The Honor Roll. A list of reverence for schoolkids all over the country, where if you landed on it you were destined for a shower of praise by your parents. Our take on this classic schoolhouse staple includes famous names for participants of the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival. Here you can learn a few things about what made this festival really start to shine.

Bascom Lamar Lunsford – The “Minstrel of the Appalachians”, BLL is the founder of the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival and revered folk figure. He is responsible for compiling folk music in western North Carolina and recording it to preserve the history of the mountain people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aunt Samantha Bumgarner – Aunt Samantha is one of the more well known fiddle and banjo players around the Carolinas and an integral component to the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, performing every year of the festival until her death (6).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sam Queen – The leader of the Soco Gap Square Dancing team, Sam Queen’s name graces the trophy awarded to the festivals best dancing team. Queen also performed with Samantha Bumgarner and Bascom Lamar Lunsford for the King and Queen of England in 1939. (7)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Fiddlin’ Bill” Hensley – With a name like “Fiddlin’ Bill” you can take a guess as to what instrument Bill Hensley played. Hensley is another important component to the early days of the MDFF. Not to mention anyone that can play a fiddle and look like Yosemite Sam is a surefire selection to be a star at the festival. 

 

 

 

Bill McElreath – McElreath, like Sam Queen, is known through the festival as a great dancer. McElreath was a Buck dancer, while Queen was a square dancer. McElreath and Queen dominated the early years of the dancing competitions in the festival, which balanced out the already talented musicians and made the festival more complete. (8)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Obray Ramsey – (Not Pictured) Obray Ramsey is another classic staple of the MDFF. Ramsey, a banjo picker, was a very close friend  to Bascom Lamar Lunsford and an acclaimed musician in his own right.

 

 

There is a wonderful game created by one of the Games Programming teams that we are putting here for your pleasure. It can be found here.

 

 

 

References

1: J.B. Hicklin, “Swing Your Partners,” 31 July 1937, Box 6, Folder 23, Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, D. H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville, NC.

2: Larry W. Mull, “Everybody Square Dances! In the Southern Appalachians,” 1948, Box 6, Folder 4, Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, D. H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville, NC.

3: Saturday Evening Post, 1948, Box 6, Folder 78, Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, D. H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville, NC.

4:J.B. Hicklin, “Swing Your Partners,” 31 July 1937, Box 6, Folder 23, Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, D. H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville, NC.

5: Unnamed History, CA 1960s, Box 6, Folder 7, Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, D. H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville, NC.

6: Larry W. Mull, “Everybody Square Dances in the Southern Appalachias,” 1948, Box 6, Folder 4, Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, D. H. Ramsey Library SpecialCollections, University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville, NC.

7: We The People: Asheville Folk Festival Preserves Old Times and Dance, Issue Date: Jan. 1945, Box 6 Folder 24, Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville, NC. 

8: Unknown, “Alternative Version of ‘It’s Fun to Square Dance,’” 1960s , Box 6,Folder 7, Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, D. H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville, NC.

Header Image- Asheville Citizen Times, 1970, Box 6, Folder 40, Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, D. H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville, NC.