Mr. B’s 2024 Bluegrass Spectacular - Rally Summary

A Good Time at the Bluegrass Festival 

 

We all rolled in on Wednesday, 1 May. By 5:00, the tent was set up, the chairs set out, and food on the table. That night we had:  

·      Richard & Irene Norvelle 

·      Jim & Bonnie Spain 

·      Richard & Denise Davis 

·      Steve & Sue Sohles 

·      Mary Lou Dudziak 

·      Steve & Judy Mahanes 

·      And, of course, us – Ed & Jean Herbert 

 

So, the Dogwood Gathering at Mr. B’s Spring Music Spectacular was in full swing. The park Host, Ms. Billie Sue Goff, came by to welcome us all and wish us a great weekend. She visited every morning and Dogwood got a couple of shoutouts from the stage over the weekend. 

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday mornings, Jean and I served up a big brunch and drinks. Dinner, while not pre-planned, seemed to appear every night and like the brunches, were always delicious. Many thanks go out to Steve & Sue for Thursday night’s dinner, to Mary Lou for Friday night’s dinner, and Steve & Judy for Saturday night’s dinner. We ate really well the whole weekend, and I actually got pretty good at cooking on our new Blackstone griddle – didn't burn anything! We were joined on Thursday by Roy and Cara Brinkley, and on Friday by Jim and Susan Buelow. 

The music kicked off at noon on Thursday and the weather was perfect – We set up our chairs directly in front of the stage, but back about 100’ just so we wouldn’t get blasted by the speaker. We weren’t front row, but we were directly in front and had the area to ourselves the whole time.   

The music ran all afternoon and evenings Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. There were nearly 80 campers/RVs on site; the walk-in traffic was about double that. Many campers stayed at their RVs and listened rather than come down to the stage because the sound system was so good that you could hear the music clearly from about anywhere in the park. There were 15 bands over the three days; each band did two shows a day. That was a lot of music and the bands were really good. Folks sang, danced, and just enjoyed themselves – I think we heard “How Great Thou Art” about four times – twice in a capella. Thursday and Friday’s weather was perfect, but on Saturday evening, the weather took a nasty turn forcing the last bands to move from the stage into the large pavilion. I missed that, but heard that it was an excellent acoustic show. Carson Peters and Iron Mountain did an excellent job, and note that they will be playing at GEAR for us this October (they are already signed up!).  

“Bluegrass” as a music genre has a lot of variation, and we heard it all. The best part for me was sitting close to the stage and watching the bands play. Vocals were terrific, but the violin (e.g., fiddle), mandolin and banjo players were literally “dancing” their fingers across the instrument necks. It was amazing to watch how well they played their notes. 

Mr. B came by several times and told us he was planning on running the winter “Sunday Funday” sessions again – third Sunday in the month, bluegrass music and dinner – starting in January. Jean and I will attend that as well; we really enjoyed it this year. OK, so mark your calendars for next year, first weekend in May – another Mr. B’s Music Spectacular!

Your Hosts,
Ed & Jean Herbert  

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