Even though where I grew up in Coos Bay Oregon there were lots of families that came from the Appalachians and very nearby areas.
I certainly have them in my family tree.
These are Appalachian teens clogging at the Asheville Mountain Music Festival (1965)
We were taught how to Square Dance instead in Middle school.
Also got taught Hunter Safety and actually shot .22 rifles in a large classroom with a back stop the same year.
It’s funny but I still understand quite a bit of the dialect, the words and the phrases they use in Southern Appalachia because my Grandma and lots of her friends mixed them in when they talked while I was growing up.
Except for my Mother’s Brother, I am the only one left from that side of the family who still knows any of that stuff because my Mom and Her Mom have both been gone over forty five years now. Grandpa moved back to Tennessee right after they died.
Even my younger brother wasn’t around them enough to learn any of it.
None of the Grandchildren ever even met them.
It’s kind of wierd when you think about it.
A 100% born and raised West Coast boy who could walk into a store in Appalachia and feel right at home.
Maybe it’s the historic Scottish influence there reaching out to this historic Scot, but I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve watched this and other clogging videos – I love them!
You ever think about moving “back” there when you quit working?
All my kin were from northwest Indiana and always talked about that being “home”, but I was hatched elsewhere and never felt any kinship to that area. I’d go back to where I was hatched tomorrow if I could.
Family lore and history is a great thing. I thank God my Dad motivated and taught me to be proud of it.
I feel sorry for the younguns of today. No way in hell would I want to remember all the bullshit of society today.
ps That video was awesome and reminded me of a childhood memory.
That’s great! That banjo player looked a couple teeth short of a mouthful! Great musicians, all. You have been blessed.
Be grateful your ancestors left. It’s called the Appalachian Diaspora.
Most of the motivated, hard working people left as the jobs disappeared. What remains are old people, drug addicts and those who make a living from old people and drug addicts – health care, law enforcement and rehab.
Not from there but I spent a few years working there. Dwight Yoakam has a good song about the diaspora.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfwbUXgNWzQ
My hunter safety course had the area Conservation Officer give a demonstration on how to tell that your pump action shotgun was unloaded. He then proceeded to close the action and fire a blank round into the cement block wall.
That made an impression on every single one of us in the room, and the noise is still ringing in my ears. But he showed us that unless you look and even feel into the firearm, you could make a very dangerous and even deadly mistake.
I doubt that a CO could even be allowed to bring a shotgun into a school cafeteria now days, yet along fire a blank round to make an impression on 12 year old kids.
You learned square dancing in middle school?! Me too. Always had to line up a partner before hand so I didn’t have to dance with a hog
That explains a lot about you. May explain some of why I read your blog.