Village Squire, 1979-08, Page 17MUSIC
Members of Station Road, [from left to right] Roily Lapierre, guitar; Bill Hill, Mandolin; Paul
Howell, string bass; and Dr. Dennis LePage, World Banjo Champion, perform for the large
crowds of Bluegrass fans at Pickin In The Pines, Formosa.
Bluegrass music
brewing
in Formosa
BY GARY MOON
EVENT: PICKIN IN THE PINES Bluegrass
and Folk Concert.
PLACE: Palace Gardens Park. Formosa.
TIME: Noon til dusk today.
That's what was printed on the poster,
lying beside me on the front seat of my car
as 1 drove up Bruce County Road 12 on my
way to Formosa, Ontario.
Formosa is a small community in the
southern extremity of Bruce County.
southwest of Walkerton. Back in the late
Sixties during that memorable Beer Strike,
all roads in Ontario led to Formosa. It was
here that the non -unionized workers were
kept busy brewing in an attempt to quench
the province -wide thirst for beer.
Formosa is also known for Palace Garden
Park. This privately owned park area is
situated just off the main road through
Formosa and is the home of the
overflowing well. Now -a -days, the brewery
is closed; the Overflowing Well still is; and
Palace Gardens Park is the site of the
largest regular Bluegrass and Folk music
concerts in Mid -Western Ontario.
Driving into Formosa, I passed by long
lines of parked cars on both sides of the
main road. And, every available vacant lot
contained row after row of cars, pick-up
trucks, and vans; all shimmering in the •
heat of the hot afternoon sun.. -1 was glad to
find that inside the park it was very cool,
and shady; just perfect for enjoying the
day -long performance.
Bluegrass is by tradition an outdoor kind
of music. And, the fans at Formosa were
following that tradition: Young women
scantily clad in halter tops and shorts were
lying wherever there was a patch of sun,
working on a summer tan and enjoying the
Bluegrass music at the same time. There
were the usual groups of young men
playing catch with baseballs and frisbees.
While parents were setting up picnic
lunches and bar-b-ques, the children were
off making new friends at the playground
area. And, older fans were sitting
comfortably on lawn chairs under the
shady pine trees. All of these people, and
everyone of them equally enthusiastic
Bluegrass fans.
All afternoon there would be children
playing over in the shallow pond by the
Overflowing Well. The Overflowing Well is
a story in itself. The well was dug back in
1901, by a local entrepreneur who was
drilling for oil. Instead of oil, he hit a
natural spring of crystal clear water at a
depth of 945 feet. The pressure of the
spring shoots the water into the air at a
maximum pressure of 160 gallons -per -
minute.
The stage is located in one corner of the
park, with a limestone rock cliff forming a
natural backdrop, and it is protected from
the sun by tall pines and shady maples.
I arrived just in time to hear the M.C.
introduce the World Banjo Champion, Dr.
Dennis LePage, and the Bluegrass band he
plays with, Station Road. The other
headlining act on this particular Sunday
was the Humber River Valley Boys. I would
also hear from several more lesser-known,
but equally as talented Bluegrass groups
before the day was over.
The Pickin' In The Pines Bluegrass
concerts in Formosa are held several times
from May til September, and they are
organized by R AND R PRODUCTIONS.
Three area men head up this company.
Renny Weiler and Ray Schuett are from
Walkerton, and Jerry Chomyn is from
Wingham. I talked to Renny and Ray in the
snack bar on the site where they were busy
waiting, on hot and hungry fans. Between
orders for hot dogs, and cold soft drinks I
found out from them just how the whole
idea got started. Renny explained that all
three men and their families were picnicing
here at the park one Sunday afternoon a
couple of years ago. They liked the setting,
and noticed there was a stage and other
facilities. This started them thinking.
It has been a long-time custom to go to
Palace Gardens most Sunday afternoons
during the summer and have live country
music entertainment provided by local
amateur musicians. Ray said that the
potential was here for something big to
happen, and these three men were going to
make it happen. One thing lead to another,
and with the help of a local singer -song-
writer Richard Knetchel, the idea of
supplying day -long concerts of Bluegrass
Country, and Folk music was agreed upon.
The first season saw small crowds at first;
between five and six hundred people
attended. Then the idea caught on, and the
crowds grew rapidly until the attendance
this particular afternoon exceeded 1500
people. To date well over 5000 Bluegrass
and folk music fans have been to Formosa.
Bluegrass music, (especially the way it is
presented at Formosa, continuous from
Noon, until you can't see to pick your
guitar) draws crowds of teens, young
couples, many families, and older folks as
well. The younger segment of the crowd is
experiencing Bluegrass music for the first
time. This is mainly due to the "Hit"
status achieved by the Good Brothers'
version of the tune Fox On The Run. Older
folks are remembering the music the way it
used to be, long before electric guitars and,
thousands of watts of power.
Between his bits as Master of
Ceremonies for the day, the third member
of the organizing company Jerry Chomyn,
talked to me further about the reasons for
establishing Pickin In The Pines. Jerry
explained that they wanted to bring in
professional Bluegrass musicians to Pickin
In The Pines, and at the same time use
these events to give exposure to many of
the lesser-known area bluegrass country
August 1979, Village Squire 15