NC Folklore Society

Location: R.A. Fountain

From the March 27, 2008 FADt:

NC Folklore Society Hosts Free Music Jam Friday, Cricket Band Plays Classic Country Friday in Fountain

[Fountain, NC] The North Carolina Folklore Society hosts a music jam on Friday night at Fountain General Store, where the organization will also hold its annual meeting on Saturday. Both the music jam and Saturday’s meeting are free and open to the public.

The Cricket Band, featuring Shelby and Linda Stephenson, plays classic country music on Saturday night.

NCFS, founded in 1913, is one of the oldest organizations dedicated to the study of folklore and folk culture in the United States. Its annual meetings always feature a Friday night music swap and jam. This year’s will be preceded by a cookout, which begins at 6 p.m. on March 28.

“This is an organization that’s got some fine old-time and bluegrass pickers in it,” said Alex Albright, Fountain General Store proprietor. “They’re looking forward to seeing what some locals can show them.”

Saturday’s meeting, with a theme of “Folk Cultures of Eastern North Carolina,” includes a keynote address by historian David Cecelski, author of four books on North Carolina’s eastern, coastal, and African-American cultures. Members of the Folklife Documentation Institute will make presentations on their on-going audio-visual projects, and Hiram Hester, a community organizer and business owner, will present a talk on the Beast of Bladenboro.

Saturday’s meeting begins at 9 a.m. with a welcome by NCFS president Amy Davis. Also on the morning’s agenda is a screening of the 2001 documentary “A Walking Tour of Fountain” and a tour of the Lester Gay whirleygig collection, which was willed to the Fountain Rescue Squad and is housed in the Smith-Yelverton building in Fountain.

No registration is required for Friday or Saturday’s NCFS events. “We’re always glad to have locals come to our programs,” said Liz Lindsay, NCFS vice-president. “And we’re all looking forward to having our meeting in Fountain.”

Conference participants will have breakfast from Mickey’s, the Fountain eatery renowned for its cheese biscuits, and lunch from Cobb’s Barbecue in Fountain. “I don’t know how the talks will go,” said Albright, “but everybody’ll be well-fed.”

Tags: meeting