RIPON – The San Joaquin Valley Swiss Echoes, dressed in their traditional Swiss attire, will present their Spring Concert and Dance Saturday, April 21, at the Swiss Club hall in Ripon, on the corner of East Main Street and Manley Road.

The evening will feature special entertainment by the Van Ott Family. Helen, 19, plays the piano. Theresa, 18, plays the alto and soprano saxophone. Melissa, 18, plays the clarinet. Thomas, 16, plays the accordion and alphorn. Maria, 10, sings and yodels. Nicholas, 8, plays the trumpet and yodels.

The Swiss Echoes will be performing songs and yodels from their ancestral homeland. The 35 members of the Swiss Echoes come from surrounding areas of Brentwood, Elk Grove, Escalon, French Camp, Galt, Oakdale, Manteca, Modesto, Ripon, Stockton, Sacramento, and Turlock. They rehearse weekly at the Swiss Hall in Ripon.

The Ripon concert program will begin promptly at 7:30 p.m. The Ed Inderbitzin Orchestra will be playing Swiss tunes for visitors’ dancing pleasure right after the concert.

Advance ticket sales for the concert and dance are available for $8. These pre-sold tickets are available from any Swiss Echoes member, or you may call Heidi Betschart (Modesto, 531-2577), JoAnn Kaufmann (Stockton, 951-6674, Alice Hafer 823-3448) or Marie Schallberger (Lodi, 369-2546.

Concert and dance tickets can be purchased at the door for $10 each.

A Rippli (smoked pork chops) dinner will be served by the club before the concert, from 6 to 7 p.m. Seating is limited for dinner with the deadline for presale tickets April 17. The cost is $12.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m.