Man, oh man, we feasted that night [laughs]! It was just so cool and just to think that God cares about every aspect of your life. There are a lot of entertainers, a lot of people who sing, a lot of people who minister, but I don’t believe that God has called any of us to be exactly like each other. Our prayer has always been for God to use us, especially since He has brought me from the shyness. Even now, we sing all the time when we go to restaurants, and it’s been amazing to see how God uses that in people’s lives. That’s been our desire, to not just be typical singers, but that we want to be used. That’s what He’s been doing and I love that.
One Saturday after an all-day singing that we had in Kentucky, a couple of the groups decided to go to Shoney’s and have dinner. When we entered the restaurant, the hostess asked the ordinary question, “How many do you have tonight?” I said, “Wait, hold on just a minute before we’re seated. We want to sing a song.” All of us gathered around there and the hostess just said, “Well, okay, I guess; whatever.”
We sang “This Little Light of Mine,” and the hostess took us to the very back corner of the restaurant. On our way back several people stopped us and said, “We couldn’t hardly hear you. Will you sing another song?” To make a long story short, before that evening was over, we had spent four hours there at Shoney’s restaurant, and we had sang at least eight songs in the course of our dinner. The last song that we sang was “Amazing Grace.” We sang the first verse and the last verse. Then a lady tapped me on the shoulder and asked if we would sing the verse that says, “Through many dangers, toils, and snares.”
As we began to sing that verse, a little girl, probably thirteen years old or so, bowed her head on the table and began to cry. Right there, in the middle of Shoney’s, she gave her life to Jesus. I was just so excited! I looked around and there were several people in the restaurant that were singing, and I said, “Let’s finish the song.” We finished the song with just the verse “Praise God, praise God.” As we left that night, I could feel a pat on the back from God above, knowing that He was pleased with His servants. I want to remind you of Psalms 27:23: “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delighteth in His ways.” Today, wherever you go, just remember that your steps have been ordered.
PLATE 91 “How beautiful it is to see young people in harmony with their calling.” Young Harmony members Johnathan Bond, Noel Walters, and Darlene Chapman
While we were at Shoney’s, there in Kentucky, a man came to me and said that his wife had just passed away and that they had come to Shoney’s just to get away from the crowd and be alone. It was a good ways from their home. He told us that he and his family were preparing for the funeral, and they didn’t have anyone there to sing. He said, “Would you be willing to come back up and sing at the funeral?” I told him, “That would be great. We would be honored to do that.”
The funeral was the following Tuesday, and we went back to the church that he had given us directions for. As we got there a lady came to me and she said, “I don’t know who you are, but the Lord spoke to me and told me to tell you to be obedient to Him.” I just said, “Thank you,” and asked her to keep me in her prayers throughout the service. I got up to the piano and began to prepare for a song, and they had told me to pick out the songs. When I sat down there on the stool, the Lord began to speak to me and He dealt with me about singing “Consolation on Your Knees.” The words to that song actually say, “Whatever brings you to your knees is good for you.” I started thinking of the circumstances, and I thought that is really not a song that you would sing at a funeral. Then He reminded me that He sent a servant to come and tell me to be obedient to Him, and that He knew I would be weak at this time. I started playing the song “Consolation on Your Knees”; as I began to sing the song, the altar began to fill up. There was seventy-two people that came and gave their life to Jesus there at the funeral. I was just truly amazed by this. All it goes to show you is that obedience is better than sacrifice. No matter how off the wall or unusual it may seem, God has a plan and a reason for everything.
Traveling and singing, you never seem to find time to get in bed early, but one Tuesday night we all got in bed early. Right when I got to sleep, the Lord woke me up and He told me to go to Nashville. I didn’t know why He had told me to go; I only knew it was late. I got up and got my clothes on, and I left for Nashville. I didn’t have a clue where I was going, but I just drove and prayed all the way there. I said, “God, I’ve got to have your guidance because I’ve never done this before.” He told me exactly where to exit and when to turn, and then He told me to stop. I stopped there and looked around, and right across the street from where I was, there was a nude bar. Not a brand-new bar, I want to make sure you understand, but a nude, as in no clothes, bar [laughs]. I just said, “God, I wasn’t raised like this. What’s going on?” He began to speak to me in a way that I had never heard Him before. He told me to go and ask for a girl named Angie. I walked across the street and knocked on the door. Two people came to the door, and one was a big ol’ guy, and then one was a girl. The guy said, “Can I help you?” I said, “I need to see a girl named Angie.”
The girl looked at him, and then she looked back at me, then back at him and then back at me, and she said, “I’m Angie.” She was really amazed because it was her real name and not her stage name. She walked out on the sidewalk there with me, and I told her, I said, “The Lord told me to tell you that He was there for you when you were seven, when you were fourteen, and when you were twenty, and now the time has come for you to be there for Him. He has a great work for you to do, and He told her what that was. The last thing that the Lord told me to tell you is this is your last warning.”
When I said that, I turned and walked halfway across the road to get to my car. She grabbed me on the shoulder and said, “Wait a minute. Who are you?” I gave her a card that said, “Young Harmony.” I said, “I’m a preacher from Chattanooga. I know this is weird to you, but God sent me all the way up here just for you, and now I’m on my way back home.”
She started crying and said, “No, this is not weird to me. My dad is a preacher, and he told me the exact same thing you told me two nights ago, except he told me that God was going to send me one more warning. Would you give me a ride home?” I was in complete amazement. She got in the car and we left. We went about thirty miles from where we were and drove down this long driveway. It was about two thirty in the morning at this time, but every light in the house was on. There was a man standing out on the front porch. She opened the door of the car, and she ran and said, “Daddy! Daddy!”
He said, “Your mother’s inside on her knees. The Lord just woke us up and said, ‘Your little girl’s on her way home.’ ” Again, I was in complete amazement. I sat there in their driveway and began to realize how strong of a God that we serve and how caring of a God that we serve. I realized that night that the God I serve is bigger than the gay bars, the nude bars, the biggest bottle of alcohol you can find, and the largest dose of drugs. All we have to do is just like that mother and dad did. They asked, they believed, and they stood on faith. If you’ve got family out there that you’ve been praying for, I would encourage you to ask and believe, and they’ll be home.
Noel: It’s kinda like Johnathan when he talked about six months ago, him going through a trial, and that’s what I’ve felt like. I grew up in the ministry, too. My dad had a gospel group and still pastors today. The flood in Nashville a few weeks ago [in 2010] flooded us out. We lost our home and everything. I’d been moving stuff that was left out all day, and I guess I was tired and hurrying, trying to get it all done. I went to step off the back of the truck and fell out. I was going to fall on my head, so I broke my fall with my arm, which crushed my wrist. The doctors are trying to fuse my hand and my arm back together. I’ll probably never have any wrist range, but at least I’ll be able to move my hand.
Johnathan: You may have, because they said I’d never walk.
Noel: Just the other day I
thought that I’ve testified all my life and sung about God’s goodness, and I’ve felt like when all this happened that I’m not gonna travel and sing anymore. I didn’t get shushed, like Johnathan did, but the Lord spoke to my heart and said, “I know exactly where you are, and I know everything that’s going on.” I thought how bad would it be for me to quit and all of sudden turn my back on all the things that I know are true and all the things that I’ve sung about and testified about. That would be like the biggest lie that there ever was. All of the songs mean more to me now than they ever have in my whole life. I have come to the fact that it is just stuff and it can be replaced. I know that God’s bigger than all of that, so it’s been a huge blessing to me, too. We’ve all got testimonies, and we can testify to God being much bigger than anything that ever happens in your life.
Johnathan: My personal belief is, not that it’s right or wrong, but the scripture says, “All things work together for our good, for those that love God”; the best thing that ever happened to me was my car wreck. Now I know that God has His focus on me all the time, and I’m thankful for that. If you are able to say, “Here’s what God’s done for me,” and help somebody else, then it’s worth everything that you’ve went through.
My advice for young people today would be to realize why you are here. Realize that it’s not just something people say but that God really does love you. I would have loved to have realized, years before I did, that He really loved me, not a group of people, not a congregation of people, but me individually. If I had realized that, I would have had a happier life and also been a part of helping other people to be happier. Just realize that God really does love you.
Young Harmony’s music is available at www.youngharmony.com.
~Experiencing Traditional Music~
Near the end of this book, beginning on this page, we have included an extensive listing of music festivals held around the southeast—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, the Carolinas, Tennessee, and the Virginias—with the hope that you will find an opportunity to experience firsthand the various styles of traditional music that are so deeply ingrained in the lives of the contacts featured in the “Echoes” section.
Daddy Was a Farmer
Joyce Green
My daddy was a farmer,
He was just a simple man,
He never owned a tractor,
But he toiled to work the land.
He followed that old mule
To the end of every row,
And the fruits of his labor
Came from the seeds he’d sow.
God always blessed my daddy
With more than we could eat,
He shared with all the neighbors
And the strangers he would meet.
His hands were stiff and calloused
From the hard work he had done,
But his heart was kind and gentle
Till the day his race was run.
Now, the life of an old farmer
Is a gamble every day,
He prays for rain and sunshine
From the very first of May.
He hopes his crops will prosper
As he toils from week to week,
And many times he worries,
There are nights without much sleep.
Mountain folk know how to live off the land. They have survival skills that have been lost in many other areas of our country. Most of the older generation knew that in order to eat during the winter, food had to be grown and preserved during the spring and summer, so they farmed. There were no fancy tractors, Rototillers, or cotton pickers. The farmer, dressed in overalls and an old straw hat, with his calloused hands to the plow, walked behind a stubborn old steer, or maybe a team of just as stubborn old mules, day after day, tilling the land. Fields were planted by hand, harvested by hand, and the women of the home preserved the crops. Green beans were picked, broken, washed, and packed into quart fruit jars before being carefully submerged under water in an old iron pot sitting over an open fire. The jars were boiled for four hours to make sure they were sufficiently preserved. Every member of the family shared in the responsibilities of running the family farm.
Many families were sharecroppers who gave half of their harvest to the owner of the farm in exchange for housing. Some private schools ran school farms, and families lived on school property and shared their crops with the schools. This section will highlight the memories of some of those school farm families who once lived on the Rabun Gap–Nacoochee School Farm. Rabun Gap–Nacoochee School still sits on a hill against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains, but the school farms are long gone. The memories, however, will live forever.
—Joyce Green
Rabun Gap–Nacoochee School Farm Family Program
I grew up in Rabun County, attended and graduated from RGNS (Rabun Gap–Nacoochee School), and thought I knew just about everything there was to know about the school. Boy, was I wrong! I had no idea what a huge impact the Rabun Gap–Nacoochee Farm Family Program and junior college had on so many families in our community until we begin interviewing families associated with the Farm Family Program. I was amazed at how grateful these families were for the opportunity not only to work hard every day, but also to take great pride in the hard work they did. As these people spoke of their experiences at Rabun Gap–Nacoochee School, it was evident from their expressions and their enthusiasm that the Farm Family Program meant a lot to each and every one of them.
The Farm Family Program was a dream of Andrew Jackson Ritchie and Addie Corn Ritchie, founders of Rabun Gap–Nacoochee School. When the school began, tenant farmers were allowed to live on the school farm, but only as a supplement to the labor of the boarding students. When World War I started, many of the older boys at the school joined the military. Therefore, more families were brought in to continue the farming operations. The Ritchies’ guiding principles for the Farm Families included taking large families in order to have the largest impact, limiting their time on the school farm to five or six years in order to help as many families as possible, and choosing families with the greatest potential to succeed.
Rabun Gap–Nacoochee School would accept applications from families to live and work on a farm owned by RGNS and then choose families they believed would gain the most benefit from being a part of the Farm Family Program. The application for admission, provided courtesy of Rabun Gap–Nacoochee School Archives, included questions such as:
Do you want a better chance to educate your children than you now have?
Do you want a chance to become a better farmer and to make a better living?
Do you and your wife want an opportunity to improve the position of your family as a member of a good community?
Do you understand that if admitted to this school you and your wife enter as pupils?
Adults had classes in agriculture and home economics. The men studied care of the farm boundary, farm crops, livestock, soils and fertilizers, gardening, fruit growing, farm mechanics, and farm management. The women studied health, foods, cooking, sanitation, home nursing, sewing, and laundering. All adult members of the family were expected to attend meetings; be enterprising, industrious, and thrifty; possess qualities of workmanship; be good citizens; be dependable; and keep their children in good standing in school.
According to the general rules and regulations provided to us by the Rabun Gap–Nacoochee School Archives, families were admitted for one year at a time and were told each year if they were invited to stay another year. Each family had to operate a model farm with all the land yielding its share of income, and each was given a house, a barn, a one-acre garden, pasture for two milk cows, and firewood for fuel at no cost. In return the families were expected to maintain their home and farm and do all minor repairs to their buildings and land. Large repairs or improvements were the school’s responsibility. Each family had to keep a farm account book showing what they made, spent, and saved each year. Adults were required to attend educational meetings org
anized by the school, and all school-age children had to attend school.
Most of the families came with very little in the way of material possessions. They did possess a strong work ethic, faith, and determination. With the help of the Farm Family Program, when they left Rabun Gap–Nacoochee they had money saved and were better educated, which meant a brighter future for them and their children.
Every person we spoke with had nothing but good things to say about the school, the Farm Family Program, and what a benefit it was to their families. The Ritchies’ dream became reality, thanks to many Farm Families’ hard work and sacrifice.
—Kaye Carver Collins
My family history is intertwined with Rabun Gap–Nacoochee School. I was introduced to the school when I was just a few months old. My parents, William and Jo Thurmond, moved to a house owned by the school, and my dad worked at the school’s dairy, but my roots had already been planted at Rabun Gap long before I came into being. The Thurmond family moved here from White County, Georgia. According to my great-uncle Pledger, “We moved all our belongings here in a wagon and a Ford Model T. The house we moved into was not finished. Dad was a carpenter and he finished the house.” Not only did my papaw’s family move here, but his wife’s (Annie Lee Dowdle Thurmond’s) family also moved to the school to be part of the Farm Family Program.
I spent lots of time in my childhood listening to my papaw spin tales about his childhood, his mischievous games, and his courtship of my grandma. I can still hear his voice as he talked about catching the Tallulah Falls train (TF) as it chugged north on a Sunday morning and the details of the day spent with my grandma attending church, eating dinner with the family, and sitting on the front porch. After a day in Otto, North Carolina, he would catch the TF as it traveled southward back down to Rabun Gap and jump off to head home to his awaiting chores.
The Foxfire 45th Anniversary Book Page 41