Photo by Joe Nicholson/The Olympian
Gary Vomenici plays the musical saw with the Cascade Mountaineers at the Tenino Old Time Music Festival on Saturday afternoon. The event drew musicians and music lovers from all over.

Photo by Joe Nicholson/The Olympian
Lee Grimes of Centralia plays the tuba during the opening matinee set by the Polka Dots at the Tenino Old Time Music Festival.

Old-time tunes jazz up festival

Tenino's annual bash draws 1,000 music lovers

RUTH LONGORIA, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Sunday, March 17, 2002

TENINO -- There was a lot of dancing, toe-tapping, pickin' and grinnin' at Tenino High School on Saturday.

About 1,000 people gathered for the second day of the Tenino Old Time Music Festival. The festival -- in its 33rd year -- is sponsored by the Tenino Lions Club.

"It's fun, once a year, to come out and be a part of all this," said Catherine Akeah, 20, a Lions Club member.

Akeah and a classmate from South Puget Sound Community College, Adria Reed, 21, danced exuberantly in the back of the auditorium as a group called the Polka Dots played a lively tune.

"We took dance classes at the college, and we just learned the polka last year," Akeah said.

Arnie Miller, 83, of Tenino was also having a good time.

Miller, a former Tenino School District superintendent, grew up in Boistfort. When he was a youth, he said, he and his friends went to dances in Pe Ell and at the Adna Grange. Bands back then played some of the same tunes as were played at Saturday's festival, he said.

"I enjoy old-time music like this; it reminds me of my boyhood," he said as singer Brenda Sue crooned "The Red River Valley."

The day's activities spilled outside the auditorium.

As people stopped by the cafeteria to purchase hot dogs, chili and other snacks, musicians congregated on the sidelines, jamming and practicing before their turn at the microphone.

Barbara Collins, 43, of Olympia performed with some of her fiddle students during Friday's festivities. She brought her instrument back to the festival Saturday to take part in the informal jam sessions.

"This is the fun part," Collins said as she prepared to add her violin expertise to the melodies performed by a group of harmonica players.

Collins began playing the violin at age 4 and was trained in classical music before moving to Olympia from Hawaii in 1984.

"When I was first introduced to this type of music, I was amazed," she said. "Here I had all this technique, but I couldn't jam. I didn't know how to improvise."

Someone taught her some blues scales, and she found her passion, she said.

"I ended up playing swing and jazz, and the music started coming out of my soul," she said.

Miller began plucking the strings of her fiddle as Vern Morgus, 76, of Shelton began a Brazilian tune on a 48-chord, 2-foot-long harmonica.

Vernon Selstad, 62, of Tumwater added some deep tones on his bass harmonica. Before long, the trio was making beautiful music.

Peter Epperson of Olympia and his children Rose, 9, and Carter, 6, stopped to listen and do a little dancing.

"It's not often you get to see real folk musicians," Epperson said. "It's nice to have something like this for families to come to on a Saturday afternoon."

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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