The Foxfire 45th Anniversary Book: Singin', Praisin', Raisin' Book

Banjo Ringing Loud and Clear, Mountain Music in the Air xv

Introduction

"People will forget our past if it isn't recorded." 3

Foxfire's History

A Beautiful Life 17

In the Good Ol' Days

"Praise the Lord, Sammy's quit smoking!" 20

An interview with Sammy Green

"Don't you ever stop by my house again asking for whiskey!"

An interview with Madge Merrell

"So that's pretty well my eight-nine years." 38

Jack P. Nix tells us about his career

"But he was a stinker, that boy of mine." 46

An interview with Lillie Billingsley

"He had his head stuck up, and Mama shot him." 51

Memories from David "Lightnin'" Callenback

"I don't feel like I'm Republican; I know I am." 67

An interview with Carlee Heaton

"Most of the toys I had was homemade." 75

Coyl Justice shares childhood memories

"The first airplane … we thought is was the Lord a-comin'." 83

An interview with Vaughn Billingsley

"You either moonshined or you sold corn to moonshiners." 93

Memories from Allen English

"Castro, he invited me to come see him." 100

Tommy Irvin on forty years as ag commissioner

Knoxville Girl 113

Crime Close to Home

"A ripple of dramatic emotion swept over the courtroom." 116

The 1939 murder of Grace Bingham Brock

Hell-Bent and Whiskey Bound: A Scaly Mountain Murder 121

As told by Lillie Billingsley

"Well, now, this is a true story." 123

A story of birth and death from Melissa Rogers

Last words, in a choked voice: "Good-bye, men." 125

The hanging of Will Brown

"Yeah, that stuff's a-growin' wild up there." 129

Life and times of former sheriff Marley Cannon

"Machine Gun Bandits Hold Up Bank of Clayton" 135

1934 bank robbery as recalled by Huell Bramlett

"I ain't made no liquor in a long time." 138

Bass Dickery, "the Wild Russian"

"Let me tell you about Bass." 148

Bill White says, "We hit it off good"

"Oh, Lord, if you won't help me, don't help them." 158

The legend of the Moccasin gang

A Legacy Lives On 161

Sam McMahan on the loss of the Woodards

Barbara Allen 165

Tales and Legends

"This happened on a cold, windy winter night." 168

Family ghost stories from Melissa Rogers

"Our cemetery is haunted. Did you know it?" 170

Louise Tabor relates a tale for Halloween

"If you believe in spirits at all, like I do …" 172

Bob Justus talks about the "little people"

The Legend of the Deer and the Witch 179

Lillie Billingsley's "talk that my daddy told me"

"You may not believe this, but they say …" 180

Numerous Rabun legends from several people

"These old mountains have lots of magic." 192

Fairy tales and folklore from Clyde Hollifield

"I wasn't hallucinating." 194

Greg Stancil's true encounter with the devil

Echoes 195

Mountain Music Fills the Air

"We went to the Grand Ole Opry in 1960." 198

Curtis Blackwell

"I like the ol' brother-style duet stuff." 205

Wallace "Josh" Crowe

A Story and a Song 212

David Holt

"It's been real, and it's been fun, but it ain't been real fun!" 219

LV and Mary Mathis

A Family Tradition 233

Mountain Faith

Fishers of Men 238

The Primitive Quartet

A Band Is Born 258

George Reynolds and The Foxfire Boys

"Because He Loved Me" 280

Morris Stancil and his son, Greg Stancil

The Banjo Can Also Touch the Heart 292

Dale Tilley

"I'm a musician." 299

Gary Waldrep

"Emergency services pronounced me dead at the scane." 309

Young Harmony

Daddy Was a Farmer 321

School Farm Families

Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School Farm Family Program 330

Dr. Karl Anderson

"I think it was the people that made it so special." 339

Frances Fry Deal

"Jack Acree … washed my mouth out with soap!" 343

Jimmy Deal

"What I've got now, I picked up from Rabun Gap School." 349

James Adams

Farmer's Daughter 358

Jo-Anne Stiles Hubbs

"You just enjoyed living." 360

J. T. Coleman

"Mama ordered one hundred little biddy chickens." 364

William Thurmond

"Life was hard, but there were fun times also." 372

Harold Thurmond

"Being on the school farm was a wonderful thing!" 377

Doug Nix

"I knowed there wasn't nobody else for me." 386

Lucy Webb and her daughter Mary Webb Kitchens

"Raise 'em, feed 'em, and kill 'em." 391

Doris Carpenter and here son Jim Carpenter

"I can remember in the fall of the year …" 398

Bobbie Dills Carter

"They provided the house, and we provided the labor." 401

Marjorie Robinson and here son Morris Robinson

"It was really a blessing for us." 411

Tommy and Emma Chastain

Cotton Gins and Sawmills 418

The Jordan Family

With His own Two Hands 431

We'll Tell You How

Tying a True Lover's Knot 434

Research by Lee Carpenter

The Adaptable Five-in-One Sled 435

Kyle Bolen

Building an Oak Shaving Horse 443

With Claud Connell

Chair Bottoming with Poplar Bark 454

Harriet Echols, Elvin Cabe, and Nelson Cabe

Raising Native Azaleas from Seed 461

Coyl Justive

Forging a Traditional Drawknife 466

Barry Stiles

Braiding a Leather Bullwhip 476

Frank Vinson

The Past Meets the Present 485

A Closing Letter from Foxfire President Ann Moore

Experiencing Traditional Music 493

Southeastern Bluegrass and Gospel Festivals

Editors and Staff 503

Contributors 507