Fiddle flashbacks : Shelburne Free Press : https://shelburnefreepress.ca

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Fiddle flashbacks

• 50 YEARS AGO

Graham Townsend, 21-year-old Toronto musician, who has been competing in the National Fiddle Contest at Shelburne since he was 14, finally battled his way to the top Saturday night when he won the Open and Canadian Championship of the 13th annual Canadian Open Old Time Fiddlers' Contest before a crowd that literally packed the Arena to the rafters.

Odd numbers must have meant luck to the talented son of well-known caller-off Fred Towsend. This was the seventh try for the title — at the 13th contest. And his entry was the 13th received by Executive secretary Ken Gamble.

Townsend now holds a cheque for $1,000, the Shelburne Cup- for the Open (international) Championship and the Robin Hood Supersweet Trophy for the Canadian Championship. To boot, he placed third in the Novelty section in which he won first place last year.

Second place in the Open sent to 15-year-old Paul Winslow of Granton, Ontario. Paul won $200 cash.

The other five survivors who were eliminated in the finals were: Ken Ducharme, of Wingham, Ed Gyurki, of Woodstock, John Lacaille, of Sturgeon Falls, Ned Landry of Saint John, New Brunswick, and Sleepy Marlin, of Louisville, Kentucky.

Sleepy Marlin stepped back into the Novelty picture by regained the title he held from 1953 to 1958. Along with a cheque for $150.00 he received the Shelburne Rotary Club Cup. Runners-up were Al Cherny and Graham Townsend.

Dorothy Houston, of Earlton, Northern Ontario, last year the first lady champion fiddler of North America, came back, and re-won the honour. With it she received the FP&E Trophy and $50 cash. Second and third with Ramona Jones, of Nashville, $30 and Eleanor Irwin, of Lucknow, $20.

This was indeed the “Lucky 13th” Fiddle Contest. The largest number of entries up tho this year was 104 in 1959. This year they totaled 113 (note the 13) and represented six provinces and five states: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta; Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, New York and Indiana.

In the special age group prizes, the Glen Drury Trophy for the 18 years and under fiddlers went to Douglas McNaughton, of Startford. Doug is 15 years old.

The Phyllis and Russell McDowell Trophy for fiddlers 65 years and over went to Pat Reidy, of Conn, who is 71.

The special Lucky 13 prize, to the fiddler standing 13th in the judges' list, went to Cameron McNaughton, of Ste. Rose du Lac, Manitoba, but he was not on hand Saturday night to get the 13 silver dollars.

For both Friday and Saturday nights the weather could not have been better — clear and just a bit cool. And to help keep the temperature in the Arena below the discomfort level, exhaust fans were placed in a few of the east windows.

Shelburne's community park — Hyland Park — set a record for weekend campers. Saturday more than 20 tents were counted on the eastern section of the p0roperty and own the south side of the swimming pool. Accommodation locally and throughout the district was taxed to capacity, from Shelburne Hotel down to private homes.

1963 Fiddle Queen is Donna Marie Black, 18-year-old Brampton district young lady, chosen at the competition staged on fiddle Saturday by Shelburne Kinsmen.

Shelburne Kinsmen, who operated the refreshment counter at the Fiddle Contest, report they turned out 3,000 hot dogs, 5,000 bottles of soft drinks (via dispenser and paper cups) and 1,000 ice cream bars. Outdoors the Kinettes dispensed 500 pounds of French fried and 450 souvenirs. And evidently the hardest working Kinsman was Ron Clark, who was on duty fro 27 out of 48 hours, doing his farm chores and sleeping in the off-hours.

Post date: 2013-08-01 12:16:49
Post date GMT: 2013-08-01 16:16:49
Post modified date: 2013-08-08 11:04:21
Post modified date GMT: 2013-08-08 15:04:21