Museum of Appalachia Fall Homecoming - Norris, TN on October 15, 2000

But I arrived sometime after 10:00 a.m. and got a ride on a hay wagon (no hay) to the gate from my parking spot. I was impressed with all the crafters I saw and there were tractors everywhere! And when I got to the main stage area, my first thought was "Omigod, how will I find anybody here!" So I looked over the crowd and stood close to the front trying to spy Sherry and Mario. Finally I spotted them and we caught each other's eye about the same time. I went over and they were right next to a guy videoing the whole thing. There was one empty space between them and a couple next to them. Lucky for me. I never had to put my chair up but I sure wished I had my gel seat I'd left in the car since it was warm enough without it.

The seats were made of large square logs, probably two by twos, (feet that is). And some of the benches were made of round trees. Really rustic. The killer was the front bench had chairs all lined up against them (been there for the duration I'm sure). So the bench in front of us should have been the front row. But no one could sit there because the chairs were backed up against them. So we were on the second row of benches and people did try to scoot some of the chairs up to sit on the front bench (right down from us). We still had an excellent view!

I got there in time to see and enjoy many of the entertainers. My favorites were Mac Wiseman, and the Isaacs. Wiseman seemed to really enjoy himself. And the Isaacs were so fine. Just beautiful. Ladonna came by and spoke to us for a while, but it was just so crowded in, where we sat, that she and Gary went back to their seats. I wish they had brought them up to the side and watched from there. It would have been closer and maybe the sound would have been better.

PBS was there, and they warned us about our being on TV and such (in case we wanted to be anonymous, LOL). We had to stand and do the ovations for Earl before they came out. Standard for TV recordings. This is supposed to be out some time in 2001. Sherry probably wrote these details down, as I can't remember. As Sherry mentioned they were running late, which must be normal, as the owner mentioned the delays often. Marty even made a comment to him once about the microphones that worked. The owner had a microphone that worked really well (Earl's wasn't working) and that "he must own the place" (since his microphone seemed to work so well). They were full of humor, and that made it even more fun.

They came out with Marty dressed in his black suit and pink tie. Wow, he does dress up good. He had his sunglasses on the whole time. I'm sure he noticed he had some fans there, and he was having such a good time. Brad, Earl, Marty with his famous madolin and acoustic guitar, Gary (Scruggs), Jerry Douglas, & Glen Duncan. I enjoyed the version of "Cry, Cry, Cry" and Gary's rendition of "Long Black Veil." The dobro took the place of the steel in that one. I still thought of Gary Hogue though. They did an a cappella (no music) set of "Precious Memories" that brought tears to my eyes. Especially the verse about mother and father, since both mine are gone. But they went right into "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" to lift up the atmosphere again, and it did! Marty,

Brad and Earl were smiling ear to ear most of the time and you were just drawn into the fun they were having. The whole crowd loved it. There probably wasn't a need to do the standing ovations before the shoot for PBS, because when they ended, everyone was still begging for more, and I was so happy that they came back on for more! It was just perfect. I sure hated to see it end. Sherry and Mario had a long trip back home ahead of them so I walked out with them, to put my chair back in the car. Earl Scruggs was autographing in a tent (never saw Marty again, probably had to hurry back himself), and the line for Earl was sooooooo long! They were winding around and in threes and fours all the way. Earl is well loved by the folks in that area.

Although I saw vehicles from seven states as rode the wagon up to the stage area. It took me a while to walk back from the car and the line was still long. I went back to Stage 1 to enjoy some more music, as well as ice cream :). Roy Acuff's Smoky Mountain Boys were on again and after they finished I decided to walk around a bit. I went over to the museum but it was closing, but I did get a program (front page at beginning) which had a picture of Marty and some of the others who performed. Earl, Marty, Gary, Brad, Jerry and Glen outdid themselves. They were "lovin' every minute of it". And so were we.......so were we!

Review by Mary Runyan, Dayton, TN