Surprise festival
It had become time for me to visit the Tom Dooley and Appalachian Culture Festival at Whipoorwill Academy and Village. Since it was the first time I could take time off at that time of the year, it was also the first time I was able to visit the festival. It opened at ten AM, and I had planned to be there half an hour earlier, so that I could say hello to my friends who didn't know I was coming. The trip up there from Charlotte was around 85 miles (135 km) and could be done in about an hour and a half depending on traffic. I had set the alarm clock for seven, and after my morning routine, I chose to skip breakfast at the hotel and immediately head north. That is, I set out to drive a few miles west on Interstate Highway 85 to Gastonia in Gaston County, where it meets US Route 321, which I would stay on all the way through Lincolnton and Hickory to Lenoir. When I left the highway in Gastonia, I pulled into a gas station where I had breakfast in the form of a warm ham sandwich with eggs and a cup of coffee to enjoy on the trip north.
Rob
McHale and Margaret Martine in a quiet moment
55 miles (about 90
km) later I reached Lenoir, where I had booked a hotel, but since it was only
about 8.30 AM, it was far too early for me to get a room, so I continued east on
North Carolina Route 18. I could have driven north at Kings Creek on Grandin
Road, which I have often done, but this time I chose to continue to Boomer,
where I then took Beaver Creek Road, where my late acquaintance, Zelotese Walsh
used to live. Like Grandin Road, Beaver Creek Road also leads to NC Route 268,
where the museum is located, but Beaver Creek Road ends closer to "The Village".
When I arrived, there were only a few cars in the parking lot, but I could see
that inside the area, several were parked and many people were setting up
stands. Lotteries, art, handicrafts and much else locally produced, for example
honey, were later sold from these places.
Before getting out of the car, I put on a jacket (it was quite
cold that morning, although the temperature later made it necessary to shed the
jacket), hat, sunglasses and camera, and then headed for the entrance. The first
person I met that I knew was Dick. He looked somewhat taken aback when I
suddenly said "hello", but he quickly recovered from the surprise, which he had
to, as he had a lot to accomplish before the festival opened about 45 minutes
later. He of course asked what I was doing there, which I explained, and then he
told me that Margaret was not there as she had returned to their home to collect
something they had left at their own house, which is in Caldwell County, about 5
miles (8 km) from the museum, When I had left Dick to his business, the next
person I met was Renee Frost, who is one of the volunteers who is on the
museum's board and otherwise helps out when she can. Unlike Dick, she recognized
me immediately despite my "disguise" and I hadn't actually met her since my
visit in 2019! I had met Dick on both of my two previous visits in 2022.
While I was chatting with Renee,
Margaret returned and walked right past me without realizing it was me, so when
I went up to her and said "hello" she almost got a shock, but it quickly passed
and then we had a short chat. Since she was in charge of the event, there were
limits to how much time she had to talk, but we did get to talk a lot during the
day when she had breaks, and I was invited to her and Dick's house on Monday so
we could talk some more. And during the day I also had the chance to meet Marty
and Cliff Anderson, who are also on the museum board and who joined me for
dinner in connection with the Easter trip; see the article
A trip to
Tennessee, a nice dinner and an art exhibition
from
Spring 2022. But
otherwise I sat and chatted with different people I didn't know while we
listened to the music from the stage. Later, my good friend Rob McHale also
arrived. He was to perform at the festival later in the day. He told me that
when he arrived, Margaret had said "You can't guess who's here," and she was
right; he couldn't, but he too was really happy to see me, and invited me to
dinner at his home in Troutman, southwest of Statesville and 45 miles from my
hotel on Wednesday. I was going home on Thursday, so it suited me fine. We were
supposed to meet in the afternoon, so I had the morning for sightseeing.
Some of the volunteers were dressed in 1860s costumes.
At one point I was
walking around looking at the many exhibits and stands that were in the museum
and I was able to buy some tickets for a few of the many raffles that were sold
to raise money for the museum which is run entirely by volunteers and for
donated and collected funds. NB! I didn't win on any of them! I settled down by
the stage where the dance performance was supposed to be, and here I witnessed a
group, the Foothill Cloggers, which, though it may sound strange, are "cloggers".
Clogging is the state dance of both North Carolina and Kentucky and is somewhat
similar to Irish river dancing, except that the upper body is not rigid and it
is allowed to move the arms. Here I recorded a short video for one of my YouTube
channels: Glocal Explorer:
I explore Appalachian Culture Festival - part two -
Clogging. When the display was finished, I
moved on around the museum, among other things to the Tom Dooley exhibition,
where a lecture was given and a film was shown about the case. Outside I met my
good friend, Bill Barnes (featured in several articles) from Matthews outside of
Charlotte. He too was very surprised to see me, and thought I should go inside
and greet his wife, Charlotte, who was actually the one who introduced me to
most of the people I know in the area today. When I came in she was showing and
commenting on a video about Tom Dooley that she and Bill had made several years
ago (they had a video production company). She was so absorbed in her task that
she only noticed me when I sat down on the chair next to her. And then there
were hugs and happy days. They had to stay in the building to entertain other
guests while I went around to see more, but I met them again before it was all
over, so we had a nice goodbye and see you again.
After the visit to the Tom Dooley exhibition, I continued my tour
around the festival area and saw, among other things, the petting zoo arranged
for the occasion before returning to the seats in front of the music stage,
where the performances was still on. While I was sitting there, Rob and his
brother, who is in the band, came over and settled down, as did another musician
I didn't know, and we had a nice chat until Rob had to go back on stage. From
time to time others joined the company, among others a lady whom I had only
known from Facebook until then, Kirsten Jensen Ferguson, who was born in Denmark
but has lived in the USA since she was a child. Today she is in her early 70s,
but wanted to test her Danish, which was quite excellent. In the museum's small
bookshop, they sold, among other things, my book about the Tom Dooley case: Who
Killed Laura Foster, and I had brought a few more copies as a gift that could
bring in a small amount for the "village". Before the day was over, both the
venue's inventory and the ones I had brought were sold out, and when people
heard that I was actually there, many wanted me to sign their copy. Never have I
been so popular as a writer!
When the festival closed at 17, I said goodbye to everyone I knew
and headed for my hotel in Lenoir, where I had not yet checked into. I did that
now, and when I had relaxed for a few hours, I headed out to get dinner. I dined
at a pub called the Sidestreet Pour House in the center of town. After dinner I
returned to the hotel and relaxed for the rest of the evening; after all, I
hadn't slept much the night before, and despite the fact that I hadn't really
done anything, I was still tired after the day's "efforts". That is, I took the
opportunity to make appointments with various people on Sunday and Tuesday, and
thus the rest of the time I had to be there was occupied with meeting friends
and acquaintances.
While I was resting in the room, a heavy thunderstorm broke out, but a little
more about that in the next article.
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