It's been quite a spell since we've had the opportunity to visit the folks at the Spring Hill Chapter of the Kansas Oldtime Fiddlers Pickers & Singers and were we ever glad to learn that nothing much has changed.....these folks know how to have a good time! Along with many of our other friends who we see at many of the shows were Ron & Sandy Holmes who used to have the Filmore Opry in Filmore, MO and made the trip down tonight and John & Mary Pettersch as well as Annie Little and Jay Holmgren. The first order of business was a wonderful pot-luck supper with salads, veggies, pastas including spaghetti & meatballs, plantation dinner, meat loaf, some delicious "dirty" rice and oodles of desserts. YUM! The crowd of about 60 were entertained by Chuck Capen who sang several 50's & 60's show tunes & Ron Holmes ("If I Ever Need A Lady I'll Call You") during dinner and as everyone sat back, enjoying a cup of hot black coffee and perhaps a little dessert to boot, the band began to assemble.
Featuring Chuck Yates (bass), Ron Holmes (guitar), Lee Baldwin (lead guitar), Eldon Landis (lead guitar), Dale Endicott (guitar), Chuck Capen (guitar), Darryl Danner (guitar), Rich Blanton (fiddle) and Sue Hiatt (piano), the band asked one of their own to kick off things tonight with Rich Blanton putting his tenor voice to work singing the Marty Robbins classic "My Woman My Woman My Wife" and LeAnn Rimes' "Blue" beautifully. Chuck Capen was up next, doing a smooth job on "Old Cape Cod" and Andy Williams' "Moon River" while our friend Sylvia Landis, who is such a big help every time we visit here, did such a good job singing "One Day At A Time" and "Something Is About To Happen." Husband Eldon Landis, who plays such a beautiful Chet Atkins-style guitar took off on "Love Letters In The Sand" with Larry Keeler doing the honors on the vocals and "Lily Of The Valley." Jesus Valesquez stepped front and center to sing a George Strait hit "This Is Where The Cowboy Rides Away" and the old Hank Thompson standard "Wild Side Of Life." Rich Blanton shocked the troops here when he stepped in and in his high tenor voice sang Kitty Wells' answer to the latter "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels!"
Larry Keeler returned to put his vocal skills to work on "Born To Lose" and Vince Gill's "Kindly Keep It Country" before Earlene Hamilton ("Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow") and Suzanne Danner's Mama's He's Crazy" and "My Baby Loves Me Just The Way I Am." Darryl Danner put his smooth, mellow voice to work on a couple of his favorite artist's hits: Jim Reeves' "Am I Losing You" and Don Williams' "You're My Best Friend." Annie Little asked us what we would like her to sing tonight and we couldn't think of two better tunes that Patsy Cline's "I Love You Honey" and a Garry Bichelmeyer original song, "I Must Have Been Out Of My Mind." Friend Jay Holmgren joined the ranks with "Today I Started Loving You Again" and then was joined by Annie on a great duet of "I Saw The Light." Bob Fish played "I'll Fly Away" and an unnamed Appalachian folk song on his harmonica and Chapter President Julie Joeckel did a swell job singing "Mississippi And You" and the Dottie West classic "Country Sunshine." Lee Baldwin got the dancers moving as he played "Sleepwalk" and Merle Haggards's "Fugitive" before our friend Ron Holmes sang Lefty Frizzell's "I Never Go Around Mirrors" and followed that with a Bill Anderson tune, "Walk Out Backwards." Wife Sandy Holmes (who was known as Sandy Barnett around these parts for so many years) got the fingers snappin' and the feet shufflin' as she sang "Don't Be Angry" and "Truck Drivin' Man" before new member Roger Lavelock sang a song we believe Johnny Horton might have recorded, "Whispering Pines" and Hank Sr.'s "Kaw-Liga." We always enjoy hearing Dale Endicott perform and tonight he chose "Blue Bonnet Lane" and "Now And Then There's A Fool Such As I." We love honky tonk style piano and Sue Hiatt played it beautifully tonight with "Me & Bobby McGee" and "Will The Circle Be Unbroken."
The band closed out this fun evening with "Under The Weeping Willow," "Honky Tonk" and shades of Roy and Dale --- "Happy Trails!" (Below) top - Eldon Landis (l.), Rich Blanton (c.) and the rest of the band accompany Sylvia Landis (r.) as she sings "One Day At A Time" bottom - Sandy Holmes sings Dave Dudley's "Truck Drivin' Man"