Feature Articles


September Issue 2000

Folk Art Center in Asheville, NC, Presents Heritage Weekend Festivities

The Southern Highland Craft Guild's Heritage Weekend offers three days of free activities celebrating Southern Mountain heritage at the Folk Art Center in Asheville, NC. Craftspeople, musicians, storytellers and others join the Guild in taking a step back in time to share the experience of mountain traditions with the public.

The weekends festivities begin with free Appalachian music on Fri., Sept. 15 at the Folk Art Center when Appalachian melodies set the rhythm from 1-5pm. On Sat., Sept. 16, from 10am - 5pm, and Sun., Sept. 17 from 1-5pm, the Folk Art Center's auditorium comes alive with the sights and sounds of yesteryear.

The Guild's Heritage Weekend is filled with music, stories, and historic craftmaking. At 2pm on Sat., the ever-popular "Gee Haw Whimmy Diddle Contest" returns, celebrating its 20th anniversary. This whimsical contest for the whole family is based on skill in operating a mountain toy which is traditionally handmade out of rhododendron wood. Heritage Weekend takes time to honor our past and the people who carry on the traditions that inspired the birth of the Guild 70 years ago.

Musicians performing during this three-day event include the fast-picking bluegrass quartet Split Rail, old-time fiddle band The Hogtown Squealers, and the lovely and talented Dowden Sisters, performing folk music on strings, sung in three-part harmony. Beth and Jim Magill will also be performing original music that carries the flavor of Southern Appalachias Celtic roots. A traditional Shaped-Note Singing concert on Sunday is one of the more spiritually moving elements of this annual celebration. Shaped-note singing is an historic way of reading musical notation. Used in church choirs, this method of assigning shapes to notes was an easy, reliable way for rural churches to teach their congregations to read hymns.

Storytelling on Sat. and Sun., Sept. 16 and 17 features the Asheville Storytelling Circle. Local storytellers re-tell the famous Appalachian Jack Tales in addition to their own improvisations in the mountain oral tradition. Free storytelling workshops by the Asheville storytellers will also be conducted.

Crafts have deep traditions in the Southern Mountains, and many who have either learned their historic craft from their families or studied it formally will be sharing techniques used in bygone days. Traditional weavers will demonstrate the complicated processes that create the remarkable overshot patterns brought to the mountains by the early settlers. Other craftspeople will illustrate some of the uses for natural materials such as cornhusk, pinecones, herbs and flowers. Chairmakers give visitors a look at various furniture traditions practiced in the Southern Mountains. Woodcarvers will demonstrate how beautiful artwork can be sculpted with just a few carving tools. Visitors will also be able to witness spinning, broom making, quilting and pottery.

The traditional mountain folk toy known in these parts as the "Whimmy Diddle" is the focus of a free annual event sponsored by the Southern Highland Craft Guild. A twenty year tradition at the Folk Art Center, this year's competition is part of the three-day Heritage Weekend event on Sat., Sept. 16. Traditionally whittled of rhododendron wood, the Whimmy Diddle is a home-made amusement constructed of two sticks and a propeller. Simple to make, easy to work, the Whimmy Diddle has entertained children for generations. The object is to slide one stick against the other until the propeller turns. Guild members not only help visitors to make one, but also teach the secret to making the propeller turn from "Gee" to "Haw," the commands for "right" and "left" that farmers once shouted to their plow mules. During the 2pm competition, contestants rival to make their Whimmy Diddles complete the most switches from Gee to Haw in the shortest amount of time.

The big event happens on Sat. afternoon at 2pm, when Master of Ceremonies, Joe "Colonel Buncombe" Bly officiates at the 20th annual "Gee-Haw Whimmy Diddle World Competition." If you've ever made a Whimmy Diddle spin from "gee" to "haw," or even if you haven't, now is the time to start practicing for the annual competition. No experience is necessary to be a contestant, and participation is free for all ages.

Woodcarver Bob Miller (Pisgah Forest, NC) will assist anyone interested in learning the secrets of the Whimmy Diddle, or in making one for themselves. All the activities during the Guild's Heritage weekend are open to adults and children, with the intention of fostering creative ideas and educating the public about traditional mountain culture.

Filling the judges' seats this year, the Guild is honored to host a panel of community notables. Five celebrated personalities in the Asheville community have accepted the challenge of judiciously counting the rotations of those tiny propellers while sharing lighthearted fun: Scotty Rhodarmer, Morning personality on WWNC, 570 AM Asheville, Mayor Leni Sitnik, Asheville's presiding Mayor, Debbie Chase-Jennings, Photographer Asheville Citizen Times, Robert Gray - Director Emeritus of Southern Highland Craft Guild, and John Boyle - Columnist Asheville Citizen Times.

The judges scrutinize the spinning propellers until one winner from each of three categories is determined: The first place winner from categories of Children, Adult and Professional (past champions) is awarded a gift certificate to any of the four Southern Highland Craft Guild shops. At the 1995 contest, a visitor on the Blue Ridge Parkway spontaneously joined the competition after watching and learning from Guild member Bob Miller. She decided to make her own Whimmy Diddle out of a carrot and celery stick she'd packed for lunch. With a few notches and cuts, her impromptu vegetable Whimmy Diddle worked fine, her ingenuity brought home the coveted "Most Unusual" first place title!

For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings or call the Folk Art Center at 828/298-7928.

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