FFS Board of Directors

Volume 43 Edition 8 August 2014 Submit articles to: [email protected] By the 15th of each month FFS Board Of Directors A Non-Profit Corporation for Traditional Arts President Denise Sciandra [email protected] Notes from Board President, Denise Sciandra Vice President Paul Starcevich [email protected] Sue Lyon Beevers lost her six month battle with brain cancer. I can Secretary tell by reading and hearing the tributes to her that she was a Sue Wirt wonderful person beloved by many. I would like to have been in the [email protected] group of people who was privileged to know her. Treasurer Jim Ross I wish to share a moving tribute by Bruce Honeyman. "I didn't know Sue well [email protected] but I am indebted to her. When I first arrived in Fresno in 1976 as a Concert Master transplant from my native Kansas, the first group I started hanging out with Steve Ono [email protected] was at the Blackstone House and the beginnings of the Fresno Folklore Society. Always welcoming and always musically inspiring, Sue Beevers and Membership Patty Bennett Maria Wortham threw legendary parties and monthly Folklore potlucks. [email protected] Music, song contest, and dancing all organized around a theme made the Lifetime Member ordinary potluck extraordinary. It's where I first got to listen to and play with Alan Hubbart Kenny Hall, the Bluesteins, Frank Hicks, Joe Holly, Alex Brashear, Paul Members At Large Anastacio, Harry Liedstrand, Donn Beedle and all the early musicians of that Linda Guerrero [email protected] era. Sue and Maria made a soft landing for me and I've felt right at home since─one of the many reasons why I've stayed and made Fresno my home. Bill Lehr [email protected] And for the benefit of all, forty years later the FFS musical events are still Karen Starcevich working their magic here. As Maya Angelou said, 'I have learned that people [email protected] will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will Ann Lamb never forget how you made them feel.' I'm indebted to Sue for helping me feel so welcome here. Bless you, Sue, for the beautiful, artistic life you lived Bill Johnson [email protected] here for all of us to see and partake of, and for all the people you touched and inspired along the way." Flyer Editor Bill Johnson [email protected] Maria Wortham responds: "Bruce, you are so right! Except to give credit where it's due, Sue was the one who organized both the Blackstone House Calendar Editor Maria Glover parties and the Folklore Society. I think I was pretty good at doing whatever HM 559-322-8677 she told me to do to make it happen. I'm so glad you remember those days as Cell 559-281-8278 [email protected] fondly as I do. I will never forget the yodel song contest where the winner got a sack of garden tomatoes and a certificate." Logo Design by Tom Walzem The Fresno Folklore Society “Flyer” is a monthly publication. at Otto Creative FFS P.O. Box 4617 Fresno, CA 93744 Banjo Frog Art Submit articles for publication to [email protected] by Jon Adams by the 15th of each month President’s Notes (continued) The Bluestein family paid tribute to Sue as well at their somewhat impromptu family reunion concert on July 13th featuring brothers and sister, Joel, Evo, Jemmy and Freyda and also appearances by the next generation, Isaiah and Masha. The song they played and sang in memory of Sue Beevers (and Betsy Blossom) was "Carter's Blues," a love song whose final verse is: "So fare you well my charming little love, O meet me in that land above, And when we meet there in that land, We'll take no more this parting hand." In the July FFS Flyer, there was an story about Sue's Life Work, a final Dragon Lady play that Sue wanted to put on CD and give as a gift to all of her friends. That CD will be available at her memorial on August 2nd. The dedicated group of friends turned heroes that made sure that the CD was completed in time for Sue to hear it includes Steve Ono, Jemmy Bluestein, Margaret Tynan, Nate Butler, Sherron Brown, Linda Dryden, Jacinda Potikian, Isaiah Bluestein, Patrick Contreras, Blake Jones, Ken Taylor and Rick Canfield. This special CD is Sue's final gift and a thank you to all the folkies who gave their time and energy to participate in her wonderfully original Dragon Lady plays over the years. RSVP to: [email protected] A Kenny Hall Tale, as told to Evo Bluestein by Ron Tinkler and Peter Everwine Fresno Folk History (continued). More Pierce’s Park interviews, (the Centerville bar–now closed, beside Highway 180 on the Kings River) as told to Evo Bluestein. Why? It was an important place for music, before the Fresno Folklore Society. From Ron Tinkler, banjo player with The Sweet’s Mill Stringband (which came after The Sweet’s Mill Mountain Boys) I guess it was probably 1961 or 2 that we started going out to Otis Pierce’s which was known as Pierce’s Park. Pierce’s Park was a bar and a piece of land on the King’s River, southeast of Fresno. There was a campground and a big dance hall downstairs. In the ‘50s Maddox Brothers and Rose played at Pierce’s Park–Spade Cooley too. My folks would go down there. Some of us continued to go to Pierce’s Park until 1968. Whoever was around would go out there Wednesday or Thursday and sit around the Pierce’s Bar from the front (recent picture). stove. Otis would unplug the jukebox so nobody would put a quarter in it, hide the balls for the pool table and tell everybody that it was music time. You could either sit and listen or you could leave. Those were kind of house rules and nobody messed with him. That’s where I learned to sit and listen, mostly. Things went by that were precious moments. From Peter Everwine, Poet, CSUF Professor, Banjo player in The Sweet’s Mill Mountain Boys It was a rough place and I don’t think your dad liked that sort of stuff. I had a ball. I took a lot of bullshit from them because they knew I was from the university. They’d call me peckerwood and like that. But it wasn’t mean. They accepted me. Made fun of me but listened, and I played. I had a good time. I don’t think your dad would have liked being called peckerwood. I Peter Everwine don’t remember him coming out to those things, frankly. He may have been there a little but I can’t recall him being there very much. Otis was tough. He carried a gun. He carried one of those black saps–filled with lead–nasty stuff. And I’ve seen him use it. He was rough. It was not an easy place. I was okay out there. I was never harassed or threatened. I always felt I could sit in quite easy. Ron (Hughey, fiddler) didn’t do much of that. Frank (Hicks, guitar) didn’t go out there. Frank didn’t like bars. When we went up to the Jabberwockey (Berkeley) I remember Kenny (Hall) came with us. Kenny liked a Guinness or two every now and then. Frank didn’t like “At the Bar” recent photo that. taken through the crack in the chained up doors We used to go out to Pierce’s in the winter. Otis had a big wood stove and we’d sit around there and play music. I remember Otis would always play a song called Don’t You Hear Them Wolves a-Howlin’. I could never figure out what the hell it meant. A fellow named Charlie, when he was sober, would join in on fiddle. Otis was the big cheese there. Whatever he said would go on. You didn’t fool with Otis. He didn’t stand for much nonsense. He didn’t like unruliness. He didn’t like drunks or people shoving around too much and he wasn’t polite about it. I went to his funeral. It was remarkable. There were photographs of him playing. He was laid out in brand new bib overalls. Brand spanking new, the kind he always wore–black bibs. There was a hell of a crowd. It was in Centerville. It was very moving. If I remember right, Eleanore (Otis’ daughter) was there– sang some hymns. They had his banjo leaning there, next to the coffin, a big photograph of him playing it. It was a nice ceremony. August , 2014, FFS Business Meeting The FFS Board Meeting for August, scheduled for Monday, August 11 at 7:30 pm at the Santa Fe Basque Garden Room, is also the annual general membership meeting for results of the Board election and election of officers by the Board. It is an open meeting (as are the others) with the main business being that of election of officers. As a non-profit corporation, at least one annual meeting is scheduled for general membership each year and this is IT for 2014. (Sue Wirt) Teresa Tudury with Doug Adamz Aug 24 6:30 PM Mia Cuppa Cafe 620 E Olive Ave Fresno Ca $10 ADV/FFS $12 door Advance tickets at National Hardware, Patrick's Music and fresnofolkconcerts.com 559-307-3610 Teresa Tudury Teresa Tudury is an absolute original.

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