Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country | Founded 05-05-05

July 24, 2008 issue


Tickets Still Available for Doc Watson Concert August 9

Fundraising Concert Helps Sustain the Community

Tickets are still available for Doc Watson’s annual performance at Cook Park in Todd, happening this year on Saturday, August 9.Doc Watson’s concert in Todd on Saturday, August 9, is a fundraiser for community projects and the James “Crow” Parsons Memorial Fund. Each summer since 2003, Doc and Richard have played for their friends and neighbors in Todd, helping to support the nonprofit Todd Community Preservation Organization in its efforts to sustain the community without destroying its unique character.

Each year, too, Doc’s Todd concert has showcased other local musicians, from Alternate Roots and Amantha Mill to Buck Haggard and Southeast Express, presenting a full afternoon of outstanding music in a beautiful rural setting. This year’s opening bands are Backstreet at 3:00 p.m. and Phoenix Mountain at 4:00 p.m.

The concert will again be dedicated to the memory of James Parsons, who was part of music in Todd from its very beginnings. Although James is now gone, the James “Crow” Parsons Memorial Fund is being built to finance future summer concerts at Cook Park. A pickle jar in the Todd Mercantile Bakery collects change and dollars for the fund, and the pickle jar is passed around during the Saturday afternoon concerts to help the memorial fund grow. TCPO, the nonprofit community organization, also seeks larger contributions to permanently endow the fund to provide dependable financing for the music series that James Parsons helped bring to Todd.

This year’s series is partially supported by a grant from the North Carolina Rural Center’s NC STEP program, of which Todd is a part along with West Jefferson. TCPO applied for the grant through HandMade in America as part of a High Country cluster of communities working together to revitalize and sustain their economies while preserving their cultural and historical roots.

Tickets to the concert are $15 or $17 for credit card purchases. Children under 12 are admitted free. Only 1,500 tickets are available, that number being the capacity of Cook Memorial Park in the middle of Todd’s historic district. In addition to ticket sales, sponsors have come forward, helping to underwrite some of the concert expense and leaving more for the memorial fund. Among this year’s sponsors are Dick and Betsey Sesler and Nan Wyatt.

The logistics of having 1,500 people in Todd at one time are challenging but not impossible. Close-in parking is provided by the youth of South Fork Baptist Church, raising funds for a mission trip. Other parking is in a nearby field with free shuttle service. Attendees bring their own chairs or blankets—even their own gazebo tents—and umbrellas in case of late-day showers. Snacks and drink are available at a tent in Cook Park, as well as from the nearby Todd General Store and Todd Mercantile Bakery. Well-behaved pets are allowed, but no alcohol.

The entire Todd summer music series, and especially Doc’s concert, is very much a community undertaking, involving many hours and days of volunteer work in addition to financial contributions and sponsorships. Summer events coordinator Emilie Enzmann has put out a call for volunteers to help with concert-related logistics on August 9. People are needed to set up tents, park cars, collect tickets, sell food and clean up afterwards. Anyone who can spare a couple of hours to help make the concert a success is invited to call Emilie at 336-877-5401. Setup will be on Friday, August 8.

Tickets are still available at Todd General Store, Todd Mercantile (taking credit card orders), and RiverGirl Fishing Co. in Todd; the Mast Store and Boone Area Chamber of Commerce in Boone; and Ashe Visitor’s Center and BlueMoon Guitars in West Jefferson. If any tickets are left by the 9th, they will be available at the gate. For more information, call 336-877-5401.

 

Want To Go?

Date: Saturday, August 9
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Location: Cook Park, Todd
Cost: $15/$17 for credit card sales/Free for children under 12