Ojai Concert Series: Meet the Butlers

Kelli & Shane

in England ‘06

About Us

We come to this venture with apprehension, enthusiasm, nervous excitement, and boundless energy.

The apprehension comes from the daunting realization that we could never fill the shoes of Tom and Becky Lowe, who for so many years have tirelessly worked at bringing the best in Celtic and Folk music to the beautiful town of Ojai.

The enthusiasm goes into everything we set our minds to. Whether it be making our home in the wilderness (the hills above Lake Casitas). homeschooling our daughters (Casara and Teralyn) or running a successful contra dance camp (500 miles away in Napa Valley).

The nervous excitement is how we feel about making this series as good as it can be. We have many marketing ideas and are encouraged by good friends who are eager to help us. We also have the boundless energy to give this venture what it takes to succeed.

To give you a little background, we met at a Pasadena contra dance in December of ‘92. Shane, who was living in a trailer on family property in the hills above Lake Casitas, had fallen in love with contra dancing five years earlier in Santa Barbara. He spent most of his free weekends driving (with other contra junkies) to any dance within 100 miles. Kelli, an Occupational Therapist who was visiting family, was at her second contra dance. We hit it off immediately and it wasn’t long before we were working together to carve a homestead out of our little piece of hillside off of HWY 150. Kelli took a part time job at Ojai Hospital (which she still has) while Shane continued working as a carpenter/ranch manager for his father and neighbors.

Our first daughter, Casara Moon, was born on June 6th ‘95, the very day we got electricity to our trailer. That same year we discovered, while taking a workshop, a beautiful little dance floor at Harbin Hot Springs, a spiritual retreat in the foothills of the Napa Valley. While driving home we talked about what a wonderful setting it would be for a contra dance camp and before we even pulled into our driveway, Dance Awakening was born. Oh, besides having a baby and starting a dance camp in ‘95, we also endured one of the worst rainstorms in the history of the Tri County's and got married in our front lawn.

Our first year at Dance Awakening we had a fun Bay Area band called The Hillbillies from Mars and 40 of our dancing friends. Even though Kelli was 7 months pregnant the camp was a success and we all had a wonderful time. Word grew and over the next 13 years Dance Awakening became a very popular and successful camp, with many dancers coming back year after year.

Our second daughter, Teralyn Rain, was born at home in June ‘98 and life was good. We knew that we wanted to homeschool, but not having any friends doing so, we made a little sign, “looking for like minded parents who want to meet and share homeschooling cares and fears” and put it up around Ojai. A few families came and started a support group. Over the next 6 years this little group slowly evolved into the Ojai homeschooling center that it is today, Valley Oak Charter , with over 40 families and 60 students.

In December of ‘03 we removed our trailer and replaced it with a new manufactured home. Over the last 3 years we have added to, and improved upon, the original house plan, creating a beautiful home and a wonderful place to raise our daughters. Shane is presently adding a sunroom with a second floor so that the girls can have their own rooms.

We have made some wonderful friends through the Charter and Ojai Hospital which has given us a deep connection to the Ojai community, and a desire to be apart of what makes this such a magical place to live. We hope that our love of music, dancing, and Ojai will help us keep the Ojai Concert Series alive and strong.

With your help, we know we can.

Shane & Kelli Butler February ‘07