sowing and reaping affects our relationships as well. What we get out of our interactions with each other is directly related to what we put in.

In fact, Jesus’ command in Matthew 7:12, also known as the Golden Rule, directs us to sow with good intentions. “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” So, if I expect my neighbor to treat me fairly, I need to be fair with him. If I want patience and mercy from others because of my inabilities and frailties, then I must be patient and merciful with them when I am subject to theirs.

This is an inescapable fact of life and human experience. You reap what you sow. It is far easier for us to respond to people in kind. Try being friendly and gracious with your server at the restaurant on your next visit and see if you don’t get better service than when you were irritated and demanding. Galatians 6:7 makes it plain, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” You cannot sow strife and expect to reap peace. You cannot sow hate and expect to reap love. You cannot sow discord and expect to reap unity.

What kind of harvest would you like this season? If you have sown good seeds of compassion, kindness, and patience with others, then you can look for an abundant return of the same in your life. If you have sown negative words, attitudes, and behavior then don’t be surprised when those same things return in multiplied measure. It’s never too late, however, to change the course of our lives by adjusting our outlook to realize that we can have some effect upon what happens to us. In this season, let us intentionally sow good seeds so that we may reap a good harvest.

Bishop Patrick L. Kelly is the pastor of Cathedral Church of God, 365 S. Dixie Hwy., Deerfield Beach, FL 33441. 954-427-0302.