Blues Legends On Display

                          OUR BLUES HALL OF FAME

 

         

     Who knew Gainesville had its own Blues Hall Of Fame?  It's not large -actually stored in a few boxes most of the time- but this summer it is on full display at the A. Quinn Jones Museum  on NW 7th Avenue.

 

     

     Ten years ago two Indiana folk artists, Tim

Yerrington and George Borum, teamed up to create a series of forty portraits. Each could illustrate a chapter from a "History of the Blues" book. 

       

 

    Russell Ettling, Our city's cutural affairs manager, saw them for sale online and scooped them up. They are now a part of our city's permanent art collection.  

         Working with local musicologists, Russ & Co. created a full-tilt bluesy woozy exhibition that opened at the Thomas Center Gallery in Duckpond nine years ago. Our own blues legend, Willy Green, entertained.

 

     Since 2013 these mini-works of folk art have been begging to see the light of day again.  Each was not only accompanied by short biographies but also QR code links which allowed you to hear the artist's music. The show was up for a few months then it disappeared from public view for nine years.

 

      Carol Richardson, the museum coordinator at A. Quinn Jones, told me she discovered them in storage and knew they'd be a great exhibit for her museum. The portraits, painted in bold colors, graphically explain the history of the only original American music, the blues. 

    You probably know the blues was born in the 19th century on southern cotton plantations. Slaves and their descendants used a mix of spirituals, chants, work songs, hollers, and narrative ballads to create what became this unique piece of our county's culture. 

      How the blues led to jazz and rock n' roll is also explained in the show. Yes, Elvis has his own portrait but we all know he stole "Hound Dog" from blues great, Big Mamma Thornton.

     The A. Quinn Jones Museum and Cultural Center is a tribute to Dr. A. Quinn Jones who dedicated his life to improving the quality of education in Alachua County. The museum's permanent exhibit speaks to his legacy -and our local civil rights history- of which he was a part.

 

      The A. Quinn Jones Museum and Cultural center is located at 1013 NW & Ave.  They are open most days.  Call 352-334-2010 or go to their website, http://aqjmuseum.org , should you need more information. 

 

      The exhibit will be up until September 14th. After that, you might have to wait another nine years to see Gainesville's own Blues Hall of Fame.

 

Rock legend Bo Diddley lived in nearby Newberry for many years.  Gainesville has had other blues legends living here whose portraits could be added to the collection, stars like Charles Bradley, Willy Green, and Minnie Ripperton.

   Bo Diddley played the Cotton Club as did James Brown, Ray Charles,  B.B. King and many other musical legends. It's now a museum and cultural center as well at 837 SE 7th Avenue.

      

         Stop by soon to see Gainesville's own Blues Hall of Fame and the museum dedicated to one of the most influential educators in the history of Alachua County.

DOWN THE LAZY RIVER....

         DRIFTING DOWN A LAZY RIVER

       I should have remembered the Boy Scout motto, "Be prepared" before I went venturing on the Sante Fe River at night. Next time I'll bring warmer clothes and more light than a cell phone. I did better a month later; it was a day trip, and, when I fell out of my kayak, my phone was safely sealed in a plastic bag. 

      Going out on the water is one of our favorite North Florida pastimes.  Gainesville is ninety minutes from the ocean but there are fresh water rivers, lakes, and springs nearby. You can explore them on a sunny day or a moon-lit night.

      Many here have their own kayaks. The High Springs Boat Ramp off Highway 41 gives you  easy access to the broad, dark river day or night.  We're over transporting our own skinny boats. Young folks asssist us now. One of many places where you can rent a canoe or kayak is the Canoe Outpost (https://www.aoafun.com/outpost) in High Springs.

  They're open every day, 9-5, and they often have full moon river tours.  Check with them for details.

    My wife and I love going on guided river trips with naturalist Lars Anderson.  He has run "Adventures Outpost" for years (https://adventureoutpost.net/, 386-497-4214).

Lars shows us the way

      You can choose from over thirty guided tours usually joining a small group of 6-8 people. Lars can set you up with a boat but, if you prefer, you can bring your own.

 

      The easiest way for us get into a lazy river groove is to drift down the magnificent Ichetucknee River. It's a forty-five minutes drive from G'ville. For a reasonable fee a young man will drive you up river, help you into a canoe (or kayak) and a minute later, you are drifting for hours through nature's tranquil wonderland.  

Ahhhh....

      When we were there last week, we saw a zillion birds, 126 turtles (our young nephew, Nick, was counting),   

 

a family of otters diving for lunch, and a smiling gator. In winter many bulbous manatees join the spring water menagerie as well.

           Nicolas and his mother

 

             

       Most people prefer to float down the lower half of the river in colorful inner tubes. That was a gas years ago. Now, spending hours with my butt suspended in cold water is less than enjoyable.

      Exploring the rivers, springs, and coastal waterways of North Central Florida is a fantastic experience. I hope you find yourself with paddle in hand soon.

     

And a Creek Runs Through It

        SOMETHING NEW IN GAINESVILLE,

                    HEADWATERS PARK

 

       The Mississippi River begins as a trickle of water in Northern Minnesota. My wife and I explored the origins a lesser known waterway, Gainesville's Hogtown Creek, this week. We read the city had opened a new park there. 

 

       

     Hogtown Creek Headwaters Nature Center is a terrific place to visit. Bring the kids as there's room to run, trails to hike, and the sparkling-new playground is first class.

      Just fifteen years ago they were about to break ground on a Walmart Super Center here.  Thankfully the appropriate amount of hell was raised forcing the big box merchants to move. 

       Allison, the park's helpful manager, took us on a tour of the 1890's farmhouse.  It's a gem, lovingly restored. It now serves as a meeting place and museum. 

     Exhibits inform you of what's been going on in this pastoral north Gainesville setting -once known as "Paradise"- for the last 300 years. It was the Hartman Dairy for most of the last century. The right amount of ancient milk bottles are on display. Tapping trees for turpentine was a big deal too.

     Stepping outside we encountered a spiffy new playground, the only one east of Berkeley that has its own zip line. As I hustled over to try it Francesca pointed out a sign that read, "Ages 8-12 only". 

 

 

       That ain't right. Old folks like to zip too.   

      Hogtown Creek defines much of northwest Gainesville as it meanders south through Ring Park and Loblolly Woods. Neighbors tell me it roars twelve feet deep -a block from our house- in extreme weather. It disappears into into the aquifer beneath us, at Haile Sink, just north of Paines Prairie.  

      Pork was big business back in the day. Then the Home of The Gators was known as "Hogtown" and a creek ran through it. 

 

   To the right is some old guy -who thinks of himself as being younger than he looks- in the farm house museum. He is pointing out where he lives, where Rattlesnake Creek meets up with Hogtown. The headwaters are at the top right, just two blocks west of NW 13 Street.

 

 

                   Where the creek begins

            A nearby hiking trail led us into deep woods. 

At one point our path was blocked by a deer and her fawn. Our half-hour walk took us past colorful, informative signs decorated with and butterflies and frogs.

         Headwaters park is located at 1500 NW 45 Ave. While the grounds are available everyday, the farmhouse hours are limited. It is open from 10-3 on Tuesdays,Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sunday. This Sunday, July 10th at noon, a park ranger will give a talk on "Prescribed Burning" in the cool of the air-conditioned meeting room.  I wish her subject could be the same as mine, "Headwaters Park is the Bomb!".

__________________________________

 

MY SECRET CAVE

        In 1977 I helped build a coral rock wall across from the Coconut Grove Playhouse. It's still there and I visited my section last week.

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     My fifty feet includes a number of sculptural features and one small cave. Inside I created a miniature cemetery. The two-inch headstones had teeny, barely readable epitaphs. I enjoyed taking friends on the secret graveyard visits for decades.

      The cave's entrance was blocked by a fist-size rock. When it was discovered by strangers, my minuscule chamber changed. When grave stones went missing I quickly made new ones.

    My wall and I, 1977 

 Sextons have serious responsibilities.

    After two decades of cave-care I gave up. The dark hole stayed empty for a while then took on new life. People started putting trinkets, poetry, and small bills inside.

      Last week I visited the wall once more. This time my mini-cave was stuffed with money. Had I won the lottery?

   Hardly. There were enough damp dollars to purchase a few lottery tickets -and- ten bucks Bahamian. 

      I assumed my fern-covered orifice had become a voodoo font of good luck. I let the wet bills be. 

You don't  mess with  Mother Nature, secret caves, and the traditions that go with them.

                       ___________________

    

Another stone mason's section, near mine, now covered with incredible banyan roots.