THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 14, 1996 TAG: 9606140054
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 81 lines
THE DARDEN Family farm was a 100-acre spread in the small town of Mapleton, N.C., near Murfreesboro.
Most of the acreage is rented now. The family portion was a working farm, but no longer, unless you count two grazing horses.
Six acres, owned by Roy Darden, will be the site of the sixth annual Traditional Country & Bluegrass Music Festival & Contest today and Saturday.
For the past month, Darden family members and others have been cutting grass, cleaning up and getting ready for the event, which is expected to attract about 5,000 - 2,000 more than last year.
The festival began as a Father's Day weekend get-together. Other musicians joined the fun, friends came to listen, and more folks showed up - until it evolved into a major festival.
Those who attend can hear old-time country music, and they can get involved in, or listen to, string music competition.
There also will be a lot of picking in the parking lot - informal gatherings of down-home musicians who hang around their vans and campers to enjoy the music they love and the camaraderie that goes with it.
Professionals appearing include Clearwater, the Timmons Family, Travis Holloway, Southern Transfer, New River Gospel & Bluegrass, Dot Baker & Girls' Night Out and two well-known amateur dance groups, the Chesapeake Bay Cloggers and the Flatland Cloggers.
A host of Dardens - the Darden Family Band, Joan Darden and others will also entertain.
Suzi Arden Darden is the primary organizer.
The singing and playing Darden family includes four generations of entertainers, beginning with Suzi's parents, Colonel (an honorary title) Polk Darden and Mittie Warren Darden.
Over the years, sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts and cousins have gotten into - and left - the act.
No one took the pursuit of musical happiness more seriously than Suzi, whom area old-timers might remember from her radio days.
``I was the first female country disc jockey here - at WTAR from 1948 to 1952,'' said the Portsmouth-born entertainer, who has homes in Suffolk and Alexandria. ``I was on WTAR-TV in 1949. It was the first musical performance on television in the area.''
In the late 1950s, she was one of the stars of the prestigious Ozark Jubilee, which was telecast on ABC-TV. Darden also played Las Vegas, working in such famous clubs as the Mint Hotel and Casino.
The festival on the farm is a different story, a family affair.
``There's no liquor, no beer, no cursing - nothing derogatory to family,'' Darden said. ``You don't see anyone unless they're smiling.''
From 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday, in the children's area, the Meherrin Indians, a local tribe, will tell stories and do ceremonial dances. There will be mimes and clowns.
There will also be a greasy-pig race and several contests - pie eating, an egg toss, peanut bag racing, hollering and hog calling.
The adult competition involves men and women who play fiddle, five-string banjo, guitar, mandolin and dobro. The first-prize winners in each category will get an invitation to perform at Opryland in Nashville and at the Old Dominion Opry in Williamsburg.
Suzi Darden, who founded the Ole Time Country Music Association, says, ``I'm a hillbilly and proud of it.'' ILLUSTRATION: FILE PHOTO
Suzi Arden Darden is the primary festival organizer.
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FESTIVAL FACTS
What: Traditional Country & Bluegrass Music Festival & Contest
When: 10 a.m. today to 1 a.m. Saturday; 9 a.m. Saturday to
midnight
Where: Darden Family Farm, Route 158, Mapleton, N.C., near
Murfreesboro
Tickets: $7 today , $10 Saturday, $15 both days. Children under
12, free.
Call: (919) 398-4478.
FYI: Free camping. Electrical hookups, $8 a day. Pets on leash
allowed. Bring lawn chairs. Food and beverage concessions. No
alcohol or drugs.
A portion of proceeds go to Respite Care Program for the Aging in
Hertford County. by CNB