12th Annual Happy Valley Fiddlers’ Convention

Friday, September 2, 2016 was the beginning of the Annual gathering of string musicians from around North Carolina and beyond, and PSF was there to support the community and to join the fun! Kitty Rosati, Liza Plaster, Susan Rowe, Jesse Plaster, and Janet and Buddy Spoon manned the tent which offered tee-shirts left from the 2015 Alumni Reunion, a one-pager which summarized PSF’s progress over the last few years, brochures describing Retreat & Wedding venues on Campus, and reservations for rooms in Wiese Hall. We met quite a few people who are interested in what is happening on The Patterson School Campus. Many locals were pleased to know that we are preserving it and resurrecting its legacy. One woman from Charlotte commented on how beautiful the Campus is, and that she was thrilled to see it because one of her favorite restaurant owner/operators (Mike Moore) had told her about his days at Patterson! Small world! An Alumnus from the 1970s, who has not been on our contact list, James Lamb, also stopped by, so we found one of our “lost family!”   He lives in Hickory.

Susan Rowe, our new Bookkeeper, and Buddy Spoon are in this picture.

Some of you might remember Ms. Rowe from her tenure in 2004-05 at the School. She lives nearby in our Happy Valley, and is the sister-in-law of Liza Plaster and neighbor of Jesse Plaster, whose Great-Great-Grandfather was Patterson’s second Headmaster, Rev. Hugh Dobbin. His name is on the marble stone above Palmyra’s front door. Buddy Spoon is the husband of Janet Spoon, who has been employed by, or involved in, Patterson continuously since 1983-84.

The Convention was lots of fun, with something to interest almost everyone, including children.  They competed in their own musical contests, and enjoyed tractor rides and corn-shucking contests, and eventually paraded among the tents, as you can see in the next picture.

There were booths to buy crafts, food, and handmade musical instruments. The Happy Valley Boy Scout Troop provided hot dogs, hamburgers, BBQ, pintos, etc.. There were also stands for funnel cakes and ice cream.

 In Patterson’s interest, there was a special booth for home-made popsicles of exotic flavors like “lemon ice pie,” (which contained buttermilk) and “lavender chocolate,”. The popsicles are made in our very own Hickory Hall kitchen, and are sold each Saturday at the Hickory Farmers’ Market. David and Deanna Talbert of Lenoir call their enterprise “Essie & Olive Popsicle Company” in memory of their mother and grandmother.

Our Wiese Hall “B&B” was a success for this event, especially being our first local event offering. A breakfast with many organic offerings was served at an additional price, which seemed much appreciated. We had thirteen guests, using six rooms. We expect to also entertain guests for Lenoir’s 31^st Annual Sculpture Celebration, a Cyclocross on Campus, and for next April’s Merle Fest, held annually in Wilkesboro. The number to call for Wiese Dorm rental is 828-758-0906.