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DECEMBER 9. 1992
The Athens Folk Music and Dance Society’s
Christmas With the
I envisioned The Athens Folk Music and
Dance Society's Christmas party to be a
casual event just as the rescheduled North
Georgia Folk Festival is, the pretense under
vrtiich I was going to the party It was located
at Folk Society members Renee and William
Bender's house in the land of WatkinsviJIe. I
took enough left and right turns at ends of
roads and three- and five-way intersections
to confuse anyone so the secluded location
of their home will remain a secret l couldn't
return to the house surrounded by very tall
trees with the bow on the mailbox and the very
long driveway if I tried.
As I entered the festively decorated
Bender house I immediately noted my dress
code faux pas as I scanned the room and saw
party goers in dresses and heels, jackets and
ties, and one participant in a kilt with festive
wear in the form of Santa hats, elf ears and
jingle bells present as well. I felt as though I
had entered the inner sanctum of a treasured
group of friends who welcomed me with hand
shakes and directions to the mulled wine and
eggnog as though they'd known me for years.
No one minded my non-folk society member
status, the ex-ex president ex-president and
former Vice President among others filled me
in on the workings of the almost decade old
Athens Folk Music and Dance Society. As I
found, that's just the way the Folk Society is.
There's no excuse for most of us to be friends
if not for the music, but there's a sense of
community without which we wouldn't con
tinue being a group.* said Lena Lane, an
AFMDS member.
Ten years ago, the folk society wasn't an
official group, just a group of people who
loved folk music and square dancing who
gathered at the former Sparky's in the old flea
market every Monday night for the "Hoot* and
held dances. The Hoot was a family event in
its heyday at Sparky’s, an evening of families
eating together, listening to acoustic music
and biuegrass Some of these same folks put
together the once and sometimes twice a
year benefits for the old food co-op with
music provided by the folk band Southern
Crescent The folk music lovers lost their
home when Sparky's prematurely closed to
make room for the yet-to-be-built civic center.
‘All of sudden, we had no venues bringing in
folk talent* said Ned Bridges in a Santa hat,
one of the original folk society founders and
former member of Southern Crescent. They
moved the Hoofs to the former Rockfish Pal
ace for a couple of years, said Barbara
Edwards, an ex-officer and active member of
the dub dressed in elf gear complete with elf
ears, green Santa’s helper hat and pointed
shoes, "but it was never the same *
• Instead of losing the camaraderie and
musical outlet, eight of the people formed the
university-affiliated non-profit Athens Folk
Music and Dance Society to preserve the
recreation they so enjoyed. Membership has
increased from those eight members, who
are still all a part of the Fdk Society, to
hovering around 250 for the past two years.
Their biggest challenge since Sparky's dosed
has been finding a permanent place that suits
Folks
their needs. They've tried Lulu's for the Hoot
until the restaurant in NormaItown cecided
not to hold musical events and the former
Unitarian Church on Prince Avenue for their
dances until the church moved and the build
ing was sold, but they long for their own
place They'd settle for renting a space with
kitchen facilities, wooden floors and operi
space for dancing, along with a certain ambi
ance but until they find those things they put
10 percent of every profitable event they hold
into a building fund.
As I wandered between the living room
and kitchen talking with people, music in a
back room would periodically drift out. At one
point the string bass, two guitars, a fiddle and
banjo sounds spilled into the kitchen in a
Beatles song but around midnight I heard the
music I expected to hear at a Folk Society
party accompanied by stomping feet People
were dancing, buck dancing I was told, on
one side of the room, as the musicians sat in
a circle playing in the other half of the room
while lookers-on tapped their toes in the door
way Buck dancing involves a bit of heel
stomping, high stepping and twirling part
ners to a lively tune. This was old-time music,
someone said, though it sounded like blue-
grass to mo. As I found out this was not a
typical folk society gathenng, it was a Christ
mas party, hence the music in the back room
If it was a pickin’ party, said Sam Bentley,
former society president and wearer of kilt,
the banjo, mandolin, fiddle, and guitar play
ers would be the central focus of the party in
the living room. If you wanted to talk, you'd go
outside, "but when you've got a really hot
pickin’ party, there’s old-time in the living
room, Irish music m another room, biuegrass
in another,* he said
The success of their events is partly due
to their publicity. "We're one of the strongest
and most organized folk societies in the South
east Nobody does a newsletter like we do.'
Bridges said, referring to their quarterly pub
lication that announces the biuegrass, Cajun,
acoustic blues, Celtic, and Appalachian string
musical events they sponsor. "People have
learned over the years, ever, if somebody
doesn't know who the musician is. they know
it’s quality sound,* said Bridges passionately
of the successful turnout at their events The
music has a lot of depth, a lot of history, and
a lot of soul."
One of their most popular events is the
annual North Georgia Folk Festival spon
sored by the Folk Society and assisted by the
A/Clarke County Arts and Environmental Edu
cation Department. The division is coordi
nated by one of the group's original founders,
Joel Cordle The Folk Society also sponsors
Cajun dances, square dances, several con
certs a year, and song swaps upstairs at The
Globe on the third Monday of each month. To
become a member of the AFMDS, mail your
check for $8 to Athens Folk Music and Dance
Society, PO Box 346, Athens, GA 30603 As
a member, you will receive a quarterly news
letter, other announcements about events
and $1 off all Folk Society events
Deborah Hinnchs
Folk Festival Fun
The 1902 North Georgia Folk Festival will take on a new time, location, and
entertainment category on Saturday, December 12. The festival usually occurs oU-of-
doors at Sandy Creek Park in early fall but was rescheduled due to rain Enclosed by
the Georgia Theatre, the Folk Festival will assume more of a concert atmosphere-no
need to bring lawn chairs or large blankets in hopes of sprawling-but there will still be
lots of good music
E’ght music and dance
groups will perform from 6
pm until 12:30 a m Festival
goers will experience a vari
ety of entertainment ranging
from the stories and songs of
The Swamp Guinea String
Band to the Appalachian
style footwork of the Bullfrog
doggers, ana the mag'C fin
gers of fiddler Gid Tanner
and the Skillet Lickers The
Shepherd Moon Garland
Dancers win make their debut Festival appearance, gracing the stage with English
country dances. The show includes blues performances by Marion Montgomery and
Neal Patman, festival favorites. Patman recently toured with the Southern Arts
Federation Southern Roots Music Tour Former Chickasaw Mudd Puppies member,
Ben Reynolds wM also appear. The Warblers, featuring Katie Ford, Maggie Hunter, and
Greg Eamst wi* top off the evening with some tradttonai songs and many of their own
written by Maggie Hunter and Mona Ford (Katie’s sister) The Warblers have opened
for John Prme and Mary-Chapin Carpenter, and appeared at last year’s Country in the
Country and on the syndicated American Public Radio show Mountain Stage They
have just finished their first recording, self-titled The Warblers due out before Christ
mas. Admission for the Festival will be $5 per person. Food will also be available at an
additioanljxice as nail Festival T-shirts. Bonr e Va • -
Join us for
10,000 square feet of fun
• Cheapest beer in town — pitchers for $2.75 — 50 varieties of bottled and draft beer!
• New Pasta Bar — choose from over 50 varieties of pastas,
daily specials, salads and garlic bread — All for $3.75!
• Pool Tables and the best Juke Box in town!
Angelo Cortex owner, and your host, Joe Spagnoio
and Joe Cortese invite you join them for a fun-filled night
at Peppmo*t, The King of Paul!
and Pasta Bar
427 E. Broad St. • 613-5888
OPEN TIL 2am
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