Hindman Family Folk Week 2009 Part 2

This is the second set of Hindman Family Folk Week pictures. For those of you who haven't seen the first set of pictures, you may want to go to the post below this, and then come back up to see Part 2. These are better seen in order.


On Thursday, we experienced lots more rain. It poured that morning, and later on that afternoon, a big storm came. I was safe inside our cabin, watching the small storytelling class led by Angie DeBoyd practice their play in the living room. Even though I wasn't a part of the class, I was an invited guest, and I got to know the play really well as they practiced over and over again. After the class was over, the rain had calm down. I walked into our room and heard the sound of rushing water behind our sleeper sofa. I peered out the window behind the sofa and saw that the stream that had formed in the earlier rains had grown much bigger. I photographed it through the screen window. It was pretty neat to have such a stream right outside our cabin.


After supper, I had a chance to walk over to Troublesome Creek, and as I suspected, it was much higher. I made sure to stand in the same place I was earlier, so it was easy to compare the height of the creek to when I first took its picture. I love the before and after pictures.

I then photographed the stream rushing it the creek, with this familiar tree on the other side. If you look at my last post, it's once again noticeable how much higher the creek is.

The normally empty basin by Granddaddy's office now had a beautiful waterfall flowing into it. The basin itself wasn't as pretty, filled with leaves and such in the water that was now covering the basin. It was a remarkable change nevertheless.

I stood on the footbridge and took another picture facing this direction. This view shows how close Troublesome Creek came to flooding its banks.

Looking on the other side of the bridge, I could see that the bush that was earlier a few feet above the water now had its bottom part submerged into the water. The water was noticeably murkier after the rains.

There are Appalachian seminars going on during the folk week, and just a week before Hindman Family Folk Week started, the director, Mike Mullins, asked Mommy and Daddy to lead a seminar about the McLain Family Band. Mommy and Daddy felt nervous and rather pressured to put together a seminar so quickly, but agreed to do so. They put pictures on Mommy's computer to project a slide show on a screen. Ron Pen, who had encouraged Mommy and Daddy to put together this seminar, is seen giving a welcome to them.

It was Mommy's turn to speak.

The slide show started out with pictures of Daddy's mother Rose playing music with her family when she was younger. I loved hearing about Grandma Rose playing music, not having experienced her playing music myself. Grandma had stopped by the time Daddy was a baby.

Daddy was explaining this picture of Grandma Rose's family playing music in front of their house. Grandma Rose is second to the left, playing a banjo.

Here she is once again second to the left, playing a fiddle with her family. I would have loved to hear her play music. Daddy said she stopped because his older brother Roy didn't like it when he was young.

Mommy talked about Grandma Rose's sister playing.

Mommy started talking about her family, giving history of the McLain Family Band. Here she is standing before a early picture of them. Mommy often waved her arms around in front of her during this seminar, giving evidence to her teaching experience.

Here, the band is seen on a foreign billboard, an example of all the traveling they did.

Mommy was explaining after Granddaddy left the band, they found they were more free to enjoy themselves. Daddy and Michael had joined the band at this point.

At the end of the slide show, Daddy showed everyone the big family picture that was taken in the May Stone Building after the McLain Family Band had played for the dedication concert for the Raymond Kane McLain Office Building. I am easily spotted with my crutches right beside Daddy on the far right of the family portrait.

By that Friday afternoon, the rain level had gone down quite a lot. I took pictures at a favorite spot of mine, which was right behind the May Stone Building. This is looking back at the footbridge.

I loved standing in this spot these past couple of years. There used to be a small bridge here that cars drove across to get to the May Stone Building. I remember my family driving across it in 2004. Its remains can be seen bordering the creek in this picture, with the new footpath behind it. Now the bridge has been replaced by a highway style bridge on the other side of the May Stone Building. That bridge is visible in the picture on Part 1 of the kids going to the white vans. That bridge is further above the water, with the creek hidden from sight while driving across it. The old bridge was prettier, but now I can enjoy this part of the creek without cars driving back and forth right beside me. When Mommy was living here, cars had to drive right through the creek.

I stepped inside the Raymond Kane McLain Office Building to take a picture of the dedication plaque.

Here is a view of Troublesome Creek from the deck in front of the office building. It includes both trees I had earlier taken pictures of.

Before supper on the last evening, I took this picture of the kids playing on the hillside in front of the May Stone Building, with the adults talking on the porches. This was a classic scene seen from right beside the porch of my family's cabin.

We had an early supper, and before the evening concert, I had time to walk up the road that led uphill past our cabin. It eventually went around a U-turn towards another cabin that served as lodging. I enjoyed walking around this cabin once again and taking a picture of our cabin from above.

When I arrived at the May Stone Building before the final concert, my usual seat across the aisle form Pumpkin and Alison was taken, but Alison made room for me on the other side of her. While she was getting up for something, I took this picture of the audience with Pumpkin included. Ron Pen is seen in his familiar overalls and baseball hat.

By the time Ron made his introduction, he had put on a black dress jacket and a top hat while still showing his classic overalls. This made for a funny appearance.

Early on, Ron led the shape note singing class. I had to move my position to get a picture of Alison and Mommy standing together singing right beside Ron. Alison's head is shown just above Ron's right shoulder.

Deborah Thompson led the shape note group for their next song.

Deborah then performed with a banjo class that she had taught that week.

I don't remember which guitar class Daddy was teaching, since he's not in any of the pictures that I took, but here's one of the guitar classes performing.

Here's the dulcimer class. Since I wasn't on the aisle, I had to raise my camera high above my head to take these pictures.

Mommy's bass class did a fine job performing.

The teenagers came together to do a silly song of "We'll be Coming to Hindman", done to the tune of "She'll be Coming Round the Mountain". Earlier that day, I happened to be passing through on my way back from the bathroom just as they were rehearsing that song, so I got to enjoy that song twice.

Neal Rhodes and his family got up to play music. I had already known Neal from Cumberland Dance Week before I started going to Hindman.

It was the storytelling class's turn to perform. After seeing the play again and again in rehearsal, with Angie constantly interrupting and making big use of being a director, I was interested in seeing it being performed in front of everyone. Angie had to leave Hindman early, so she missed the actual performance. It was my first time to see the play from the front, since I was sitting behind the actors in our cabin. I had the play well memorized. The girl below is playing an old woman in the play, with the man beside her narrating. Thre is an imaginary one-eyed fish hanging on the door in front of the old woman in her rocking chair.

The old woman has lots of money that a group of three robbers want to steal. Here is the leader, who is called One-Eyed craning his neck to listen to the woman.

He sends one of his men to peek though the hole in the woman's door one night. The old womans yawns and tells her fish hanging on the door that the next day she will cut it up. The robber thinks the old woman saw right through the door at him and flees.

One-Eye thinks the robber's story is ridiculus and sends the other robber out, but the same thing happens, with the robber thinking that the old woman is watching him though the door and threatening to go after him when she is actually talking to her fish, which she has yet to cut up. He flees and One-Eye is even more upset. He vows to go after the old lady himself. He approaches the old woman's house just as the old woman is yawning again. This time when the old woman is threatening to cut up her fish the next day, she directly refers to the fish's single eye. Now One-Eye is petrified the old woman is about to attack him, and he runs back to the other robbers. The three of them together admit defeat, and the old lady is left at peace. One-Eye is the robber at right in the photo below. The play went pretty well, after all the rehearsals that they did.

After the play, members of the Ritchie family sang a song together.


Here is a clogging class that danced while traveling around the room. Their routine was just ending when I took this picture.

Ron led the shape note singers once again as the concert was coming to an end. I was able to get a close-up of Ron leading Alison and Mommy. I enjoyed the threesome together in the same picture.

Ron then turned around and sang with the singers. I loved seeing Ron singing near Alison and Mommy. His outfit was quite fun.

On the final morning of the folk week, I got to have breakfast sitting next to Ron. I showed him my photos. He enjoyed my pictures of him. It was nice to have that time together right at the end of the week. Alison and Pumpkin were at their usual table in the back corner, and I got this picture of Ron saying goodbye to them. He was back in his usual baseball cap. I got to say goodbye to Alison and Pumpkin too that morning.

Before leaving Hindman, I once again walked to the hillside below the deck of Granddaddy's office. It was my chance to say goodbye to Troublesome Creek. It was another beautiful morning. On the way back towards the May Stone Building, I saw a snail in the grass ahead of me. I was pretty excited to see a snail in real life, since that doesn't really happen to me. I got a nice close-up picture of it.

It is nice to have these pictures as memories of Hindman Family Folk Week. I've now had two wonderful weeks there and hopefully more in the years to come. It sounds like Daddy will be away playing for the Berea College Country Dancers at the same time next year, which would mean I would have to miss Hindman. At least Ron lives close by in Lexington, so I may get to see him from time to time. Alison and Pumpkin live further away. It's good that we can keep in touch.

Hindman Family Folk Week 2009 Part 1

During the first week of June, Mommy, Daddy, Emma, and I went to Hindman Settlement School to participate in Hindman Family Folk Week for the second time. Hindman has meant a whole lot to my family ever since my granddaddy, Raymond Kane McLain became the recreation director and then the executive director there. Mommy and her siblings closest to her age Raymond and Ruth grew up there in a house nearby the May Stone Building, which Granddaddy had designed and built. Unfortunately, their house burned down in a fire on when Mommy was around twelve years old. Granddaddy was away during that time. Mommy and Ruth managed to carry out Nancy Ann and Michael, who were extremely small. Grandma Betty and Raymond got out okay too. The instruments were saved, but everything else was lost. They moved to a small older log cabin on the hillside facing Troublesome Creek. Granddaddy then built an addition to the cabin to house the family and run the school. The building was dedicated as the Raymond Kane McLain Office Building in July of 2004, with the McLain Family Band performing. One of the first things I did this year was to stand on the hillside in front of Granddaddy's office building and gaze upon Troublesome Creek. I like to think of the tune "Troublesome Creek" that Mommy's family wrote to describe the wildness of the creek when it goes over the bank. The creek was calm and low right now, not very troublesome. I took this photo of the footbridge that had been the main access to Hindman Settlement School while Mommy was growing up. The raised footpath on the other side of Troublesome Creek is a much newer addition done by Mike Mullins, the current director of Hindman Settlement School. The guardrails bordering the street is slightly visible near the top of the picture.


Here is a big tree I like on this side of the bridge.

I stood on the bridge to get this picture. Granddaddy's office is visible behind the tree to the left.

Here is a view of the creek looking from the other side of the bridge. The raised footpath bordering the creek is reflected in the water. Right as I was taking the picture, a ripple appeared in the water right above the footpath reflection.

On the way back towards the May Stone Building, I took a picture of the log cabin part of Granddaddy's office building nicely framed by these trees and an outbuilding. I was fascinated by the greenery surrounding this outbuilding.

Here is a smaller log cabin. Mommy told me that this is Uncle Sol's Cabin. I love seeing such historic looking structures. The outbuilding is to the left side of it. Behind the cabin, you can see a part of the addition that Granddaddy built to what was then their house.

I took this photo of the Raymond Kane McLain Office Building as I was walking up the hill past the May Stone Building. Granddaddy's addition is more in view, backing up to the hillside behind it. He built the deck and the walkway too.

That Monday, Mommy and Daddy were going to perform in the second half of the evening concert in the May Stone Building. Shortly before the concert, I took this picture of people playing music on one of the two front porches of May Stone Building. The porches were a popular gathering place.

Teenagers loved to play games on the hillside in front of the May Stone Building. Here some of them are, as part of a team ready for action. The cabin we stayed in is seated in the hillside, with Mommy and Deborah Thompson standing in front of it. As Mommy was getting ready for the concert, Deborah had met her on the pathway and let her talk to the person on Deborah's cell phone.

A few minutes later, Daddy came walking down the path carrying his instruments, and our cabin became a backdrop to his part of the cell phone conversation.

The Monday evening concert was about to begin, and I got my preferred seat across the aisle from my friends Alison and Pumpkin in one of the back rows. Pumpkin is a severely handicapped boy in a wheelchair. He is both physically and mentally disabled, and mostly stares ahead, muttering sounds when excited. I first encountered him at the first evening concert last year. I was very interested in him then, since I am attached to other handicapped people like myself. I started sitting across the aisle from him, and eventually became great friends with his mother Alison. I loved reuniting with them this year. It was one of the best things about going to Hindman.

Mike Mullins, the current director of Hindman Folk School, came out and welcomed everybody.

Now Ron Pen, the Master of Ceremonies, had a turn to speak. He always wore these overalls throughout the week. The baseball cap was a regular feature too. I got to be great friends with Ron through meal times together and such. He enjoyed being with my family.

Angie DeBoyd led the first half of the evening concert with her storytelling. She made many dramatic gestures, waving her arms as part of introducing herself.

For her first story, she got a girl volunteer to help her act out the story.

Here, she is imitating an unhappy tree come to life in the second story. I was quite amused.

Finally it became Mommy's and Daddy's turn to perform. Daddy started out by playing his fiddle wildly.

Here they are both singing.

Here's some guitar playing and singing.

Someone was taking a video up front.

It was nice being right on the aisle.

Daddy did some solo playing with Mommy listening.

Right at the end, Mommy was asked to sing "The Cuckoo". I took this individual photo of her.

After the concert, my parents moved to a side table, selling CDs. They got plenty of business. The nightly dance began with other musicians playing. My sister Emma is seen in the center with a white shirt and a purple skirt.

I got a better view of the musicians in this picture. Ron Pen is one of the multiple fiddle players. Deborah Thompson is calling, visible off to the far right. I enjoyed having her at Hindman.

Here's another view of Deborah calling.

I got this picture of my parents watching the dancing. Jean Ritchie was seated neat to Mommy, with her husband George Picklow on her other side. Jean performed later on in the week, but unfortunately my camera battery was being charged up at the time.

During the afternoons, various instrument lessons were being taught. Mommy taught a bass class while Daddy taught a beginning guitar class. I stood by our cabin and took this picture of Mommy's bass class in action. Mommy is in a purple shirt to the right.

Rich Kirby was teaching a mandolin class with just two students, and I sat on a wooden bench facing them just as class was coming to an end. I took this picture of Rich holding his mandolin propped up on one knee, talking to his students. I felt this was a nice pose, just before Rich put the mandolin in its case. Mommy's bass class provided a good backdrop, with a tree on each side of the picture.

At 4:00 each afternoon, two white vans arrived to take the children to a nearby swimming pool. The children did not always get to go swimming however. On the first day for example, it began to thunder soon after they drove away. I suspected this storm threat would cancel their plans, and sure enough, I was walking beside the May Stone Building a few minutes later, when the vans returned, dropping the kids back off. Another time it was raining, but the kids were allowed to swim in the rain, since there were no thunder and lightning. In this picture that I took, the kids were hurrying to the vans, eager to get to the pool. Emma is visible climbing into the van on the left.

The Shape Note Singers started singing on the porch as the vans were loading with kids. Mommy is visible in her purple shirt beside the right post. This seems to be a classic camp picture.

It rained hard that Wednesday morning in Hindman. After the morning rains, I went to the far side of the footbridge to take this picture of Troublesome Creek. The creek was visibly fuller.

I wanted a good picture of the log cabin part of Granddaddy's office building with the creek in front.

This tree looked lovely with the creek running alongside it.

Cari Norris was giving a concert, playing her guitar.

Ellwood Donnelly eventually joined her, making this horse and rider dance, along with other wooden puppets. His movements were often a blur when I tried to take pictures.

Aubrey did the unique feat of clogging and playing the banjo at the same time. That was enjoyable to watch.

Mommy and Daddy were playing music this time during the dance.

I got my very first photo of Alison that night as she was enjoying the dance. She, Pumpkin, and their helper Alice were staying in a room right below the dance hall. Alison tried putting Pumpkin to bed after the concerts, but all the dancing and the music kept Pumpkin awake. On this night, Alison decided to remain upstairs and take part in the dancing herself.

That Thursday, I took this close-up picture of the bass class.

I got a picture of the mandolin class in action this time.

The rains had caused a small stream of water to form, going downhill towards Granddaddy's office. A corner of the addition that he built is visible in the distance. The stream seemed so lovely and peaceful.

I turned around to face our cabin in the trees.

I wanted to get a better view of the Raymond Kane McLain Office Building, so I walked down to take this picture. Architecture was indeed one of Granddaddy's talents as this building shows. I like how he built into the hillside, making for a very unique structure. I think he did well to provide his family a home after their first house burned down. Mommy said the basin beside the office buiding was originally intended to be a swimming pool, fed by natural water flowing into it, but water kept escaping. I was accustomed to seeing it dry, with a lot of greenery growing through the cracks. This tree looked lovely growing there.

I have a lot more photos to be posted as well as many more comments about the week concluding. I was quite active at Hindman, enjoying it very much.