Tunes on the Tracks: My Time at the October Old-Time Retreat

Last weekend my senses were flooded by the sound of fiddles, the sight of flatfooting, and the exhilaration of square dancing at Augusta’s October Old-Time Retreat in Cass, West Virginia. As the new AmeriCorps member, I’d never attended one of the famed programs that Augusta puts on year-round and I had no idea what to expect going into the weekend. While I was only there for the last two days of the retreat, I wanted to share my personal highlights and the moments that made me smile. I’ve compiled some videos and photos of my time so you can see the October Old-Time Retreat through my eyes!

Lou Maiuri Cultural Session

On Saturday, the first event I attended was the cultural session with Lou Maiuri, a 96 year old square dance caller whose father once worked in Cass. He regaled the crowd with stories of square dance, tales of his father’s job in Cass when Lou was a teenager, and some absolute zingers of jokes. I feel lucky to have the opportunity to listen to someone who has been involved in the West Virginia music scene for so long. While I loved the talk, my favorite part of having Lou there came later that evening at the square dance. Lou showed off some flatfooting for the crowd after he expertly called almost every dance that night. Here is a video of him and Emily Miller flatfooting together:

Fiddle Lesson

I also got the chance to attend one of Augusta’s one-shot lessons on Saturday. Danny Knicely showed a group of fiddlers some tunes he had picked up from Cape Verde and the Cayman Islands. I was fascinated when he told us that the fiddle had been brought to the Cayman Islands by families from Dundee, Scotland. I lived in Dundee all of last year for my master’s degree and was delighted to hear that the music that came from a place I love was brought all the way across the Atlantic and passed down to the islanders there. I could hear the similarities, though diluted through age and cultural exchange, between the Scottish fiddle and the tunes Knicely played for us. Here is a video of Knicely and the class playing one of the Cayman Island tunes, Munzie Boat in the Sound. I’ve also added one of my favorite photos from the week of students playing newly acquired tunes while Knicely accompanies them with guitar:

Old-Time Open Mic

An open mic soon followed the one-shot lessons and I was exposed to a variety of genres, instruments, new songs, and jokes from our program guests. While every song, tall tale, and dance was an amazing part of the day, one performance stood out. The whole group had tears of laughter and expressions of joy/bewilderment on our faces as Carol Denney displayed her crankie with original drawings and an accompanying song titled “The Cellphone and the Sea”. We laughed as she played the concertina and timed her lyrics perfectly with the crankie’s drawings. While I felt the need to record the song for Augusta’s records and to remember the moment forever, I felt a little silly holding up my phone while Carol sang of her frustrations with phones and her need to chuck them into open water. It made me want to make my own crankie to entertain friends. Here is the video, the crankie is, unfortunately, hard to see on film, but the song stands up on its own:

Cass Square Dance

The last event of the evening was the community square dance where program attendees and the wider Cass community were invited to join hands and dance to the calls of Lou Maiuri. While I’m still a newbie to square dancing, I still had fun even if people were kindly shouting corrections at me as I repeatedly spun in the wrong direction. I’m not experienced enough to choose my favorite dance yet, but the best part of my evening was when Evie Ladin was tasked with “Winding Up the Ball of Yarn”. As we spun into tight circles that I couldn’t see a way out of, I was fascinated when we all neatly came back together in the large circle we started in. I hope by the end of my time at Augusta I will be skilled enough to remember all the steps and figures without the confused panic that usually sets in. However, I will say Lou’s calling was so skilled that I could figure out the dances pretty quickly! Here is a quick video of “Wind Up the Ball of Yarn” taken by a Cass community member who kindly sent me the video after the dance.

Student Showcase and Group Sing

On Sunday morning, we held the class showcases where students showed off their newly learned tunes and skills for the rest of the program. It was amazing to see the tunes and instructors I had missed from earlier in the week. I particularly enjoyed a large group of fiddlers playing “Money Musk” a tune I grew to love from listening to Augusta Archive recordings. After the showcases, we sent our guests off with a large community sing, with songs led by instructors and students alike. As a new member of the Lift Your Voice choir in Elkins, I have a newfound appreciation for impromptu group singing and felt this was a perfect way to end a week full of music and new friendships.

Leave A Comment!

If you made it this far, thank you for reading! I had a blast at the October Old-Time Retreat and I hope it’s made a lasting impression on you. Feel free to leave some of your best Augusta memories in the comments! What are your favorite moments from the October Old-Time Retreat, either this year or in the past? Augusta has programs like this year-round, including the upcoming Irish Retreat at Blackwater Falls next month. I’d love it if you would join us! 

Madeline Ricks is an AmeriCorps member with the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area serving at Augusta. She is using her year of service to continue the mission of digitizing Augusta’s large archive, as well as adding to the collection through new recordings and blog posts about Augusta happenings and stories of West Virginia culture. While she was born in Georgia, raised in both Indiana and Montana, and has traveled around the world, she has a special place in her heart for West Virginia, as her mother’s side of the family still lives outside of Charleston. She received her BA in English Literature and a minor in Italian Studies from Gonzaga University and recently finished a Master of Research in Social Anthropology from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. She hopes to leave a lasting, positive impact on the organization and community during her short time at Augusta.