A long time ago, Rick and Karen Maxson met in kindergarten while living in Southern California.

Now, the duo is living in the Missouri Ozarks doing ukulele performances and teaching people how to play the instrument.

On July 10, the Springfield couple visited the Montgomery City Public Library – not once, but twice – to give a ukulele lesson and make a concert performance. Both were held at the library’s community room.

The Maxsons are part of a ukulele band called Uke 66, which is named after Route 66. Springfield is the birthplace of the famous highway, which was first created in 1926. Route 66 will be celebrating its 100th anniversary next year.

“Since we play ukuleles, we thought, ‘Why not Route 66?’ That’s kind of cute,” Rick Maxson said.

The Maxsons created their band in 2014 to provide performances at festivals, street fairs, luaus and other events. They performed throughout the Midwest and in California, Hawaii, Japan and Mexico. Six years ago, Rick won best solo performance and best original song at the International Ukulele Contest in Hawaii. The following year, Rick and Karen won best group performance.

“We do a lot of Hawaiian songs,” Karen said. “We do a lot of luaus in the Midwest. A lot of times, we’re the most Hawaiian thing there.”

Uke 66’s visit was part of MCPL’s Summer Reading Program, which is titled Color Our World. The program ends on July 31.

“We first started corresponding with (MCPL director) Gaylee (Harris) at the end of the year, so we were looking forward to this,” Rick Maxson said.

During the 90-minute workshop, the Maxsons taught the students the basics of playing the ukulele, like how to read chord diagrams and how to hold a ukulele.

“When you think about the ukulele as an instrument, it’s not a surprise that it’s part of a family, just like a singing choir has a soprano, an alto, a tenor and a bass,” Rick Maxson said.

The Maxsons returned to the library later in the evening to do a one-hour concert performance.

Karen has been playing the ukulele for more than a decade. She began working with the Queen City Ukulele Club in Springfield after moving to Missouri. She was invited to be a guest conductor at a ukulele festival later this month in Portland, Ore.

“Karen comes with a boatload of knowledge and skill when it comes to not just to play this little instrument, but to teach the instrument,” Rick said. “Karen is the only human being in our region, probably in our state and in the four-state region, who is a certified ukulele instructor, so we’re very fortunate to have her today. Ukulele is her passion. Teaching is her passion. She has directed our local ukulele club of 25 members for 10 years.”

Rick worked as an associate professor of communications at Drury University. He retired in December 2020.