Statesville Record and Landmark from Statesville, North Carolina • 3

fl 1 jB pBB i A s't 0 2S i BBBB I (V 3 M' WftidWA V4 SBBBB SB 9h vvyzv vA v'Z V'iBB A i 5 '5 rC C' i TIGER TIME Getting ready to take a cat nap on a sofa in the home of VanHoy as the man of the house does some banjo practice picking in anticipation of the 43rd annual Union Grove Old Time Convention next riday and Saturday is a country music lover called Tiger or The Connoisseur Of String Music VOk i jfj jcm JOT Bi fi' UM IB izll IE flit JlSoMtiM ijBatiiJSJLB IB LwKk JBBH tt Mt Kr THE OLD Not used any more but serving as a landmark on the Union Grove School campus is the building that used to be a favorite gathering place at convention time VanHoy who had taught school 17 years when he organized the Old Time Convention stands on the porch SATURDAY MARCH 18 1967 STATESVILLE RECORD lANDMARK PAGE 3 A iddlers Convention Is Toe Tappin Time By CHARLES MATHIS UNION Caseys and the VanHoys were both musical so I decided we could raise a string band of our chuckled 80 ear old VanHoy founder of the Union Grove Old Time idd lers' Convention His reminiscing about the seven children he and his wife the former Ada Casey reared was all by way of telling little on their non mus ical son Pierce who has directed the convention pro gram to new heights that have seen attendance expand from the initial 200 in 1924 to last more than 8500 Having experienced the satis faction that knowing how to carry a tune on a musical in strument can bring VanHoy bought Pierce a fiddle brought it home gave it to him and told him to take good care of it and learn how to play in a All was going well until Van Hoy came up in the yard one day and surprised his son who was a little drag ging the fiddle the house like a sled Talented Musician VanHoy a long time old time music lover who learned the technique of fiddling from best breakdown fidd ler in the community" his Uncle John Campbell al ways played instru ment suited the such as the autoharp the banjo and He got together with his brother the late VanHoy fiddle Miss Nettie Casey gui tar and mandolin Miss Ada the judges? now I don't he said remembering the time 1918 or when Van Hoy's String Band snowed the judges at Elkin and won out over of the most famous men we ever played lawyer Benbow of Winston Salem wMl wnflvw Casey guitar mandolin and autoharp Everette Lambeth banjo and Gaston White ban jo and formed the String Band believe that was the whole he said thinking way back and pointing out that who later became a States ville lawyer and after that administrative assistant to Rep Bob Doughton and finally a federal government lawyer was near a violin ist as opposed to a tiddler) as any feller I know who was school teach er when attended class at Upeptic Springs married Miss Nettie Miss Ada made the mistake of marrying Band Competed The seven band members learned to make good music together and before the idea of a Union Grove tiddlers' convention was ever thought of they competed in fiddling shows in all sorts of places within a radius of 50 miles Helping make that great was the fact that Ben bow had earlier beaten Gov Bob Taylor in an interstate meet at Atlanta Ga was accused of fidd ling himself into the governor ship of said Van Hoy think that was true but they give him credit for He added band was far superior to ours that's why I say we fooled the As best as he can remem ber the tune the VanHoys played to win the Elkin fidd ling battle was but one whistled was played on violin and we fooled the judges and won first prize sometimes we fooled the judg es and won second and sometimes we fool the said VanHoy What does it take to fool Some of the other tunes the band became proficient at playing during its convention circuit days include Traveler" in the and "Get Along Cindy" all tunes that will be just as timely next riday and Saturday when moder day country and folk musicians from all over the nation warm up their instruments again for the Union Grove show und raising Idas The experience gained while participating in fiddling events in other towns VanHoy ex plained us the idea we could raise some money that was badly needed for our At that time 1924 VanHoy had been a teacher for 17 nine of them at Union Grove and all of them in Un ion Grove Township except for one year in Cabarrus Coun ty With Madison he was co principal of the school he warned when asked what grade he taught taught the 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th and 9th he said year our aver age attendance with only two teachers was 150 In those days he noted the only requirement to teach school in North Carolina was for the prospective teacher to be able to pass a written examination given by the coun ty superintendent In turning out new teachers Union Grove had the reputation of "furnishing more than any other township in Iredell Coun he said pointing out that it was no small problem when the state ruling was passed making it mandatory for an instructor to have at least one year of high school Union Grove was rural ex cept for a few cotton gins and waterground grist he re called while relaxing the other day at his home on Sloan Mill Road Union Grove Industry Jennings had a cotton mill over there and right down the creek was grist mill Over on Hunting Creek was Campbell's grist and saw mill The rest of the town ship Ute new ruling he explain ed meant that the boys and girls of Union Grove Township would either have to go back and forth to Harmony or board there where one of the four high schools in the county was located The trip to Harmony though quickly done nowadays was not exactly an easy thing on a daily basis since the only conveyance available then ex cept for horses and horse relat ed vehicular methods was four copper radiator Model ords Sending children off to boarding school exactly practicable "We had plenty to eat but not much money So we decid ed to build a high school here We had to up the building equip it and pay salaries Hence we had to raise money every way possi he said noting that "every of the first high school had to corpe from funds" irst Convention So the first Union Grove Old Time Convention was held on Saturday night before Easter "on account it was kind of a holiday and people were home for filled that old gymnas ium practically there were from 200 to 250 persons and about six local About the time the show was to get underway as VanHoy explained it little cloud sort of the shape of a boot came up in the west and after we got inside it rained for 15 or 20 minutes I describe the racket it made" Adding to the noise of the downpour on the tin roof was a generous display of thunder and lightning from that day this we been rained out one time during the 42 he said after the convention has closed sometimes it has rained and snowed several times Once there was four or five inches of snow on the ground Easter morning" Profits Spilt ifty per cent of the profit was turned over to the school toe other half to the partici pating musicians a practice still observed Through the years the school's share of the proceeds has amounted to more than $55000 Making a decision to leave the job of educating youth to those college trained and more qualified than he such as Prof Hardy the pastor of Union Grove Methodist Church VanHoy chose a new career politics Enters Politics ran fol county treasurer was nominated and elected and took office on the first Monday in December He served for eight years On March 1 1935 he went to work with the State High way bridge de partment at Yadkinville In 1940 he asked for a transfer to the Statesville prison camp stayed there three years and six months and then went back with the bridge department He remained with the com mission until 1950 when he re tired and came home where his interest in education and country music in general and the Union Grove Old Time id Convention in particular has never waned here ever said VanHoy after bringing the past up to the present and just be fore getting up to conduct a personal tour of Union Grove Missed The Band He and Miss Ada never did get that family string band raised although they are the parents of two other sons in addition to Pierce and four Harper VanHoy of Union Grove Rolert I ee Van Hoy of Red Springs Mrs Holcomb of Allendale Mrs Ethel Miller of Greens boro Mrs Leia Journey of Harmony and Mrs Mabel Stack of Union Grove The four daughters learned to carry tunes on piano and organ by ear and one son Harper "took up the violin and plays it well" But Pierce who was six years old when he sat on his father's knee during the first convention Said Pierce who received "a good dressing down" for dragging that fiddle around the house: the only one that can't strike a lick I can't get music out of anything That's the reason I enjoy promoting the convention I guess I sub consciously want to play" I BBfrjmi rf BflB BB IB1 1 Ki Ec MB IRST SCHOOL BUILDING VanHoy the former teacher responsible for the founding of the Union Grove Old Time Convention the oldest continuous annual fiddling competition stands in front of the doorway to the building which years ago was the Union Grove schoolhouse The build ing after being moved across the highway from the school campus was used as a service station and grocery At present it is an antique shop The Compassionate Savior ILLUSTRATED SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON By Alfred Buesch Scripture Luke 22 23 aW 19 ty RiiSOi IflOSsBB hiwj I fl At His Last Supper with the disciples Jesus revealed Judas' betrayal Peter's denial and established the Eucharist 22:1 38 After an agony of prayer in the gar den of Gethsemane Jesus is betrayed to the soldiers by Judas and He is Luke 22:3962 After five separate trials Jesus is found guilty by the Jews condemned by the Romans and led to Golgotha Luke 22:63 23:25 Mocked insulted maltreated scorned from the Cross Jesus begs God's for giveness for mankind Luke 23:26 56 GOLDEN TEXT: John 10:17 18 LISTEN TO SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON OVER WSIC 10 TO 10:30 EVERY SUNDAY MORNING WILSON BUILDING COMPANY Inc Intersection of Interstate 40 and 64A East Statesville DIAL 172 2411 1.