- [Announcer] Good evening and welcome to The Upper Cumberland Camera.

Later on tonight's show, we'll take a look at the recent taste of heritage.

A day of activities for areas senior citizens held at Tennessee Tech University.

But first, tonight, this story.

Last week, mark the beginning of a new symphony season in the Upper Cumberland region with the women's symphony Guild's annual activities which included a coffee, the selling of season tickets and the annual symphony gala.

We talked with symphony conductor, Dr. James Watson Wittenberg and women's symphony Guild ticket chairman Beverly Carlin about the upcoming season.

- This past weekend the women's symphony Guild had again their fall gala and it was extremely successful.

We had more people than we had ever had before.

We had lovely items for auction and we hope made more money than we ever have before.

- On November 18th, we have a young man named Christopher O'Reilly who is American trained and American trained pianist.

He's performed with many of the orchestras in the country, the St. Louis, the San Francisco the Cleveland orchestra.

This year he, performance for the first time with the Philadelphia orchestra.

And he will appear with the tech community symphony orchestra, on Sunday afternoon, November 18th during the Tchaikovsky B-flat minor piano concerto.

On February 10th, A man by the name of Marcus Stocker, who is Australian born, who is currently living in Switzerland.

We'll do the concerto for cello and orchestra by Anton Devon Jaak.

This is his first as a part of his world tour, this is his first series of concerts in his country and we were very fortunate to have him being able to join us on February 10th on a Thursday, after a Thursday morning April 11th, we will have a pair of children's concerts.

And dear Barry hall - We feel that if we don't educate the children to symphony music then we lose a lot of our audience when they get to be adults.

Plus, we feel like for some of the children it's their only exposure to symphony music.

And this is something we feel that is important.

And plus, we want them to know that it is fun and not all serious music this year.

They're going to be even more involved than they ever have before.

I believe this is right as in the gym they actually going to do the painting themselves for the backdrops that are going to be used.

And each year we try to get them more and more involved in it, educate them more and more.

- We talk about the instruments of the orchestra types and styles of music.

This year, we're going to be talking about old McDonald had a farm.

There are many pieces of music written with, with a story as last year when we did "Peter and the Wolf", a story that is of interest to two young people, quite aside from the music.

So we try to pick something that that they can identify with in ways other than what they're listening to on a Sunday afternoon May 12th is the honors concert this year.

And of course we will be featuring a student to through audition has won the the John Deere beer and music award in the department.

Additionally, the choral union, the tech choral groups joined by master seniors will do a work for chorus and orchestra.

Also the 1984 85 Guild auction conductor this year happens to be Felix Borden will conduct a work with the orchestra and we look forward to that.

It'll be a lot of fun.

- We are one of the smallest, if not the smallest town in the United States to have a symphony of our own we feel like this is a great asset, not only to Cookeville but to the upper Cumberland area.

And it takes a lot of support from the university and everybody here in town and the surrounding area in order to keep this going.

And so we feel like anybody who is interested in keeping it going, we have a number of women who belong to the Guild who come to support it because they feel like it's just an important feature of, of the community but we call it the women's symphony Guild.

When you were saying that, it made me think that in times past we have always had a number of men who have joined us maybe not as members, but who have come to our luncheons.

We have a preview luncheon on Fridays prior to the symphony on Sunday.

And at that luncheon, we do discuss some business but Jim or somebody from the staff will come and explain a little bit of the background of what will be performed that week.

If the guest artist is here ahead of time, we meet them.

At that time, we have an opportunity to have some kind of a background before we come to the concerts.

And at one time we had a number of men who would come to join us for lunch.

We try to keep it from 12 to one so they can make it on their lunch hour and then leave.

And it's always advertised in the paper and we're always delighted to have anybody come and join us.

We have people from all around.

We have, we sell season tickets and Livingston and Sparta.

Crossbill pleasant Hill Smithville, this whole general area.

So it's not limited to Cookeville people.

It's for anybody.

You can get the season tickets either here at the music department, or you can call me at home and I'll make arrangements for them.

We give everybody the opportunity from one year to the next to renew the ticket that they had the year prior.

So they can keep the same seats from year to year.

If they choose not to or choose to move then those seats are available.

But all the seats in the auditorium are great.

You can see well, and you can hear well from all of them.

So there's, there's no bad seats in the house.

- Very obviously we could not have our program without their help.

They, for years have supported the orchestra in furnishing the guest soloist and they always have been for the children's concerts.

And additionally, they on occasion do a pops concert or one of the other formal formal concerts.

And we just couldn't exist without the Symphony Guild.

- Announcer] Earlier this month, senior citizens and friends from throughout the upper Cumberland gathered here in Cookeville for a taste of heritage.

Coach bull Brown welcome the group to the day's activities.

- There's two things that we want from this government (mumbling) I feel that we have two things( mumbles) as senior citizens, opportunity.

An opportunity to work if we want to work.

An opportunity ladies and gentlemen and my ranch to live with dignity (indistinct) and continue to be part of this, have them come here.

(indistinct) I love all of you.

Thank you very much.

(crowd clapping) - [Announcer] here were exhibits instructional sessions and contests.

One of the most popular contests for spectators and participants alike was storytelling.

- When grandpa and grandma broke up past keeping and came to live with us after grandpa got too old to work.

Now she young grew up here in all kinds of titles about the people and the places and the things when grandpa was young.

But the one we liked best was a story about how our great-grandma Parsons put a quietest on the Yankees.

Now grandma lived on Wolf river in what is now Pickett County.

It was over it in countyy then, but it was still close enough to the Tennessee Kentucky land.

That it was a bad place for anybody to live.

Let alone the poor widow woman was Kentucky being a border state had state had stayed with a union.

Tennessee had gone with Confederacy.

So all the Bushwhackers and other riffraff felt free to ride back and forth across the border.

Anytime they wanted to.

Now, grandma not only it, her truck patches she hunted the woods and field for game to help fill the Stewpot.

She spawn and Mulvin stitch to close her family and she dug sang for cash money to pay the taxes on a few acres and many be the time she's had to set up all night long with a loaded gun across he lap to protect what was hers from them who would have taken her last bite meat or grain of corn.

But finally, the war ended.

The soldiers from both sides started straggling home back through the area.

After the long years of war there wasn't much for the Johnny ribs to come home to or the Yankees to Crow over, but then human, the Yankees took advantage of every situation they could.

Now on evening, grandma went down to the spray to get a bucket in that water.

As she turned around from dipping up her water, three Yankees soldier stepped out of the bushes and blocked her path with a broad wink to his toe companions.

One of the men swept off his ragged, old blue cap bowed loaded startled woman and said ma'am how far is it from here to where we're going?

Grandma looked to three up and down.

They were about the worst looking but she'd never set her two eyes on, But scared as she was.

She kept telling herself that Southern women could fight same as a man.

And armed only with her goddipper.

She pulled herself up to our full five feet, two inches and said clearly and googly, sorry, lengths of a food sir.

And if you don't believe me, just lay down and measure it.

I made the loud laughter of his two companions.

The man put his own cap back on his head and saluted the small Southern woman who had just won the skirmish.

Then without even a backward glance the three tarred soldiers picked up their rifles and headed on up toward the Kentucky border and pawns further North.

Thank you.

(crowd clapping) - since I get on little bad weather and the good laid on me I will tell you, have I learned this.

My daddy was born in before the push-button age.

So to speak in 1874.

And my kids couldn't understand that we can have fun without electricity.

When I was a child, we sit around the fire at night and this is how we learned it.

Popping corn and roasted peanuts.

My daddy would relay they stories and the early morning fog but give him the number of snows in the upcoming winter.

Also a lot of little hornet nest down low and spider nest on the ground I've counted as many as 15 in a six foot radius where they would be the cleaned them in a tobacco beds in the morning when the deal was on and this all denoted the bad winter since nature has a way of taking care of its own.

A lot of leaves on the trees when they fall that protects the vegetation a little spring bulbs that were bloom when spring comes again also thick corn husk.

That is a real definition that you can look for.

And this year they were real thick and there was hardly a morning in August that we didn't have fog.

We had five heavy fogs since we get snow for all these frogs, we've had one may have to hibernate.

I hope not.

And a lot of things that he tell me when I was kid if I dread it down, it didn't seem important then.

But as I grew older, I wish I had written it down.

- Oh, it'll be about a blacksmith.

I knew Jim dabs was a blacksmith.

He, he lived not far from where I did.

And he was, my father said that he could shoot.

You are fix a bull tongue plow.

And they both worked better than they ever did.

He was a tall and muscular man with big muscles.

And he, he would beat on his hands all day.

And the sparks would fly.

His wife's name was Sarah.

He called a Seri and Seri was a tall stooped woman who wore a on it and a blue checked apron.

She dipped snuff because you should always had a dark ring around her mouth.

I'd go with my father down to the shop.

Sometimes Sarah would come across with a big goid full of water to give her husband a drink.

And he was Oh, old Jim.

He would quit Hammond.

Has anvil long enough to a go down the water.

He wiped his mouth on his dirty shirt sleeve.

And then he would go back to his hammer after he bailed at a time or two.

Well, they were both superstitious.

They believed in ghost and boogers and hobgoblins.

And what have you.

And they wouldn't paint the beans till the signs were right.

They wouldn't be on a calf if the moon wasn't the right phase Sarah wouldn't make soap until everything got just right.

She was, it really, it was more entertaining than he was.

she went barefoot in the summertime a lot of times.

And I know, I, I remember very well.

One of her big toe was stuck out of his crazy angle like that when she walked well, anyway according to their superstitious, one, one morning at our house, we're in the dead of night.

Somebody hollered out in front of our house kept handing somebody to say hello?

Hello?

Hello.

Well, my father, he got up and went to the door, opened the door.

And I heard him say, why, what in the world?

You in Sir doing down here this time of night Jim?

And it was Jim dabs and Siri.

Well, I stepped out of the bed to see what was going on all.

So I slipped across the room in the dark.

There either stood out there in front of our house.

In fact, the doorstep with Jim dabs had a smoking lantern in his hand Seri was standing at the shadows behind him.

And he said, well I'm going to tell you what it is, Sarah and me.

We've had a dream tonight In fact we had a dream not before last.

We had the same dream last night ever had the same dream toninght.

We dream that, Oh I crossed the branch over here beyond your house.

There's a pot of gold buried over there.

And we want to go over there and dig that pot of gold but we didn't want to carry the digging tools for two or three mile.

So we want to borrow something, dig the hole with.

Well my father told him go around in the chimney corner and hunting up some tools because that's where we kept most of our farming tools leaning up against the house Jim in to the corner.

They went around and got the tools.

And I stood at the window at the door and watched him as it disappeared into the darkness with his latern in his hand, like a fire blows disappearing in the foggy of distance.

And the next morning, while we were eating breakfast we heard the rattling around in the corner and they were putting the tools up.

Dad asked him if he found any gold and Jim ab said No we didn't find any gold, but we only thing.

We found with some horse bones and a lot of Flint rocks and things like that.

Well, my brother and I, we decided that we were we wanted to see them though that I investigate the diggings.

So after breakfast was over, we crossed the Creek, went over on the Hill side and we looked up and down in the woods and sure enough, we found the hole where they had dug.

And it was big enough to bring an elephant and almost.

Now, after over 60 years of gold, and that's not been long back 60 years ago, I went back to that place.

And by the way, you can still see the place where they dug.

As I stood on the depression.

There, there was, there was a pants with a big hole that they had dug with a tree growing in one end of it.

As I stood there, I looked at that depression and in the ground.

My mind wandered back to that time, over 60 years back on that dark foggy night when Jim dabs and Sarah came to our house and borrowed tools to dig for gold I could see in my imagination, Sarah standing at the end of that whole holding that smoke Atlanta while her husband sweat, running down his face in the darkness, there was digging for gold.

Thank you.

(crowd clapping) Would it be on the front line that the man who would get to the gold, the top is.

The command was given (indistinct) But still difficult to get through there garb close.

We didn't have a time on the hang close which followed terribly, maybe the at him on the down, dripping off from the hand.

(indistinct) - My subject is going to be about how come Livingston to be the County seat of Overton County.

And also it will concern grandpas and grandmas.

Now, Ms. Melton has done brought out some and I think we've got the same grandpas now.

So she'll enjoy this.

I'm sure.

Back in the early last century uncle John Eldridge came over here.

He came across the mountains the crown of the Cumberland mountains and he settled in the Oak Hill vicinity.

And back then we'd be thinking about everything was just so plain and all in many cars and all that, but it was a wilderness.

We all know that, that it was a wilderness.

So he raised a large family and boys and girls but he had one boy that was named Jesse.

And Jesse was a very intelligent man.

And he was funny and pull pranks and, and everything.

So whe John Eldridge came, you see whle all of this there wasn't no lines for Overton County.

They wasn't no lines.

It was Jackson.

Then pick it then all of that in together.

So in years they made a land, well the County seat was at Monroe and it was a kind of a long ways from a lot of people to go because Monroe was pretty close to this other line.

And so they put up a boat or they said that they would put it to a vote for the people to vote Farida to be at Monroe or to be at Livingston.

Well, my brother, my grandpa, Jesse he was far the Livingston of coerce.

And he went over to open river.

Now he took days and days to get to any place, you know?

So he went over there and he had a brother Thomas that lived over close to Obie river.

And he was going to spend the night there when he got there he found out that they were several of the advocates of wanting to be at Monroe.

And so they rode horses, of course, back then.

And after they had to eat a big supper and they'd put their horses away and everything.

Why Jesse looked to see where these horses was arranged you know, and in the night why he slipped out while they all was asleeping he slipped out and went to the barn and he saddled his own horse.

And he turned all these other horses out and they the next morning he went onto Monroe.

And the next morning, of course, they thought the cattlle thief the horse thief, and all maybe had got them the horses.

And they was busy doing that.

So my grandpa, Jesse he went on to them, to the Monroe, to the voting place.

And Livingston came in by four votes.

(crowd clapping) - I have a lot of memories from my childhood.

And of course my memories my sweetest and fondest memories are of my grandmother.

She was one of the sweetest, dearest people in my life.

I'll have to say that in all honesty.

And I loved her dearly and I love her memory dearly.

I don't know where to start.

I'll just start at the, I'll just start at the beginning that I guess that's a good place to start.

I remember my uncle, he was a character and his friend I had a pet frog that lived in my grandmother's cellar.

I've talked a lot when I was a little girl and I still talk a lot.

And they used to hire me not to talk.

And my grandmother was always saying, Moline, go away.

So I went and talked to my pet frog and one day uncle Walter and his friend fed my pet frog.

So many shot.

It got so heavy.

It couldn't hop.

And I cried and went and told my grandmother what uncle Walter and Buster had done to my pet frog because she didn't have time for that either.

She was a busy woman.

And I have to tell about the time this happened in our home.

This was a very serious thing that happened in our family.

I was the oldest of five children and I helped I got to help mama do everything.

And this day we had rendered out the little lard.

And you know, when you rent out the lard, you get tired.

And we, it came lunchtime and we didn't have time to get it into the stands properly.

So we set it down out in the wood shed and it had been raining that day and we just set it down, out there.

And in some containers, just around on the ground I guess we were in a hurry.

And you know, the pigs came through while we were in having lunch.

And they just routed around all over and turned over all the lard.

Now that was a tragedy in our family.

At that time, believe me.

There was a lot all gone.

I went to splat, I guess, we're still here.

- Henry's wife got sick.

And he called the doctor to come one night, cold night.

He said, Henry, I don't know how to get there.

He said, well, you go down to the end of town.

You turn up the foot lit holler.

And the third house up there.

So he said, well, it wake up tomorrow.

He said, no, it's Gurdy lockers.

He power flipping.

So please.

So nobody said no to Henry when he said, please.

So he went to see Girdy and not having all the modern facilities of medicine.

He took his bag and Gerdy had pneumonia.

But on the way down though, he stopped at the third house and got the lodge for all out.

And he got the man up and he said, no.

He said, Henry lives in the next task.

So he was getting kind of mad with Henry when he got down there.

He said, Henry, you live in the fourth house.

He says, doc said you counted that house to didn't nobody living (crowd laughing) So Henry and Gerdy they grew older.

And one night Girdy was taking some pills.

And he said, watchu taking ma?

she says, these are pills.

Doc gave me, said I'd been feeling kind of powerless and not up to par.

He said, well, maybe I should take some of them, said, she thought, well, now I'm five feet two.

And he gave me one he's 10 and about six feet tall.

I'll give him two.

(crowd laughing) So next morning, Gurdy woke up.

He knew it was out and gone, you know, no word fine.

She said, well, he feeling better.

He went up to do his chores.

Well, she went up the barn, you know, wasn't there or she didn't get quite concerned.

So she goes down to the hallway to get the neighbors you know, the less fun Henry.

So Henry was sitting down there by the road of crime and she put her arm on him.

She says, Fox, the matter Paul, he said, look the school bus left me.

- And that's the upper Cumberland camera for this week.

Next week at this time Becky Robertson will present studio 22 with more stories of the people and events of the upper Cumberland here on channel 22.