See the special video presentations of the tribute to Margaret Longhill below the text which were produced by Gail Carson and Paul Garfinkel
Margaret Longhill (all photos by Gail Carson)
The 27th annual Will McLean Music Festival at the Sertoma Youth Ranch near Brooksville honored Margaret Longhill on March 12th. Longhill has been the gentle, guiding hand and inspiration for hundreds of musicians who have found their voices for Florida.
Since she first met Will McLean (1919-1990), the first folk artist inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, she has continued to keep the flame burning of Will’s desire to “Save Florida Through Music.”
“Music is a magical way to teach the value of our blessed, flowered land,” says Longhill.
Margaret making her entrance to the special Saturday night tribute on March 12th
Whether it’s her support for the young performers or the annual ‘Best New Florida Song Contest,’ Longhill, the Will McLean Foundation President Emeritus, possesses the ability to nourish and encourage songwriters across the state simply with her incredulous smile and engaging enthusiasm. As a result, the library of songs about this “Land of Flowers” continues to grow.
“I’d like to be known as a lover of Florida and promoter of music, especially about Florida. And I was a convert because I’m from Tennessee and I love Tennessee too, but you know, when you live in Florida you just adopt Florida,” says Longhill.
Margaret Longhill being interviewed by Donna Green-Townsend
The presentation on Saturday night, March 12th, included a live interview with Longhill on stage by Donna Green-Townsend interspersed with performances by three former “Best New Florida Song Contest” winners.
Ken and Leigh Skeens performing, “The Empty Chair”
Ken Skeen and Leigh Skeens performed the song that won the very first contest called, “The Empty Chair.” Ken not only won first place during the very first song contest in 1992, but also won second place and tied for third. He then worked for a number of years as the song contest coordinator.
(from left to right) Mike Jurgensen, Pete Price and Pete Hennings performing “Music Drifts Along This River”
Mike Jurgensen, accompanied by Pete Price and Pete Hennings on guitar and bass performed Mike’s winning song, “Music Drifts Along This River.” Mike has won the song contest three times and is now working as a judge for the annual competition.
Amy Carol Webb and Ron Litschauer perform, “Oh Margaret” during the special tribute to Margaret Longhill
Margaret recited Will McLean’s poem, “My Soul Is a Hawk,” accompanied by Wayne Martin on fiddle and Dennis Devine on guitar. Amy Carol Webb, a past song contest winner, then performed a special song she wrote for Margaret’s birthday a few years ago called, “Oh Margaret.” She was accompanied by Ron Litschauer on mandolin.
Lee and Jessie Townsend along with bass player David McBrady performing at the Margaret Longhill Tribute Presentation. (photo by Gail Carson)
The tribute also included a Will McLean song, Macclenny Farewell, performed by two young performers, Jessie and Lee Townsend, who represent Longhill’s passion for supporting the musical talent of youth at the festival. Jessie and Lee were accompanied by David McBrady on bass.
A very special thank you to all the folks behind the scenes who made the presentation possible including Ron and Bari Litschauer, Lynn Wodjenski and countless others who helped to set up the living room scene and lights and who made the presentation run smoothly.
Here are the videos of the special tribute to Margaret Longhill produced by Gail Carson and Paul Garfinkel. The first video was produced by Gail:
Paul Garfinkel’s six segments on the Tribute to Margaret Longhill from Saturday, March 12, 2016 show a wider perspective on the special evening:
Part One:
Part Two:
Part Three:
Part Four:
Part Five:
Part Six:
Gail Carson also produced another video for Margaret to thank her for all she has done to promote and to preserve Florida Folk Music. The video demonstrates, through a number of voices, the unforgettable impact Margaret Longhill has had on so many songwriters and performers, especially young performers.
Jessie and Lee Townsend along with Andy Garfield and David McBrady performing on the Azalea Stage at the 2016 Will McLean Festival near Brooksville, FL
The 2016 Will McLean Music Festival was a tremendous success for the Jessie and Lee TownsendBand. If you didn’t have an opportunity to go, you can watch a few of their performances on the Magnolia, Azalea and Cypress Stages below. Thanks to Red Henry, Andy Garfield and David McBrady for lending their musical talents to the weekend. Jessie and Lee couldn’t have done it without you.
The overall goal of their music sets was to honor many of the Florida songwriters who have passed on, but who have left a wonderful legacy with their music including Will McLean, Don Grooms, Jim Ballew, and Ann Thomas. They also wanted to include music from two of their favorite musicians, environmental troubadour Dale Crider and the father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe.
Dale Crider and Lee Townsend
In the 1970s Dale Crider from Windsor was working as a wildlife biologist for the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission. Through his job he saw firsthand the negative effects on the environment of the government’s decision to straighten the Kissimmee River in Florida and wrote a song about it. Here is the Jessie and Lee Townsend Band’s rendition of Dale’s song, “Oh Kissimmee River.”
Will McLean waiting to perform
The late Will McLean (1919-1990) wrote hundreds of songs, stories and poems. Many were about Florida’s critters and unique characters as well as Florida history. He also wrote a love song called, “Macclenny Farewell.” Here is Jessie and Lee’s version of that song accompanied by Andy Garfield on guitar and David McBrady on bass on the Azalea Stage at the festival.
Jessie and Lee Townsend performing Crying Bird on the Magnolia Stage at the 2016 Will McLean Festival
Will McLean loved to write about Florida’s unique creatures….from sea turtles crawling up on the beach on Conch Island to sandhill cranes and panthers. He also wrote a beautiful song about the Florida Limpkin called, “Cryin’ Bird.” Here is Jessie and Lee’s interpretation of that song performed on the Magnolia Stage during the Hour of Power at the festival.
The late Jim Ballew performing at the Florida Folk Festival (photo courtesy of the FL State Archives)
The late Jim Ballew often played with the late Gamble Rogers, Paul Champion and Will McLean at festivals around the state. He was not only a great musician, but a fine songwriter. One of his most beautiful songs was called, “When I Die.” Jessie and Lee Townsend recently learned this beautiful song and were accompanied by Red Henry on fiddle, Andy Garfield on guitar and David McBrady on bass on the Cypress Stage at the Will McLean Festival.
Frank and Ann Thomas performing at the Florida Folk Festival (photo courtesy of the State of FL archives)
Frank and Ann Thomas entertained Florida audiences for decades. Many of their songs capture Florida history. The late Ann Thomas also had a comical side as in her song, “Lost Tourist’s Letter Home.” Here is the Jessieand Lee Townsend Band’s rendition of her song performed on the Azalea Stage.
Don Grooms in an early performance photo
The late Don Grooms wrote some very funny songs….but he also had some very serious and poignant songs such as Vitachuko and Tsali about important native American leaders. In “Wild Birds” he wrote about a difficult relationship where one of the persons just couldn’t stay in one place for long. Here is the Jessie and Lee Townsend Band’s version of the song performed on the Cypress Stage.
Another highlight for Jessie and Lee at the 2016 Will McLean Music Festival was the opportunity to participate in a special tribute to longtime Will McLean Foundation Director, Margaret Longhill on Saturday night. Jessie and Lee represented the young people who have been inspired by Longhill to perform Florida songs. During the presentation they performed Will McLean’s love song, “Macclenny Farewell.” They were joined on stage by bass player David McBrady. The song is about 27 minutes into the presentation below:
Jessie and Lee Townsend along with Andy Garfield, Red Henry and David McBrady jamming at the Will McLean Festival
Jessie and Lee love bluegrass music, especially Bill Monroe tunes. Here are three versions of Bill Monroe’s Lonesome Wind Blues. The first is from their set on the Cypress Stage with some great picking by Red Henry, Andy Garfield and David McBrady at the Cypress Stage.
The late Father of Bluegrass, Bill Monroe
The Jessie and Lee Townsend band also performed Bill Monroe’s song, “Lonesome Wind Blues” on the Azalea Stage.
And here’s the version of the song while jamming in the parking lot:
(From left to right) Andy Garfield, Lee Townsend, Jessie Townsend and Red Henry
Lee Townsend and Andy Garfield have been performing together since they played in a high school bluegrass band at P.K. Yonge High School in Gainesville. Since then they’ve performed at a wide variety of events and festivals in North Central Florida. Here they are performing, ” Up 18 North,” written by the Kruger Brothers, on the Azalea Stage at the 2016 Will McLean Festival.
Jessie and Lee Townsend’s CD, “Tribute” Now Available
Jessie and Lee have recorded their first professional CD at Gatorbone Studios in Keystone Heights. Click here to listen to song samples and to find out how to order one.
Mindy Simmons, Passerine, Grant Peeples, Frank Julian, Jordan Cherkinsky, Amy Carol Webb, Brian Smalley and Still Friends are the Friday and Saturday night headliners who will grace the Main Stage of the Will McLean Music Festival which runs March 11th, 12th, & 13th 2016 at the Sertoma Youth Ranch in Brooksville. The festival, in its 27th year, will feature more than 70 Florida acoustic musicians, with young performers to artists who have been with the festival since its inception.
Mindy Simmons
Mindy Simmons from Sarasota has been called the “Sarasota Songbird.” She is a consummate performer who brings a polished, professional show to festival stages, concert halls and other performance venues. Her quick wit and warm approach charms audiences and puts them in a relaxed frame of mind to sit back and be entertained. “Mindy Music” includes original songs as well as classic blues, jazz, and folk. Mindy also performs with Lisa Bohn, a duo of musical talent that provides awesomely blended two-part harmony and fun-filled camaraderie.
Passerine
The band Passerine from Sarasota features a distinctive sound combining 3 and 4-part vocal harmonies, the crisp rhythms of an acoustic guitar, the haunting voice of the dobro (resonator slide guitar), and the resonant lows of an acoustic bass. With this unusual arrangement of voices and instruments, Passerine offers a fresh take on traditional folk and bluegrass music as well as a repertoire of original songs that range from sweet ballads to the edgier side of contemporary Americana.
Grant Peeples
Grant Peeples is from Sopchoppy, FL. His style of music has been described as “Leftneck” folk. A voice that No Depression said “sounds like a ’57 Chevy with glass mufflers” and lyrics that 3rd Coast Music Magazine calls “unusually literate…unusually honest” and a self-proclaimed style of “leftneck”. Peeples, a self-described “vegetarian that watches NASCAR and a tree-hugger with a gun below the seat,” is known for his axe-sharp socio-political tunes, raucous humor and heart-gigging ballads. In 2014 he was the recipient of the Focus Foundation Award for Creative Excellence, which cited the “humor, compassion and wisdom of his songs,” as well as their “unflinching social insight and cultural acuity.”
Jordan Cherkinsky and Frank Julian
Julian/Cherkinsky is a new collaboration between Jordan Cherkinsky and Frank Julian. Jordan Cherkinsky who lives in Coral Springs hails from the Detroit area, but his musical influence is taken from Gram Parsons, Clarence White, Townes Van Zandt, Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman, Tony Rice, Gillian Welch, and others. He has been playing guitar and mandolin for almost 52 years, performing with a variety of Florida folk artists at venues across the state. Frank Julian, who lives in New Port Richey, is originally from upstate New York. Julian has also appeared at Folk Festivals and various venues throughout the state of Florida. Frank’s award winning lyrical talents, his wonderful vocals, and rhythm guitar playing coupled with Jordan’s melodic maneuverings and elaborate finger-stylings create a unique musical energy that is quickly garnering acclaim in the Americana scene. Frank and Jordan have written a surprisingly eclectic mix of songs that are gaining attention across the spectrum of the genre. Two of their songs just finished in eighth and tenth places in the Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest.
Brian Smalley
Brian Smalley‘s songs borrow from folksy flat-pick guitar and new-grass. He also demonstrates a touch of new-age acoustic music. He sings with a soulful, earthy, yet energetic voice and his live performances tend to be just that: Lively!
Amy Carol Webb
Amy Carol Webb from Miami Springs has been defined as a “beloved song weaver.” She is passionate, powerful, and poignant. She’s the girl next door and no ordinary woman. Born and reared in Oklahoma, Amy traces her heritage back to Native Americans through her Great-Grandmother who settled Oklahoma when it was still a territory. Amy’s music reflects the same pioneering spirit, tenacity, integrity, and never-quit grit. Her joy is infectious, her courage inspiring, her songs gifts of literate, humorous, and often profound poems of one woman’s remarkable journey from precious child, to woman, to mother, to “Songweaver.”
Still Friends
“Still Friends” features former members of the celebrated group Steve Blackwell and Friends from Southwest Florida. The group performs original acoustic music with a unique and memorable delivery. Combining strong songwriting with elements of folk, rock, bluegrass, jazz, and soul music. Still Friends is a favorite of audiences throughout Florida. Band members include Reed Coffey on lead guitar, banjo, bass and vocals; Japhy Blackwell on saxophone and vocals; Carrie Blackwell Hussey on vocals and percussion and Tiffiny Coffey on vocals and guitar. Their influences include the Wood Brothers, Scott Jacobs, Frank Desguin, Wampus, Lawton Chiles, Stetson Kennedy, Bone Mizell, Totch Brown, Townes Van Zandt, Buddy Miller, Indigo Girls, Steve Earle and Donna the Buffalo.
Margaret Longhill
This year the Will McLean Festival is honoring Margaret Longhill, from Dunnellon, FL, who has been the gentle, guiding hand and inspiration for hundreds of musicians who have found their voices for Florida. Since she first met Will McLean (1919-1990), the first folk artist inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, she has continued to keep the flame burning of Will’s desire to “Save Florida Through Music.”
“Music is a magical way to teach the value of our blessed, flowered land,” says Longhill. Whether it’s her support for the young performers or the annual ‘Best New Florida Song Contest,’ Longhill possesses the ability to nourish and encourage songwriters across the state simply with her incredulous smile and engaging enthusiasm. As a result, the library of songs about this “Land of Flowers” continues to grow.
“I’d like to be known as a lover of Florida and promoter of music, especially about Florida. And I was a convert because I’m from Tennessee and I love Tennessee too, but you know, when you live in Florida you just adopt Florida,” says Longhill.
The presentation will include a live interview with Longhill on stage interspersed with performances by three former “Best New Florida Song Contest” winners as well as a song by two young performers who represent Longhill’s passion for supporting the musical talent of youth at the festival. The presentation gets underway at 8:00 p.m. Saturday night, March 12th on the Magnolia Stage followed by performances from musicians Brian Smalley at 8:45 p.m., Amy Carol Webb at 9:30 p.m., and Still Friends at 10:00 p.m. The complete schedule of performers for the three-day festival is available at www.willmclean.com.
The weekend event kicks off Friday, March 11th at noon with musical performances at four covered stage areas plus a variety of workshops. Winners of the Best New Florida Song Contest will be featured on the Magnolia Stage on Saturday, March 12th at noon. This year’s winner is Lauren Heintz from Winter Park, FL with a song called, “Florida Born and Bred.” The 2nd place finishers are Paul Garfinkel from Jacksonville and Pete Price from Ozello, FL with, “Florida Rain.” The 3rd place finisher is Ray Sealey from Quebec, Canada with his song, “The Turpentine.”
This year there will be a battle of the bands by the young performers on Sunday. The young musicians will also showcase their talents throughout the weekend on the Shooting Star Stage and Azalea Stages.
Red and Chris Henry leading a mandolin workshop
Festivalgoers can also participate in a variety of workshops throughout the weekend set in the shade of the towering oaks. Workshop sessions include fingerstyle, flatpick and slide guitar, banjo, fiddle, flute, harmonica, autoharp, dulcimer, mandolin, yodeling, harmony singing, percussion, a gospel sing, and songwriting. It is an excellent chance to pick up pointers regardless of your level of expertise.
The Will McLean Music Festival features outstanding original arts and crafts and a variety of delicious food.
Attendees may camp alongside performers for the weekend, or come for the day. Pets are welcome (on leashes). Bring your chairs for a one of kind experience of fun and entertainment. There will also be activities for children.
Sertoma Youth Ranch is located at 85 Myers Road, Brooksville, FL 34602. Weekend admission is $40 at the gate. Children under 12 are free. Daily admissions are $20 (Friday), $25 (Saturday) and $15 (Sunday). For information about camping and all aspects of the Will McLean Music Festival, visit www.willmclean.com. Also, “Like” the festival on Facebook to receive the latest Festival updates!
The winner and 2nd and 3rd place finishers of the 2016 Best New Florida Song Contest performed their songs at the Will McLean Music Festivalwhich ran March 11th through Sunday, March 13th at the Sertoma Youth Ranch near Brooksville, FL.
2016 Will McLean Song Contest Winner Lauren Heintz
The first place winner is Lauren Heintz from Winter Park, FL with her song about Will McLean, the Father of Florida Folk, called, “Florida Born and Bred.”
Heintz, who was the 3rd place finisher in the contest in 2015 and placed 4th in 2013 says she was inspired to write her winning song after researching Will McLean and how he journeyed throughout Florida collecting the history, culture and lore of Florida in his songs, stories, and poems. She says last year’s controversial state-sanctioned black bear hunt along with potential reductions in protection for the endangered Florida panther caused her to reflect on how Florida needs more people like Will McLean to call attention to these concerns. That’s also when her tribute song for Will McLean was born.
“Florida Born and Bred” is just one of the songs on her newest CD entitled, “Where I Belong,” recorded at Gatorbone Studios. She says the songs on this album are the plot points of her story, the twists and turns of an edge walker capturing the many aspects of her search for survival and a sense of place and purpose.
In addition to finishing in the Top Ten in the Will McLean Song Contest three times, Heintz has taken home several other songwriting awards. In January of 2014 she won the Vic Heyman songwriting award at the South Florida Folk Festival. Just months before that she won the song contest at the 2013 Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas. She’s also received honorable mentions at the Woody Guthrie Song Contest (2014) and the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest (2015).
Though she says she’s a bit of a loner, Lauren has had some unique experiences including swimming in volcanic calderas, water-skiing gator-infested rivers, repairing U-2 spy planes near the Yellow Sea while in the USAF, and working in the dot-com tech wars of Silicon Valley. Yet she says what excites her the most these days is stepping onto stages playing her own music at house concerts, listening rooms, and festivals.
Paul Garfinkel (photo by Kathy Bernardi)Singer-Songwriter Pete Price
The 2nd place finishers of this year’s contest are Paul Garfinkel from Jacksonville, FL and Pete Price from Ozello, FL with the song, “Florida Rain.”
Garfinkel says the song “Florida Rain” is the culmination of years of concern about, observation of, and work to protect the future of the Florida environment in general and the state’s water resources in specific.
“I wanted to create a song that would communicate from the perspective of the land, as opposed to those standing upon it. Florida’s natural water systems are extremely complex and sensitive organisms subject to the whims of the state’s residents, corporate occupants and visitors. The water that falls from the sky and into our aquifers, lakes, rivers, and springs is a scarce resource that is increasingly imperiled by overpopulation, landscape use, harvesting by bottling companies, future fracking, and pollution from all sources. We are headed down a path that is not sustainable in the long term, and as the song says: you’ll miss me when I’m gone,” says Garfinkel. He adds, “Despite an apparent current abundance. I have often spoken the words “I never complain about the Florida rain,” and thus came the title of the song.”
Garfinkel says he also had significant academic and artistic inspiration to write the song from Cynthia Barnett’s books “Rain,” and “Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S.”
Pete Price from Ozello, FL worked with Garfinkel as co-writer on the song. Garfinkel says Price offered his creative talent and skill with language to develop the words and music of the song’s bridge, and helped him to fine-tune the lyrics of its verses and chorus.
“To take the imagery one step farther, Pete was the rain and warmth that incubated the seeds of an idea, allowing it to grow and mature into its current form,” says Garfinkel. Pete Price has been in and around the Florida Folk Music scene for nearly twenty years, playing with “Jon Semmes and the Florida Friends,” “Sno Rogers,” and the group, “2PM.” He’s also written a variety of his own original songs.
A Florida Master Naturalist from Jacksonville, Garfinkel has been associated with the Saint Johns Riverkeeper organization as a volunteer and photographer for more than a decade. Along with Florida singer-songwriter Bob Patterson, he co-founded the Florida Artists Water Alliance, now a 900-member public interest group on Facebook, with the purpose of educating Florida’s citizens and decision-makers about important water issues, and to support other water advocacy groups through music and visual art. His recently released CD, “The Last Good Mile,” recorded at Gatorbone Studios, features a variety of his environmental songs.
Several of Garfinkel’s original songs have placed in the Will McLean Song competition. In 1996 he placed third for “Good Enough for Me.” In 1997 “Florida Pines” came in second place and “St. George Street” was third. In 1998 he had a song finish in the top ten and was the winner in 1999 with his song, “The Creek.” He says he didn’t enter again until 2014 when he had two top ten songs, “Stowe,” and “Rain on the Horizon.”
Garfinkel has lived in Florida for 30 years, 25 of those years have been in Jacksonville. He’s worked in healthcare administration, clinical research and research ethics and regulation for 35 years. He recently retired in December of 2015 and is now focusing on his music, photography, environmental activism and community service. He’s a board member of the Stetson Kennedy Foundation and Co-Producer of the Second Sundays at Stetson Concert Series.
Ray Sealey (Photo by Gail Carson)
The third place finisher of the 2016 Will McLean Song Contest isRay Sealey from Quebec, Canada with his song, “The Turpentine.” Sealey says he is fascinated with history and spent a lot of time researching theturpentine industry in Florida.
The inspiration for the song first came while Sealey was cycling along the Legacy Trail bicycle path that goes by Oscar Scherer State Park, an old railway right of way. He says he saw historic markers noting how the turpentine trade was served by this line. He began to search websites, academic papers and newspaper articles to find out all he could about the business.
He was fascinated by the names of the technical jobs associated with the turpentine business: scrapers, chippers, pullers, dippers and others. Sealey says he found out in the beginning it was called the naval stores industry (pine tar).
Through research he discovered the main workers were black, men who were slaves before the civil war, and peonage workers who were paid in scrip to spend at the company store. Other workers were prisoners who were provided by local law enforcement. Sealey says the turpentine business was largely a dark part of Florida history because of many stories of deaths, murders, politics, power and wealth in play.
Sealey’s album released in 2015. Album cover photo by Luc Cardinal
Born in England, Ray Sealey emigrated to Canada, and earned a degree in English Literature from the University of Western Ontario. He was always active in the folk music scene in those years and toured Europe in the late 60’s with a Canadian folk group. However, classical music finally took the more important place in his life while studying classical guitar at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
He taught music at the University of Western Ontario and subsequently at the University of Ottawa. He also worked as a host and documentary maker for the CBC in Ottawa. It was during this period that he became increasingly active in production and arts management.
In 1997 he moved to Montreal and later to the Laurentian Mountains north of Montreal in Québec to become Executive Director of CAMMAC (Canadian Amateur Musicians/Musiciens amateurs du Canada). He retired from that organization in 2007 following the completion of a major rebuilding project at the CAMMAC Music Centre in the Laurentians. His last post was as Executive Director of the chamber orchestra I Musici de Montréal.
Now, later in life, he has returned from the classical world to his early roots in folk music. His love of poetry and the folk songs that led him to the guitar are now combined in new musical directions and discoveries. He spends summer in the Laurentians and winter in a camper in any part of Florida that looks interesting. In 2014 Sealey was the third place finisher in the Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest with his song, “Kissimmee Prairie Dream.”
The winner and finishers of the song contest will performed their songs during the 2016 Will McLean Music Festival which ran from March 11th through March 13th at the Sertoma Youth Ranch near Brooksville, FL.
Click here to hear full length archival interviews with Will McLean (recorded by Donna Green-Townsend in 1985 & 1987)
CD cover for a live recording by WUFT of Florida’s Black Hat Troubadour, Will McLean, just 5 years before his death in 1990.
Will McLean is considered the “Father of Florida Folk.” The “Black Hat Troubadour” travelled all across his beloved state writing hundreds of poems, songs and stories. After his death in 1990 he was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. Each year Florida singer songwriters gather at the Will McLean Folk Festival to honor him. McLean wanted to save Florida through his music. Each year the Will McLean Foundation holds a “Best New Florida Song Contest“ to keep McLean’s mission alive.
To watch archival video of Will McLean CLICK HERE:
Will McLean waiting to perform
Donna Green-Townsend interviewed McLean 5 years before his death in 1985 and again in 1987. She also talked with some of the musicians who were inspired to write about Florida because of Will McLean. (Scroll down to see the full feature transcript. You can also hear Will’s most popular songs below)
In 1988 Will McLean joined storyteller Cousin Thelma Boltin and his music buddy Gamble Rogersin Cross Creek, FL for the 50th Anniversary of “The Yearling” celebration at the farm of the late Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. See a few snippets from a rare video recorded at that event below:
On January 24th, 1990, following the memorial service at Gainesville’s Historic Thomas Center in Gainesville, FL, friends gathered at Gore’s Landing to disperse Will McLean’s ashes into the Ocklawaha River. Before he died, McLean told Margaret Longhill that he had hoped to light a small campfire one last time at Gore’s Landing by the Ocklawaha River in Marion County, his favorite campsite. Some of those in attendance were Margaret Longhill, Don Grooms, Dale Crider and family, Donna Green-Townsend and family, Wayne Martin and Bobby Hicks to name a few. In this brief recording, you will hear a small portion of that special ceremony at the river.
Gamble Rogers speaking at the dedication at Gore’s Landing
A few months after the memorial service for McLean, friends gathered once again at Gore’s Landing for a special dedication. A special sign was placed at the site marking the place considered as Will’s favorite camping spot. Speakers included Margaret Longhill, Gamble Rogers, Frank Thomas and Bobby Hicks among others. See additional pictures from the ceremony below.
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In 1996 Will McLean was officially inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. He was the first folk musician given this honor in Florida. Margaret Longhill accepted this award from then Secretary of State Sandra Mortham in Tallahassee. Performing some of McLean’s songs that day were Frank Thomas (who is also now in the Florida Artists Hall of Fame), Mary Ann Dinella and Wayne Martin. See additional pictures from the ceremony below.
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Transcription of the feature above:
Will McLean performing (photo courtesy of the Will McLean Foundation)
Will McLean, “It’s very important that Florida keep her past and I’m but one of the few writers and I have not even scratched the surface of the richness and the deepness of the lore and legends of Florida.” (Florida Sand)
Singer Songwriter Pete Seeger, a good friend of Will McLean
Musician Pete Seeger once wrote, “Will McLean’s songs will be sung as long as there is a Florida.” McLean lived a simple life, always steering away from fame and fortune just when it seemed he had achieved it. Most of the time he travelled the state in dilapidated vehicles, only taking with him a bag of taters and onions, a fishing hook and a bottle of cheap wine, pawning many of his guitars. In a never-before aired interview, McLean shared his story in 1985, just five years before his death.
Will McLean, “I’m a millionaire a million times over. I’m not talking about money rich. I’m rich in the beauty of Florida and nature.”
That earthy spirit lives on today in many of the Florida songwriters attending the annual Will McLean Music Festivalnamed in his honor. Singer Songwriter from Windsor, Dale Crider, “I think he made a lot of people in Florida aware that they could write and sing and dance and perform Florida.”
Will McLean by his travel van (photo courtesy of the Will McLean Foundation)
Florida’s Black Hat Troubadour was known for his genteel manner, but his voice thundered on the marble stage of the Florida Folklife Festival in White Springs as he captured stories in song about green turtles laying eggs on the shores of St. Augustine (Conch Island)
and Sandhill Cranes in Payne’s Prairie, and some not so pretty stories about a wild hog in Gulf Hammock (Wild Hog)
and a panther chase resulting in a deadly encounter with a snake in Tate’s Hell. (Tate’s Hell)
Don Grooms & Will McLean sitting on stage. (photo courtesy of the Will McLean Foundation)
Singer-Songwriter Don Groomswas one of Will McLean’s closest musical buddies, “Will liked songs about individual human beings and if you pay attention to his repertoire of songs there was Cush Holston, Scotty the drummer, the guy in Tate’s Hell, Osceola.” (Osceola)
Will McLean inspired many songwriters to explore the heritage of the state and themselves. Grooms, a Native American, remembers how McLean encouraged him to write the story of the bloody skirmish between the Spanish explorers and Native Americans in Payne’s Prairie.
Don Grooms, “I came up with a five minute song called “Vitachuco” and I played it for Will and he said play that for me again and after I finished he said, ‘Grooms you have finally justified your existence.” (Vitachuco)
Early performance photo of Dale and Linda Crider after he started writing Florida songs inspired by Will McLean. (Photo courtesy of Dale Crider)
One of the first singer/songwriters to carry on Will McLean’s love for Florida through song is musician and wildlife biologist Dale Crider. Crider has entertained national and international audiences with his wildlife and wilderness songs, and he credits his beginning to Will McLean: (Hold Back The Waters)
Dale Crider, “Hold Back the Waters was the song that started my whole career in writing about the environment. Will was singing that on stage at the Florida Folklife Festival and I said, ya, ya, if it can be that good you know to sing about a place or a region or an object in Florida, I can do that.”
Both Dale Crider and Don Grooms helped to disperse Will McLean’s ashes into the Ocklawaha River on January 18th, 1990. Dale emotionally recalls how his friend’s last wishes coincided so well with his on-going desire to return to the land where the wind is born.
Dale Crider, “And I envisioned that that night there were herons and egrets that caught minnows that had Will’s ashes in them and flew him up to the tree tops and roosted him that night and actually his soul could have been transferred to something like a hawk.” (My Soul Is A Hawk)
Painting of Will McLean by Mary Ann DiNella
The Will McLean Music Festivalhonoring the Father of Florida Folk is held each March at the Sertoma Youth Ranch located seven miles west of Dade City in Central Florida. For more information go to the website www.willmclean.com.
Will loved to watch the Florida Sandhill Cranes “dance and prance” on Payne’s Prairie near Gainesville, FL. One of his more beloved songs described the experience. Here’s a video recorded of sandhill cranes produced by Donna Green-Townsend with Will singing his “Courtship Dance of the Florida Sandhill Crane” to music played by musician and luthier David Beede and Kate Kennedy (music recorded at one of Will’s last live recorded concerts at the historic Thomas Center in Gainesville in Nov. of 1985).
Will McLean and Cousin Thelma Boltin Share Christmas Memories (aired on WUFT in December of 1987)
Early photo of Will McLean and his sister Lottie (photo courtesy of the Will McLean Foundation)
Transcription of the Feature: (Oh Christmas Tree) Computerized teddy bears and video cassette recorders are a long way from the gifts of fruit and simple toys of Christmases past. Folklorist Cousin Thelma Boltin and singer song writer Will McLean share some of their most memorable Christmases.
Cousin Thelma Boltin: “In early times everybody went out and cut their own Christmas trees. It was unthinkable to buy a tree and there was no such thing as an artificial tree. That would have been disgraceful to have an artificial tree. And it was always a great day when we decided we’d go get the tree and we didn’t get it too long before Christmas. But in the early days we’d go out with the horse and wagon and then in modern times we’d go out in the model T or in the Coca Cola Truck because my daddy was the Coca Cola man. And we loved to get a Cedar, that was our favorite kind. But if we couldn’t find a Cedar, as they got scarce, um, we’d get a shortleaf pine. It smells so wonderful in the house. It’s a little more difficult to decorate than the Cedar and a Cypress was pretty but boy it was sticky and hard to handle and do anything with. And once or twice I can remember, and this was before our Cedar was protected, and thank goodness it is protected, it’s against the law to cut Cedar down anywhere, I mean cut Holly, and we would get a Holly tree. And of course that was sticky, but it was beautiful because especially if it were full of berries.” (OH CHRISTMAS TREE).
Cousin Thelma Boltin (photo courtesy of Will McLean Foundation)
Cousin Thelma Boltin: “We never did decorate our tree until Christmas Eve and we used the parlor on state occasions and this was a state occasion so the fire would be built in the fireplace and the candles put on the mantlepiece and then we’d decorate our tree. In early days, I don’t believe, we never did put candles on our tree. Momma considered that too dangerous and we hailed with delight the day when we could get strings of electric lights to put on the tree. And of course, it was easy to get pretty ornaments from Woolworths and from what was the other ten cent store, we had two in town, McCrowry’s and get beautiful ornaments. We never did string popcorn to go on our tree but we put ropes of tinsel on it. And oh we just thought our tree was the prettiest one in the neighborhood of course. A child asked me today if we ever slept in the living room you know with the tree and we said ‘oh no, Santy Claus couldn’t come if we stayed with the Christmas tree. But of course we were up long before day to see what Santy had left us.” (Jolly ‘Ole St. Nick)
Early photo of Will McLean’s grandparents
Will McLean: “Well, my first recollection is of a contraption bought that you could ride on. I got a little ‘ole bitty, tiny kind of like a kitty car thing. It was all painted up good uh, kind of a tricycle and I don’t know why I thought about that. It was the first thing that came to my mind. And of course over the fireplace we’d hang uh an old knit, Thelma you remember those old socks that uh they used to cost about a nickel a pair, old red and blue socks. Kind of cotton socks. We’d nail them up over the mantel and this was Christmas Eve.” (Silent Night)
Will McLean, Florida’s Black Hat Troubadour (photo courtesy of the Will McLean Foundation)
Will McLean: “Lady Boltin asked me once about if I could recall shootin’ firecrackers on Christmas. And uh, I couldn’t remember ever at that early stage, early Christmases, shootin’ any kind of a firecracker or explosives. But to get back to the stockin’ and Christmas mornin’, uh most the times I would have a little ‘ole 25 cent American Ace harmonica in the stockin’ wrapped in tissue paper and I’d have a piece of ‘ole peppermint stick candy and usually an apple, and an orange and a banana and I hope this won’t create any problems, three little nuts that uh, they were Brazil nuts. You remember what we used to call them?(laugh) But anyway, that was Christmas and of course on Christmas Day the big ‘ole table in the dining room. There’d be about 25 or 30 people there. And kids runnin’ around everywhere. All the families and mothers and their children there. Uh, lord you could just smell the wonderful, wonderful and that, those were my Christmases up until I was about nine years of age. And it’s good to go back there and think about it in time and place, be with my granddaddy and the people that I loved and who loved me.” (Chesnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
Cousin Thelma Boltin, Gamble Rogers and Will McLean 1988 50th Anniv of The Yearling in Cross Creek (photo by Iris Greenfield)
Cousin Thelma Boltin: “One of the things that we always got, we wore them out one year to the next were skates. We loved Skates and always asked Santy to bring us skates (laugh). And always on Christmas Eve for supper we had oyster stew. That was the Christmas Eve supper ‘cuz it was easy to fix and everybody liked it. We could do it in a hurry and get in the living room to fix the tree (chuckle). And that went on for many, many years. And then I went off to college and I shocked the neighbors by not going to FSU or Florida State College for women in those days. They weren’t allowed. Ladies didn’t go to the University until the late 40s you know. So I went to Emmerson College in Boston and that was truly Yankee land in everyway and so I had my first White Christmas up there. (White Christmas) I was such a long way away that I stayed up there for the Christmas holidays and I had made friends with a fellow freshman. Her name was Juliet Phillips and she took pity on me and invited me out to her home in Jamaica Plain and oh it was a thrill. Everybody in Jamaica Plain it seemed to me put lighted candles in their windows from the attic to the basement and to get out on the street and see all those candles just after dark was a thrilling thing. And we decided that we would go into Boston. This was on Christmas Eve and up on Beacon Hill there was a tradition of having carol singers and bellringers and no cars were allowed up there. Everybody walked. And uh, many homes up there had open house and they’d be serving oh hot cider and goodies, doughnuts and the carol singers would be first on this corner and then on that corner. And then we’d come upon the bellringers. Then right at midnight over on the piazza a beautiful old Trinity church uh trumpeters stepped out and played ‘Oh Come All Ye Faithful’.” (Oh Come All Ye Faithful)
Many of Will McLean’s stories, poems, music recordings, correspondence and photos are now being housed in the Special Collections area of the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida.
Gallery of Photos below are courtesy of the Will McLean Foundation
Sandhill cranes near McIntosh, FL (photo by Donna Green-Townsend)
The Father of Florida Folk, Will McLean, penned hundreds of songs about Florida. McLean, who was the first folk artist inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame loved to watch sandhill cranes. In Florida there are migratory sandhill cranes and cranes that stay in the state all year long. Below is a video produced by Donna Green-Townsend of migratory cranes incorporating one of Will McLean’s most popular songs, “Courtship Dance of the Florida Sandhill Crane.” Accompanying Will McLean are Kayt Kennedy on bowed psaltry and David Beede on hammered dulcimer. The music was recorded at McLean’s concert in 1985 at the Thomas Center in Gainesville, FL, just five years before his death.
Every Fall a new litter of baby squirrels emerge from the dead Bay tree outside my bedroom window. It’s such a delight to see them scrambling around the tree for the first time and playing with each other. I know when I see them it won’t be long before the mother squirrel will carry them to another tree farther away from my window. This year I decided to capture some of those precious moments and add music. I couldn’t think of anything more appropriate than the late Steve Blackwell‘s song, “Mystery Tree.” Singing the song are Amy Carol Webb and Carrie Blackwell Hussey.
Five bouquets of flowers in front of the hand-painted memorial on the 34th Street Wall in Gainesville on Wednesday, August 28, 2013.
It’s now been 25 years since Danny Rolling terrorized the Gainesville Community when he killed five college students. Many students have come and gone from Gainesville since that time, but residents will always remember what happened in August of 1990. The 34th Street wall and markers in the palm trees in the thoroughfare are constant reminders of the tragic deaths of Sonja Larson, Christina Powell, Christa Hoyt, Tracy Paules and Manuel Taboada.
From her archives, Donna Green-Townsend shares this report from 2000 on the 10th anniversary of the Gainesville student murders.
New signage on U.S. 441 on the rim of Payne’s Prairie (photo by Donna Green-Townsend)
More than 3 years after 11 people lost their lives in multi-vehicle pileups on a foggy and smoky Interstate 75 near Gainesville, transportation officials are finally adding and testing new signage to help prevent a similar tragedy.
In addition to the electronic signs, the Florida Department of Transportation has also installed poles on both U.S. 441 and I-75 which will hold a variety of technology including cameras for closed-circuit television as well as fog and weather sensors.
The city of Gainesville’s traffic operations center will monitor the cameras and sensors. As conditions warrant messages will be relayed to the electronic signs. The work was originally supposed to be completed in late spring.
The signage comes after series of accidents on January 29, 2012 which occured when smoke from a wildfire on Payne’s Prairie became mixed with fog reducing visibility to nearly zero. Eleven people died in the pileups and nearly two dozen were hospitalized.
Earlier posts:
Highway Patrol reacts to pressure on the agency since I-75 crashes
Aired on WUFT on February 1st, 2012
Cars braking during dense smoke on Interstate 75 on the night of the multi-vehicle accident (photo by UF student Ronny Herrera)
The Florida Highway Patrol has been under fire since Sunday’s multi-vehicle pileups on Interstate 75. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is currently investigating whether the highway patrol made the right decision to reopen I-75 after the roadway experienced periods of heavy smoke early that morning. In all eleven people died in the fiery crashes and nearly two dozen were taken to hospitals. Florida’s 89.1, WUFT-FM’s Donna Green-Townsend talked with Florida Highway Patrol Lieutenant Pat Riordan about the latest on the accident investigation and the current mood of the officers who work for the patrol.
Redirected traffic on US 441 the night following the I-75 pileup (photo by Donna Green-Townsend)
Links to original stories (audio and video) on the I-75 tragedy below:
Smokey conditions continued throughout the day on US 441 following the I-75 tragedy (photo by Donna Green-Townsend)
DNA testing identifies another body at infamous Florida School for Boys
By Ben Montgomery, Times Staff Writer Tuesday, August 4, 2015 2:20pm
TAMPA — Robert Stephens was murdered in 1937 and buried in an unmarked grave on the campus of Florida’s oldest state-run reform school, the Florida School for Boys, in the Panhandle town of Marianna. On Tuesday, University of South Florida researchers announced that they have identified his remains using DNA and returned them to the boy’s family.
“Sometimes persistence pays off,” said Erin Kimmerle, a forensic anthropologist at USF who is leading a project to identify the human remains excavated from the brutal reformatory campus. Stephens is the sixth boy to be identified. The state believed the cemetery contained 31 burials until USF researchers found 51, most of them buried in the woods surrounding a marked burial ground.
Stephens was buried supine, his arms folded across his abdomen. His remains were too deteriorated to determine cause of death, Kimmerle said, but records from the school and the Jackson County clerk’s office say he was stabbed to death by another inmate, Leroy Taylor, on July 15, 1937, just after his 15th birthday and after 10 months of confinement for breaking and entering. His remains did reveal that he had a severe ear infection and his dental hypoplasia suggests he was diseased or malnourished, Kimmerle said.
Key FL lawmaker wants a federal probe into abuse allegations at Dozier School for Boys
March 2, 2015
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) is asking the U.S. Justice Department to examine new evidence about the deaths of youth at the now defunct Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, FL. In a letter dated February 24th to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Nelson wrote,“Given new information about wards of the shuttered reform school, and a long history of mistreatment allegations surrounding the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, FL, I believe the department is uniquely positioned to provide an outside and independent review.”
Nelson said earlier in February University of South Florida researchers reported they have found the remains of 51 individuals buried on the grounds of the reform school. He says this contrasts with a 2009 investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement which concluded 31 individuals were buried on the school grounds.
“I remain troubled that university researchers have uncovered information not contained in the state’s 2009 report,” said Nelson.
The USF team conducting the excavations received a grant to do their forensic research in 2013 from the National Institute of Justice. The team used a variety of technology, including ground penetrating radar, to find the grave shafts of at least 50 unmarked burial sites.
Senator Nelson told Attorney General Holder the USF research indicates children at Dozier suffered from nutritional deficiencies, lack of dental care, and underdevelopment. In one grave, officials discovered what they think may be a buckshot.
Maggie and Michael McKinney (Lucky Mud)
Singer Songwriter Maggie McKinney from Econfina Creek, FL, just north of Panama City says she had several friends who were sent there as teenagers.
“They told us stories, but we had no idea how bad it really was. At Christmas the entire grounds were decorated with beautiful lights and the tradition in the area was to ride up to the school and look at the beautiful Christmas lights,” said McKinney. She said about three years ago, “When I heard about just how bad it was there for those boys…I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. I wrote the song shortly after that.”
McKinney’s song about the unmarked graves at the Dozier School for Boys is called, “Lost Boys of Dozier.” The song is included in a video she and her husband Michael McKinney (Lucky Mud) produced featuring pictures from the now closed reform school.
Al Scortino
Singer Songwriter Al Scortino from Sebastian, FL was also inspired to write a song about the unmarked graves of the boys who died at the Dozier School for Boys called, “Marianna.”
The work continues to identify the remains and how they died through scientific techniques including DNA matching. According to a press statement, researchers uncovered bones, teeth, and numerous artifacts in all of the burials. The research team is expected to develop a “summary report” for each body, including findings from not only the skeletal and dental remains, but uncovered artifacts, and burial context.
The team is continuing its efforts to find surviving families of former Dozier students to collect DNA. The research team has released a list of those families online. Anyone with information on the families should call Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Master Detective Greg Thomas at (813) 247-8678.
There is also a website dedicated to finding answers for family members.
Former Governor Claude Kirk tours the Dozier School for Boys in 1968.
The Dozier School for Boys opened at the turn of the twentieth century in Marianna, west of Tallahassee. State records indicate 96 boys died while housed there. The juvenile reform school has been the subject of repeated state and federal investigations.
According to a statement from the research team, the search for unmarked burials is set to resume at the shuttered school in the coming months using specially-trained K-9 teams and ground penetrating radar.
Earlier Posts
September 3, 2013
Program Director of the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory at the University of Florida, Michael Warren.
The first round of excavations ended on Tuesday at the now closed Dozier School for Boys in the Marianna community in Florida’s Panhandle with the discovery of the skeletal remains of two bodies. University of South Florida Anthropologist Erin Kimmerle and a team of archaeologists are working to exhume, identify and examine bodies from unmarked graves at the school’s cemetery from the time period of 1914 to 1952. It’s the kind of work that University of Florida forensic specialists know very well. Program Director for the C.A. Pound Human Identification Lab at the University of Florida’s Anthropology Department, Michael Warren has worked a wide variety of high profile cases through the years, including the Caylee Anthony murder case and the recent murder of Seath Jackson in Summerfield. In the latter case Warren was asked to testify during the trial four times. Prosecutors say Jackson was shot, dismembered and burned before being dumped into an area water body. A jury found Michael Bargo guilty of first degree murder in that case. Four others in the case have been convicted.
Michael Warren talked with WUFT’s Amanda Jackson and Donna Green-Townsend about what the process will be like for the USF team doing the excavation of the unaccounted for bodies at the now closed Dozier School for Boys in Jackson County. Warren says he’s confident about the work USF Anthropologist Erin Kimmerle and her team will be doing over the next few months. The excavation of bodies from the Dozier School for Boys began on Saturday, August 31st, 2013. The unmarked graves received national attention after a group of former students, under the name, “The White House Boys Survivors Organization,” made allegations of abuse while residing at the school. Researchers believe there are at least 31 unmarked graves from between 1914 to 1952. USF received $190,000 from the state legislature and nearly $424,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice for the work. He described the process the USF team will be going through:
Published on Sep 2, 2013
USF anthropology professor Erin Kimmerle talked to reporters as exhumations begin at the Boot Hill cemetery at the Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, FL on Saturday. USF researchers are exhuming dozens of graves at the former Panhandle reform school in hopes of identifying the boys buried there and learning how they died. (video courtesy CNN, edited by Mark Schreiner)
Jessie and Lee have recorded their first professional CD at Gatorbone Studios in Keystone Heights. 
The weekend event kicks off Friday, March 11th at noon with musical performances at four covered stage areas plus a variety of workshops. 
Attendees may camp alongside performers for the weekend, or come for the day. Pets are welcome (on leashes). Bring your chairs for a one of kind experience of fun and entertainment. There will also be activities for children.
“Florida Born and Bred” is just one of the songs on her newest CD entitled, “Where I Belong,” recorded at Gatorbone Studios. She says the songs on this album are the plot points of her story, the twists and turns of an edge walker capturing the many aspects of her search for survival and a sense of place and purpose.
A Florida Master Naturalist from Jacksonville, Garfinkel has been associated with the Saint Johns Riverkeeper organization as a volunteer and photographer for more than a decade. Along with Florida singer-songwriter Bob Patterson, he co-founded the Florida Artists Water Alliance, now a 900-member public interest group on Facebook, with the purpose of educating Florida’s citizens and decision-makers about important water issues, and to support other water advocacy groups through music and visual art. His recently released CD, “The Last Good Mile,” recorded at Gatorbone Studios, features a variety of his environmental songs.
To watch archival video of Will McLean 
Here is the audio of the eulogy given by the late Gamble Rogers 
In 1996 Will McLean was officially inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. He was the first folk musician given this honor in Florida. Margaret Longhill accepted this award from then Secretary of State Sandra Mortham in Tallahassee. Performing some of McLean’s songs that day were Frank Thomas (who is also now in the Florida Artists Hall of Fame), Mary Ann Dinella and Wayne Martin. See additional pictures from the ceremony below.
