Essay: Our Summer Vacation

Posted by Jenny

Hey Friends!
Autumn doesn’t begin until September 23rd but when Independence Day passes and August comes on, we can’t get help but get that “back-to-school” feeling; especially since we both work in higher education! But of course when we were kids and school still started in September, back-to-school did mean fall was here; or fast approaching anyway. So even though autumn is still more than a month off, and school still doesn’t start for a couple weeks, we hope you are enjoying the last of the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer before the night chill sets in and thoughts turn to spiced cider, candy corn, and Christmas lists.

That being said, we haven’t written to you nearly as much as we would have liked to this summer. But that doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy! Like you, we’ve been enjoying our fun in the sun and we even squeezed in a family vacation to the mountains.

We kicked off our vacation with the annual fireworks display at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. This year’s entertainment featured Gator Allmond and the Spice of Life. I really enjoyed their performance. They had a tight and polished sound and I love any music with funk done right. I couldn’t find a website for Gator and his crew, but here’s an article where you can learn more about them.

Above: Gator Allmond and the Spice of Life.

The next morning we set out for beautiful, quaint Maggie Valley, North Carolina. My parents used to take my siblings and I there almost every summer and with my sister Trish and nephew Sean visiting, we all made the trek together. It sure was refreshing to breathe cool mountain air in early July!

Above: Sean, Trish, Jenny, Trudy, Barney, and Sherri wait for their train.

One of the highlights of the trip was our family excursion on the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad. The trip from Bryson City to Nantahala Outdoor Center offered beautiful views of the mountains and Fontana Lake. At the depot, before the train departed, a bluegrass band from Bryson City who call themselves the Barn Cats performed high-powered train tunes and lively old-time songs for the waiting passengers. They were good. If only I had my fiddle with me!

After the train returned to Bryson City we visited the Smoky Mountain Trains toy train museum which, next to wading in the Oconoluftee River in Cherokee, was probably the highlight of my trip. Trains of every scale filled the museum, and a huge model train layout with dozens of trains and tracks filled an entire room. And no toy train museum would be complete without a hobo encampment. When I look at this scene, I can almost hear the hobo with the guitar in the boxcar singing “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues” by Chris Thomas King off of the Oh Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack.
When vacation ended, that by no means put an end to our musical meanderings. Pickin’ in the Park was soon to follow. If you recall from last year, I was almost disappointed not to have the 9 o’clock train roll through as is customary. Well, it more than made up for it this time. The engine came through early as we were just getting started about 6:30. Apparently it was on its way to hitch up the cars because around 8:30 it rolled by again… and kept rolling… and rolling… I’m not sure how many cars were on that train. (Enough, I reckon, to take two hours to hitch up). But after a little break, we were right back to the banjo breakdowns.

Above: "Look a yonder comin', comin' down that railroad track. It's the Orange Blossom Special bringin' my baby back."

Last weekend, Mom’s cousins were visiting from Tennessee and we wanted to give them a grand night out. It just so happened that they timed their trip perfectly- they were here for the last Saturday of the month. And you know what that means. Yup, I got to go jam at Clear Run. For those who don’t recall, Clear Run is an old grocery on the Black River in Sampson County and is my favorite bluegrass jam. I don’t go as often as I like because it’s about an hour and a half drive from home. It was a great night, too. David brought his guitar and we had a great time jamming with friends both old and new. And of course we had to play Rocky Top for our Tennessee crew.

Above: The Little Wharvey Gals. Just kidding! Cousins Linda, Trudy, and Novella.

Orange Blossom Special: Round 2 (Amos missed it the first time!)

Well, time marches on and I must be off. Happy trails to you, until we meet again!

Pickin' in the Park

Posted by Jennifer

On the third Friday night of the summer months, the Warsaw Chamber of Commerce holds “Pickin’ in the Park” in Veteran’s Park, downtown Warsaw, North Carolina. We don’t get to go terribly often as we work so far away from Warsaw, and since last month was a rain-out we weren’t sure we’d get to make it at all this summer. But as luck would have it, we had lovely weather for an outdoor jam. Pickers gather under the porch and spectators bring their lawn chairs to watch from the grass. Mr. and Mrs. Martin sell hot dogs and drinks for the Chamber and we usually make those our dinner for the evening.

The crowd of pickers was a small group this night. Football season has started for the schools so Pat Mathis was unfortunately unable to make it there. We sure missed hearing him sing the “Pickin’ in the Park National Anthem”- otherwise known as “Just a Bowl of Butterbeans” sung to the tune of the gospel song, “Just a Closer Walk with Thee.” But J. B. Herring was there with his harmonica, good friends Ray Carter and Tom Evans with their guitars, and trusty David Merritt with his banjo. Lou Gagliano was also there fiddling and… well, what does one call fiddling on a viola? Faddling? (Hmm, maybe that’s where Fiddle Faddle came from? Yum…) William Best and the Bullards were also there to enjoy the festivities.

One fellow from the Duplin Times was there taking photos for the paper. He said a good photo might also be used in a free community calendar next year. As he came around asking for pickers’ names, he said to me, “I hear you’re a championship fiddler, is that right?” I was a little surprised by this, wondering who would’ve told him such a thing. I replied, “No, I’ve never competed.” Only after this did I think of a hundred wittier things I might’ve said- but being quick-witted is David’s forte, not mine.

The jam went on and the cicadas sang along but we couldn’t help but be disappointed when the train didn’t come through town in the middle of our jam. It seems that every Pickin’ in the Park I’ve been to was interrupted by the 9:00pm train whistling and chugging along. Over time, the train’s grand entrance lent a certain charm to the event- particularly when you consider that some of the crowd’s favorite tunes are train songs such as the “Orange Blossom Special” and the “Wabash Cannonball.” But no amount of train-tune-picking could bring on the train that night.
We ended, of course, with Pickin’ in the Park’s second signature tune, “Goodnight, Irene.”

Here's the short article that was in the Duplin Times: