For Giggles

$2,000 Scholarship Available: Southeast Old Threshers' Reunion Pageant

DENTON, N.C. -- The Southeast Thresher’s Queen Scholarship Pageant is seeking contestants. It will be held on Saturday, June 26, 2010, just days before the start of 40th Southeast Old Thresher’s Reunion.


The winner will receive a $2,000 scholarship.

The new queen will reign over the Thresher’s Reunion during its five-day run and serve as the Threshers’ Goodwill Ambassador to many festivals, pageants and parades throughout North Carolina.

Held at the Denton FarmPark, the Southeast Old Threshers Reunion is one of the largest antique gas and steam engine shows in the country. It includes a variety of farming demonstrations, steam engine train rides, country, gospel and bluegrass entertainment and crafts. It will be held June 30-July 4.

The 2010 queen will be crowned by reigning 2009 Queen – Natalie Caviness of Asheboro, N.C. Natalie is a student at Randolph County Early College and will graduate in June.

Contestants must be a rising high school senior, either through public or home school, and can be up to 25 years old. Girls must be single, never have had a child or been married. They should either reside, work or attend school in any of the following counties: Alamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Caswell, Catawba, Chatham, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Gaston, Guilford, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph, Richmond, Rockingham, Rowan, Stanly, Stokes, Surry, Union and Yadkin.

Second and Third place finishers will receive scholarships of $450 and $350 respectively. Additional awards will be given in four competition categories: Best Interview, Best “Country Cutie” Outfit, Best Casual Outfit and Most Photogenic.

Entry fees are $50. The application deadline is June 12, 2010. For entry forms, rules and further information call Denton FarmPark at 1-800-458-2755, visit us on Facebook at the Southeast Threshers Queen Pageant or email manager@threshers.com.

The Denton FarmPark is located 20 miles south of Lexington off N.C. Hwy. 109 and 20 miles southeast of Asheboro off N.C. Hwy. 49.

The Grascals to Perform at Big Lick Bluegrass Festival

Big Lick, N.C. – The Grascals have played with George Jones, Porter Wagoner, Vince Gill, Dolly Parton, Charlie Daniels and are just coming off the Hank Williams Jr. Rowdy Friends Tour – and will be appearing at the Big Lick Bluegrass Festival in Big Lick on Saturday, June 12.

The festival will be held at the Big Lick Festival Park in Big Lick, N.C., on Friday, June 11 and Saturday, June 12.

Big Lick is a community on N.C. Hwy. 205 between Charlotte and Albemarle, just off N.C. Hwy. 24/27. It was named for a salt lick that is still somewhere in the woods. Any local deer can tell you its whereabouts.

The Big Lick festival has traditionally had some of the biggest names in bluegrass music – and this year the trend continues.

The Grascals. Goldwing Express. Bill Yates and The Country Gentlemen Tribute Show. Bluegrass Brothers. Deeper Shade of Blue. Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out.

Fans will hear old ballads from the Bill Yates and The Country Gentlemen Tribute Show; traditional mountain music from the Bluegrass Brothers; and a more contemporary sound from The Grascals. Rising stars, The Rye Hollar Boys, are teenagers who come from a family of musicians in the N.C. mountains.

Grascals guitarist and vocalist Terry Eldredge is looking forward to the show. Organizer Jeff Branch and he have been friends since the early ‘80s. “So we’re going to put on an especially entertaining show at Big Lick,” Eldredge says. “Dolly Parton always used to say right before we took the stage, ‘Make it fun!’ That’s what we’re gonna do.”

The Grascals will be singing songs from their newest CD, “The Famous Lefty Flynn’s.” Eldredge sings the title track. “Grascals guitarist Jamie Johnson wrote a ballad with a little truth and a little fiction in it – about a fellow who lived a hard life.” he explains. “But I can’t tell you how the story ends. You’ll have to listen to find out!”

“I was very moved at the 2009 Big Lick festival,” says Bill Yates. “A man in the audience cried when he told me he thought he would never hear a voice like Charlie Waller again. He was the lead singer and guitarist for the original Country Gentlemen group. We’ll be singing some favorites.”

Yates also looks forward to the after-party jamming session behind the stage where many of the musicians, and members of the audience, pull out their guitars, banjos and whatever and play into the wee hours of the morning.

Branch likes to share some little-known tidbits about the performers.

Eldredge chews gum throughout his entire performance to keep his mouth moist. Grascals banjo player Kristin Scott Benson and her husband, Wayne Benson, who plays the mandolin for Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out, will be able to perform at the same festival, something they typically don’t get to do. She was voted the 2009 Banjo Player of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association. And Branch points out that Frank Poindexter, dobro player for Deeper Shade of Blue, is the uncle of legendary Tony Rice who is considered the top bluegrass guitar player in America.
The Big Lick Bluegrass Festival opens at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 11 with the Rye Hollar Boys, Southern Junction and Bluegrass Brothers.

On Saturday, shows start at noon with Deeper Shade of Blue, Goldwing Express, Bill Yates and Friends, Bluegrass Brothers, Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out ending with The Grascals at 11 p.m.

Adult admission is $10 on Friday and $25 on Saturday. Reduced tickets are available after 6 p.m. on Saturday for $15. Two day passes are available through June 1 for $25.

Tickets for children ages 12-16 are $5 on Friday and $12 on Saturday. Children under 12 years of age will be admitted free.

Everyone is encouraged to bring lawn chairs. Large tents will be available to provide shade. Concessions will be available.

Camping is available at the Big Lick Festival Park. For reservations, call 704-485-4906.

The Big Lick Festival Park is located at 640 South Oak Ridge Road.

For tickets and information, call Jeff Branch at 704-985-6987, visit Big Lick Bluegrass Festival on Facebook or www.biglickbluegrass.com.