History Master OOTFA

1 THE STORY OF THE OREGON OLD TIME FIDDLERS ASSOCIATION 1967 - 2000 2 Oregon Old Time Fiddlers Association President Fred Hardin I want to take this opportunity to extend our thanks from all the members of the Oregon Old Time Fiddlers Association to Roger Germundson and Lew Holt for making the history of the Oregon Old Time Fiddlers Association available for us to read and enjoy. It all started with a thought that Roger had that we should welcome the year 2000 with the history of our association. With many phone calls, letters, interviews, twisting of arms, reading old documents and many, many hours of typing, it has become a reality. It now serves as the early history of our association and the foundation for our history that follows. Fred Hardin, President OOTFA 1999 – 2000 Copy number _________ of 300 First printing OOTFA History 1999 MAC Computer using OFFICE 98 by Lew Holt 3 “A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault.” (John Henry Cardinal Newman) Preface Many important long remembered happenings occurred during this century. For Jackie and me personally, something “happened” to us that we never anticipated, nor did we ever dream of doing. In fact, we weren’t even aware of the organization we were about to join, when we were invited to the Oregon Old Time Fiddlers Association annual convention. Wow! I’ll never forget that weekend. We were only at Roseburg for an hour or two and I knew this was an organization I wanted to join. We were a couple of years from retirement and were looking forward to some traveling. Many of you know the “rest of the story.” We did indeed join and were immediately put to work straightening out our nonprofit status with the I.R.S. and that was followed by two years as President of the organization. Well, our lives were definitely changed. Here we are now actually playing fiddle music and loving every minute of it and traveling all over the country to do it. The Oregon Old Time Fiddlers Association is one of the best old time fiddle and old time music groups in the United States. We have in our midst some of the top fiddlers in the U. S. Now how did this organization get started? Who were the people who started it? Was it always a statewide organization? We had all these questions and many more. We had heard bits and pieces of the history, but thought that the turn of the century would be a wonderful time to pull our history experiences together and put them in written form. What a better way to celebrate the new century than to memorialize the old with the history of our wonderful fiddle association. So here we are folks. I talked to Lew Holt and he thought it was a good idea (as did the general membership) and agreed to be the editor, and to compile our history in written form. Lew has compiled a great human interest type history of the Oregon Old Time Fiddlers Association. We know you are going to thoroughly enjoy our interesting history as he has prepared it for you. Roger Germundson President Oregon Old Time Fiddlers Association 1997 - 1998, 1998 – 1999 4 THE STORY OF THE OREGON OLD TIME FIDDLERS ASSOCIATION As told by issues of the Hoedowner from 1967 - 1999, by many members who have shared their memories and by those who left their history for us. Introduction In 1998 Roger Germundson, who was then president of the Oregon Old Time Fiddlers Association could see the year 2000 approaching and proposed that a history of the Oregon Old Time Fiddlers Association should be compiled by that time. The membership agreed and authorized him to proceed with the project. How does one write the history of our association? Each district and all members were invited to contribute to the history of their district as well as some of their early memories of the association. Individuals responded with their memories of the formation of their district and with stories. We should recognize that most people did not keep records, so turned to their memories and memories of others for their information. One person may remember something a little differently than someone else does. Dates may actually be different from the memories of people. It was difficult to arrive at some correct spellings. Was it Charley or Charlie? It was spelled differently from time to time. Is it “oldtime” or is it “old time?” The history of our association is its people. We are very thankful for their willingness to share their memories. The history has now been written as remembered by those who contributed to this document. Without the back issues of the Hoedowners, the history could not have been written in detail . We are thankful to Ruth Loring and Donna Oldham for supplying sets of old Hoedowners starting with the first issue and up to the present. There are, also, “minutes of the state meetings” starting in 1980 to the present which furnished more information. We are indebted to Linda Danielson for giving us permission to use her very fine articles. They tell the story of “old time fiddlers in Oregon.” We are fortunate that she did the research and writings back in the 70s and later. Many of the fiddlers she quotes are no longer with us except in her writings and our memories. Some readers may feel that there is too much emphasis on those that are no longer with us. Maybe so, but it is done to both show that they were a part of our “fiddle family” and that we must remember those who have contributed so much to our organization. Not every passing was recognized. Some of your favorite people may have been left out. 5 Any written project of this nature will no doubt have the bias of the writer and of those who contributed to its writing. I recognize this and admit to it. Other times it may seem repetitious to list those who were at the early jams. This was done in writing this history to show who the active fiddlers were in those early days. They were the ones who helped get our association off the ground and contributed to its development into the fine organization that we have and enjoy today. You will recognize many of the names. Others are forgotten, so it is important that they be listed and their names become a part of our history. As I write to other fiddlers across the U.S. by e-mail, I find out that none can compare to our association. The founders of the Oregon Old Time Fiddlers Association left us with a model for many of our activities which we follow to this day. We are a close knit group of fiddlers who can get on a stage and play together as if we had practiced all week. We are not an association of “stars” but rather a group sharing the same interests. We are making history today for those that follow us . our jam last week or the one next month will someday be “our history” for members to read about in the their time. Lew Holt _________________________________________ History of The Oregon Old Time Fiddlers Association (From the archives) The story of the Oregon Old Time Fiddlers Association is typical of fiddling organizations in the United States. During the decade of the 60’s there was an awakening of interest in old time fiddling, motivated by a desire to preserve this important part of our heritage before it was gone past the point of re- capturing. Most of the state fiddling associations in the U.S., including Oregon’s, were formed during this period. A group of fiddlers met in Waldport to perform for a show in 1964. Cliff Buker, an old time fiddler of Waldport suggested that an association of fiddlers be formed. Later that year in Hillsboro, the Oregon Old Time fiddlers Association was created, with Cliff Buker as President. The purpose of the organization, stated in the by by- laws, was to “preserve, encourage, and promote old time fiddling.” The Association grew rapidly. It became necessary to begin a newsletter to keep members advised of fiddling activities. Cliff Buker, founder and first president, became the editor of a monthly newsletter. He called it “The Hoedowner,” and began publishing news of interest to fiddlers and their fans. Since its inception in 1965, “The Hoedowner” has regularly supplied news of jam sessions, fiddle shows and old time fiddling contests. 6 The Association has continued to grow, both in numbers and vitality. Today, ten years after its birth, it is one of the largest organizations of its kind in the nation. In 1973 the State Association was divided into eight districts with complete control of its affairs remaining part of the State Association. This has made it easier for people in each district to meet for the kind of informal fun and music-making that is typical of old time fiddling get-togethers. It is not necessary to be a musician to belong to the Association. Anyone is welcome who wants to keep old time fiddling a living, vital part of our lives. Wayne Holmes (circa 1974) ________ Found on a scrap of paper in the archives: “This is a copy of the charter members. Interesting to note $1.00 was paid by each. We are often asked who the charter members were.” Allen Rice, Cliff Buker, Dave Hilen, Harold Allen, Fred Hildebrandt, George Jenkerson, Bill Durham, Bill Yohey, Larry Modrell, Jimmy Miller, Loyd Wanzer, Ray Mack, Merv Whitmore, Dave Quinlan, Ken Brank, Verna Blaine, Agnes James, Dave Murray, L.

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