tuesday, december4, 1979
page 12
daily nebraskan
Old-timers, youngsters fiddle day away 1920s-style
By Bill Graf
Now that, the Nebraska Old Time
Fiddlers' Association has enough room for
guests, anyone who likes to pick andor
grin is welcome. But please, 'no tunes
written after 1930.
And what better place to call a monthly
old-time music "get together" than the
Dod worth and Sons Farm Store, in Have
lock, home of the town chimney sweep.
Except for an office worker taking care
of the store's business on a video computer
terminal, everyone else spent their Sunday
1920s style.
Association members and guests
brought pot-luck dishes. Dinner was warm
ed on one of the wood-burning stoves that
the store uses as its sole source of heat and
hot water.
Some wore old-fashioned dresses and
some of the instruments were older than
many of their great grandfather's.
, But by far, the music was the vehicle
that drove everyone into the past.
Not only were there more fiddles than
-seemed possible, but there also were
guitars, mandolins, banjos, mouthharps, a
Jew's harp, a dulcimer, a piano, an ocarina
and a musician to go with each one. .
"FIDDLING DE" DeRyke said she
started the organization 15 years ago in an
effort to organize old-time fiddlers because
"centennial celebrations out west had
exploited the old-time fiddlers," she said.
She added that the original purpose oi
the association was to "protect the Ne
braska old-time fiddlers" from the up
coming Nebraska centennial.
Since the centennial the association has
lasted the years by supplying listeners with
a homey atmosphere and amateur
musicians with a sounding board.
But no matter how young the crowd
gets, DeRyke said the group plans to stick
to the old-time tunes.
"Some one snuck 'Faded Love' by, but
, other than that one tune, everything we
play is at least 50 years old." "Faded
Love" was written by Bob Willis more than
30 years ago.
One musician in the crowd was Fiddling
De's uncle, Joy Crandell.
Crandell said he has been playing the
old-time tunes since he was 3XA, which was
in 1914. ,
IN 1929, the same year the Grand
Ol'Opry went on the air, Crandell adopted
the act he has now, playing mouth, harp
while simultaneously playing guitar.
Also on hand was Alvin Wood, Wood
plays fiddle, which isn't unusual for this
crowd. But what is unusual is his second in-
. strument, an ocarina or "sweet potato."
The ocarina is called a "sweet potato"
because it looks like one. But instead of
eating it, it is blown into to give a sound
like a recorder or tonette.
The label on the ocarina was worn, but
a manufacturing date of 1877 was read
able.' ' "" '
However, Sunday's get-together wasn't
totally made up of instruments and musi
cians that have seen old-time fiddle music
through the decades. Also present were '
several young listeners and musicians. For
example,
Shaw.
there was 8 -year-old John
Shaw took up classical violin when he
was five, but according to his father, Jack,
mnstlv his father."
Shaw has competed with his fiddle in
four states and is the Junior Fiddle Champ
of Missouri.
But his father said, "Before I take him
"he took uo the old-time stvle because his to the nationals, hell have to get a little
mother and father eniov it so much, but saltier." II
Bill Yetter
Photo by Mark Billingsley
NET V program offers many topics to senipr citizens
By Mary Louise Knapp
. 'The Grand Generation", a weekly pro.
gram produced by the Nebraska Educa
tional Television Network is in its seventh
year and already has covered a lifetime of
subjects.
The program is for and about the elder
ly, and for the past three years has been
produced by Rodney Bates of NETV in
Lincoln.
The Nebraska Commission on Aging
recently gave Bates a $56,000 grant as
financing for the program. The grant is part
of the overall budget for the program's
budget, with the rest of the budget coming
: from the Educational Television Commis
sion. Last year's grant was $55,000.
Bates discussed the variety of subjects
that "the Gjand Generation" has covered
during the years.
"We do films on services for the visually
impaired, such as Talking Books, and films
on food stamps and insurance. We recently
had a soecial on Medicare and explained
what it covers and how to avoid rip-otts."
RECENTLY, "The Grand Generation"
dealt with the problems of widowhood,
and had a special on cosmetic surgery.
Bates emphasized that the main purpose
of the program is to keep senior citizens
active and independent for as long as possi
ble. "It is expensive to keep the elderly
institutionalized," he said. "We would
rather see them independent and able to
take care of themselves."
Many people are not aware of the many
services provided for the elderly, Bates
said, "but we can reach anybody that has
' TV." . .
. A federal "mini-grant" was given to the
program IVi years ago through the Lincoln
Action Program to help producers reach
'more people. A survey showed that only
20 percent of Nebraskans were aware of
the TV program.
'We can't use tax money to advertise."
he said. NETV's private fundraisers ear
mark a nominal amount for advertising for
"The Grand Generation," Nebraskans for
Public Television make contributions, and
Pilot Volunteers, a group of students and
young people help to advertise the
program, by traveling around the state
speaking to groups of all ages.
BATES EXPRESSED concern about the
"tax-lid mentality" prevalent in Nebraska
today.
"Unless people realize the full potential
of this program, it may fall by the wayside
because of lack of funds. If our budget is
cut, the first thing to go will be promotion
for services-the TV program-not the ser
vices themselves."
"The Grand Generation"is broadcast
live every Monday at 7:30 p jn. and repeat
ed Sunday at 5 p.m. It is composed of
several different segments, many of them
, features about active older people.
"We interviewed an 80-year-old man
who had just received his pilot's license."
Bates said. "We actually went up in his
plane and filmed the interview in the air."
Nostalgic features, such as one about the
Lincoln Burlington Depot in its heyday
around the turn of the century, are done
frequently. .
"We don't want to encourage people to
live in the past," Bates explained, "but we
want to preserve important parts of
Nebraska's heritage." Serious topics such as
financial management are usually the main
story of each program . .
gram. '
Often, our subject is too extensive to
be covered in one program. In that case we
do a 'special', one program devoted entire
ly to one topic."
Other segments include "A Word to the
Wise," consumer tips, cooking demonstra
tions, advice on how-to buy for one or two
and exercises. Free recipes and instructions
are offered. "Update" reports on legisla
tion that affects the elderly and encourages
senior citizens to write Congress concern
ing it.
Continued on Page 13
Watercolor, like apple pie9 is part of America's medium
By Martha Murdock
Baseball, hotdogs, apple pic, and water
color? Watercolor has been called the Ameri
can medium because, ' although its use
originated in other countries, its full
development as an art took place in the
United States.
"There are so many, good watercolor
painters in this country that the medium is
often thought of as an American one. You
just don't associate it with England or
Italy, for example," said George Tomko,
curator of American art at Joslyn Art
Museum in Omaha.
it iiJ (waiuuiig naivi vuivt fajui-
ings by 50 artists in an exhibit called
"Masters of American Watercolor" through
Jan. 13. The show focuses on the works of
20th century artists. ' ;
Watercolor began to be used seriously as
a medium in England late in the 18th
century. Before then, oil was the major
medium in Western art. Watercolor had
been used mostly in preliminary studies be
fore artists like Joseph Mallord William
Turner used it as a medium in its own
right.
"At the beginning of the 20th century
the leadership passed to America," Tomko
said. "Winslow Homer and John Singer
Sargent were probably the most influential
American painters in watercolor. Sargent is
still imitated by a lot of artists today."
THE TWO artists began using tech
niques that have become standard in the
medium. For instance, Homer began using
blank paper in his works. He applied both
translucent and opaque areas of paint in
the same artwork, Tomko said.
Joslyn's show follows the development
of the medium in America.
"A lot of watercolor shows present the
same artists over and over. We did include
the traditional artists, but the show spans
all the decades of the 20th century,"
Tomko said. The earliest work in the show
was painted in 1895. The latest was done
by a young artist in Ohio in Feburary
1979. .
"The key to this show is that we've
included more than the usual names: The
balance is about 50-50 between old and
young artists," Tomko said.
"We could have chosen 250 artists, but
the 50 we chose represent a great variety in
subject and style." Well-known artists in
the exhibit include Maurice Prendergast,
John Marin, Charles Dcmuth and Andrew
Wyeth. -
"There is also an effort here to revitalize
certain careers. For example, Eliot O'Hara
was big in the '40s and '50s, but because of
the vagaries of the artworld, he, like other
artists, lost prominence. In some cases,
these artists are still alive," Tomko said.
WATERCOLOR HAS opened up new
areas of expression for artists, he explain
ed. "Watercolor has influenced landscape
painting. Artists can paint subtleties and
suggest tones of atmosphere and light that
they couldn't get with oil. It expanded the
art of landscape," he said.
The medium itself has changed over the
yearsj "Watercolor pigments are different
now. They're quick, drying, which allows
artists working in the new realism of the
'70s to work with infinitesimal detail,"
Tomko said.
."Today artists use watercolor paper
with different media," he added. "I saw a
painting done with coffee stains and it was
very good. Acrylics, which were developed
10 to 15 years ago, are used much like
watcrcolors today."
However, the Joslyn show focuses on
the traditional use of watercolor. "This is a
traditional, old-fashioned watercolor
show," Tomko said.
The paintings were done by artists from
every region in the country and come from
private collections, art dealers, universities
and other institutions across the nation,
Tomko said. Sponsored by the Mid
America Arts Alliance with grants from the
National Endowment for the Arts, the ex
hibit will circulate in several midwestcrn
states for almost a year after it leaves
Joslyn.
Continued on Page 13
