114th Year, 50th Issue

Thursday, July 24, 2003

Sparta, North Carolina

Fiddling Around — Members of the New River Boys (photo above) take their turn on the stage playing "Fall on My Knees." They are (from left) Sadie Martin on bass, Allen Rutherford on banjo, Harvey Rutherford on fiddle and John Perry on guitar. Martin is from Stuart, Va., but all the other members hail from nearby Independence, Va.

Fiddler's Convention has large turnout

By COBY LaRUE
Staff

The Alleghany Fiddler's Convention, held July 18 and 19 in Sparta, featured 53 bands and more than 300 individual competitors in instrument and dance categories.

The groups included 25 bluegrass bands, 23 old time bands and five junior bands.

The convention is annually hosted by the Sparta Volunteer Fire Department. Chief Terry McGrady said things went smoothly this year. "Everything went fine," McGrady said. "It went the best this year it has any year."

McGrady said the number of campers appeared to be down slightly, although it is really difficult to tell until all the figures have been compiled. On the other hand, grandstand crowds were definitely higher. "The crowd was up this year. We had a lot more people parking out there than we have in years past."

As for the campers, he said the department put in 200 spots and sold all but about 10. "It was almost the same as last year, but we may have been a few shy."

McGrady estimated that about 4,500 to 5,000 people attended the event. The weather proved cooperative, he said. "This is one of the first years that it didn't rain at all," he noted.

He said the fire department appreciates all the support it received from the community with the event.

In the photo above left, Paul Trianosky (right) of Mountain City, Tenn. competes in the individual mandolin competition playing the tune "Jerusalem Ridge." Accompanying him is Butch Barker of Lansing. Competition was held last Friday and Saturday during the Alleghany County Fiddler's Convention in Sparta.

Winners Listed

The following are winners listed first through fifth place.

Old Time Band - New Ballards Branch Bogtrotters, Galax, Va.; Smokey Valley Boys, Mount Airy; Southern Pride, Galax, Va.; Grayson Ridgerunners, Elk Creek, Va.; Slate Mountain Ramblers, Ararat, Va.

Bluegrass Band - No Speed Limit, Martinsville, Va.; Lonesome Drive, Marion, Va.; Bluegrass Tradition, Hillsville, Va.; Fine Blue Line, Carthage; Carolina Drive, Burlington.

Get the rest of this article in this week's issue of the Alleghany News!

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