Saturday morning, as we were planning our day’s activities,
Sharon noticed in one of our guidebooks the Ozark Folk Center State Park and
suggested that as an alternative to what we had planned. That sounded
interesting and these trips are about (a degree of) spontaniety, so off we went
to Mountain View, about a hundred miles to the northeast.
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| The first decorated barn we've seen in the South. Interestingly it is a quilting pattern |
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| Farmers at work |
The park is about what the name implies. It was established
in 1973 to promote the folk arts and crafts of the Ozark and today it houses
about a dozen crafts shops showcasing woodworking, gunsmithing, basketmaking,
doll-making, a traditional print shop and, to my delight, knifemaking. And
music, of course. (Sadly, no pens.)
So we bought an admission to include a walk through the
village and the evening concert.
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| This fellow was there to greet us |
As you might imagine, one of our first visits was to the
knifemaker. The master knifemaker Tom Weir was not there, but his apprentice
Lane was, and as I toured the shop and asked about knives it turned
out that he was just finishing up his very first folding knife. He was quite
sure that he would have it done by day’s end and we arranged to meet after the
concert. At day’s end he called me and I went over to his shop to finalize some
details (rounding and bluing of the handles). Then disaster struck. As he
was doing final assembly, the hand-filed spring broke. The rest of the tale
remains to unfold.
I was so excited to get this knife, that I did not take
pictures of that shop or the work, but I did take a few others.
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| This young woman discussing spinning and weaving is the daughter of Martha Laster, the master spinner. We did not get her name but she was a fount of information |
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| The quilter is listed as Lula Hudspeth, but we are not sure if that was she who shared news and views with Sharon. I wanted us to get another quilt either here or at Nellie's earlier, but Sharon says five is enough. |
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| This was the daytime acoustic music performance, the Quebe Sisters who we would see in the evening. |
And at the end of the day, the concert was great. Possum
Juice, an old time band made up of local teens, opened by playing for some
square dancers. The emcee and caller was Dan Smith. Then Mary Parker Friends &
Kin came on. Parker is an eleven year old prodigy on the fiddle, vocals and
even broke into dance once during the evening. Her nine year old brother Gordon
was featured on the mandolin. The headliners were the Quebe Sisters who perform
fiddle western swing music in the style of Bob Willis. Their harmonies, both
vocal and on fiddle were amazing.
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| Square dancers, of course |
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| Mary Parker Friends and Family. From left Kailee Spickes, Gordon Parker, Mary Parker and Alanna Brewer |
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| The Quebe Sisters, from left Daniel Parr, Grace Quebe, Sophia Quebe, Simon Stipp, and Hulda Quebe |
As we walked through, it became clear that the center has
become a community and many of the craftspeople are not only deeply rooted in
the culture of the area, but related by blood, marriage and friendship. It was
a privilege to meet many of the folks and to have them share their stories and
we actually did not have time to visit all the shops. Next year, I’m thinking seriously about a
visit to the Arkansas Pen Show followed by a return to the Ozarks.
It was a fine day, tempered only by the disappointment of the
broken knife. I did, however, find a knife earlier, in Mountain View and
hopefully Lane and I will work out a way for me to get the knife he is still
working on.
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| Managed to get this new-in-the-box Case Cheetah from 2002 in nearby Mountain View |
The drive back, though night time mountain roads, was a bit of a
challenge, but worth it.
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