The Zephyr Lightning Bolts, including (from left)Eddie Butcher, Steve Bowen, Jacob Bowen and Diane Bowen pick out "Ebeneezer" on stage Friday night.

Convention numbers rise in '07

The 14th annual Alleghany County Fiddlers Convention drew a total of 47 bands and 231 individual contestants, up from last year's totals. The event, held last Friday and Saturday at the Alleghany Fairgrounds, also saw increased attendance.

Trever Nichols, who helps organize the event for the Sparta-Alleghany Volunteer Fire Department, said Tuesday that crowds were well up this year.

"We haven't counted up our gate totals yet, but our camping totals were up and we had a good number of people in the stands and throughout the fairgrounds."

FIDDLE SCENES—Above left, Jeff Young sings "Forty Shades of Green."

Nearly 200 camping spots were rented to campers during the week. Saturday night's crowd appeared to be the largest in recent memory, said Nichols.

"We appreciate Big Country Bluegrass for their kick-off performance on Friday night," said Nichols. "We got them in to see if we could get a bigger crowd there earlier and we did." Nichols said Tim Varner and Jerry Smith were hired to run the sound for the convention this year. "They did a great job," said Nichols.

"Last year our equipment was struck by lightning and we decided not to put any more money into it."

Nichols also mentioned that he and everyone would like to offer their appreciation to all the fire department members for their hard work during the convention.

Talented Youth—The second-place junior band, Alien Invaders, practice backstage. The youths, who also took individual honors, include Cameron Faryadi of Oakboro, Autumn Hill of Fancy Gap, Va. and Monica Santos of Piney Creek. Santos took first in youth guitar.

Winners

Winners are listed beginning with first place.

Old time bands: Slate Mountain Ramblers of Ararat, Va.; Benton Flippen and the Smokey Valley Boys of Mount Airy, N.C.; Backstep of Mount Airy, N.C.; The Pilot Mountain Bobcats of Westfield, N.C. and The Trap Hillbillies of Traphill, N.C.

Bluegrass bands: Narrow Road of Mount Airy, N.C.; Rich in Tradition of Lowgap, N.C.; Broken Wire of Galax, Va.; Milestone of Dobson, N.C. and Bluegrass Traditional Band of Hillsville, Va.

Junior bands: Bluegrass Bound of Galax, Va.; Alien Invaders of Sparta, N.C. and Groundhog Gravy of Sparta, N.C.

Bluegrass fiddle: Jimmy Edmonds of Hillsville, Va.; Timmy Martin of Lowgap, N.C.; Courtney Burroughs of Stoneville, N.C.; Kenny Price of Mountain City, Tenn. and Wade Petty of Galax, Va.

Old time fiddle: Jerry Correll of Elk Creek, Va.; Adrian Powell of Staunton, Va.; Jacob Bowen of State Road, N.C.; Richard Bowman of Ararat, Va. and Matt Kirwan of Blacksburg, Va.

Junior fiddle: Marlon Dean of Independence, Va.; Cameron Faryadi of Oakboro, N.C. and Brittany Hinsdale of Belews Creek, N.C.

Old time banjo: Kevin Fore of Lowgap, N.C.; Brien Fain of Stuart, Va.; Allen Rutherford of Independence, Va.; Trish Fore of Lowgap, N.C. and Marsha Todd of Mount Airy, N.C.

Bluegrass banjo: Jeremy Stephens of Danville, Va.; Judy King of Hillsville, Va.; Cody McGuire of Independence, Va.; Jay Adams of Lowgap, N.C. and Brandon Toney of Statesville, N.C. Junior banjo: Chris Johnson of Sparta, N.C.; Autumn Hill of Fancy Gap, Va. and Ty Cornett of Galax, Va.

Mandolin: Ron Inscore of Ararat, Va.; Nick Keen of East Bend, N.C.; Allan McMillian of Cana, Va.; Jordan Toney of Statesville, N.C. and Greg Jones of Lowgap, N.C.

In the photo above right, Hans Thedens, Mattias Thedens and Elizabeth Gaver of Oslo, Norway perform backstage.

Junior mandolin: Justin Willey of Sparta, N.C.; James R. Hall of Sparta, N.C. and Adam McPeak of Max Meadows, Va. Guitar: Danny Campbell of Lansing, N.C.; Jake Hiatt of Mount Airy, N.C.; Tim Varner of Lansing, N.C.; Danny Casstevens of Mocksville, N.C. and Eric Harden of Warrensville, N.C.

Junior guitar: Monica Santos of Sparta, N.C.; Austin Simonds of Bessemer City, N.C. and Chip Moyer of Sparta, N.C. Bass: Bryan Osborne of Creston, N.C.; Daniel Perry of Statesville, N.C.; Loyd Richardson of Warrensville, N.C.; Tony King of Warrensville, N.C. and Brad Hiatt of Lowgap, N.C.

Junior bass: Makenzie Neff of Hillsville, Va. and David Chrisley of Wytheville, Va.

Autoharp: JoAnn Redd of Galax, Va.; Mary Umbarger of Harmony, N.C.; Nellie Zuhlke of Galax, Va.; Glenna Anderson of Christiansburg, Va. and Ed Anderson of Christiansburg, Va.

Dulcimer: Richard Pardue of Salisbury, N.C.; Tammy Sawyer of Hays, N.C.; Dick Lamb of Keezeltown, Va.; Jame Amoroso of Apex, N.C. and Tim Thornton of Shawsville, Va.

Dobro: Garrett Bryant of Roaring River, N.C.; Mack Powers of Lansing, N.C.; Robert Ellis of Mocksville, N.C.; Danny Hargis of Huntersville, N.C. and Donnie Swaim of Elkin, N.C.

Vocal: Tommy Nichols of Mount Airy, N.C.; Keith Souther of Statesville, N.C.; Jessie Lovell of Fries, Va.; Lynne Powell of Mocksville, N.C. and Heather O'Neal of Mount Airy, N.C.

Harmonica: Daniel Mabe of King, N.C.; Paul Hiatt of High Point, N.C.; Glen Zuhlke of Galax, Va.; Lewis Bedsaul of Independence, Va. and Eddie Ogle of Roanoke, Va.

Senior dance: Gladys Williams of Hillsville, Va.; Jo Ann Call of Roaring River, N.C.; Marsha Todd of Mount Airy, N.C.; Cody Jackson of Austinville, Va. Julie Shepherd of Martinsville, Va. Special recognition—Posie Beck, 85 years old, of Pilot Mountain, N.C.

Junior dance: Tabitha Sands of Germanton, N.C.; Brianna Dillon of Wirtz, Va.; Abbey Brooks of Sparta, N.C. and Matthew Johnson of Sparta, N.C.

Children's dance (non-competitive, all get a blue ribbon): Matthew Baumgardner of Galax, Va.; Mattias Thedens of Oslo, Norway; Ciara Pierce of Roaring River, N.C.; Emily Brooks of Sparta, N.C. and Brianna (last name unavailable) of Clearwater, Fla.

The fiddlers convention is always held the third weekend in July at the Alleghany Fairgrounds on U.S. 21 just north of the Sparta town limits.

It is presented by the Sparta-Alleghany Volunteer Fire Department and Alleghany Fairgrounds Inc., nonprofit organizations. Proceeds go to the fire department and future improvements to the fairgrounds.

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