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OPEN AIR CONCERT BENEFITS ARTS COUNCIL & HISTORICAL SOCIETY

An evening of good, old-fashioned family fun occurred Friday evening, June 22, 2007, on the grounds of the Barton County Historical Society Museum and Village, when the Alferd Packer Memorial String Band played an open air concert in the Village pergola. Proceeds from the concert benefitted the Barton County Arts Council and the Historical Society.

About The Alferd Packer Memorial String Band

The Alferd Packer Memorial String Band performs a lively, engaging stage show that involves the audience, joyously, in their own musical traditions. Their 1870s costuming and raucous humor compliment these accomplished musicians’ performances of old-time string band, Bluegrass, and American folk music.

Five multi-instrumentalists sing and play fiddles, banjo, guitars, mandolin, hammered dulcimer, accordion, bass, shotgun and washboard. Their infectious good humor and high energy leave no toe untapped.

Founded in 1979 by Jim Brothers, they all live in the vicinity of Lawrence, Kansas. The members of the band include:

Lauralyn Bodle has degrees in math and psychology and for her Master’s thesis in architecture helped design and build an energy efficient home. She teaches Italian at the University of Kansas. Considered too smart to play with the Packers, she uses her math skills to count out the rhythm. When the rhythm wavers, Lauralyn berates the band in Italian. Her specialties are fiddle, bass, vocals, and big hair.

Jim Brothers is the leader of the pack and chairman of the washboard. Jim founded the Alferd Packer Memorial String Band in 1979. He is a prominent sculptor with works including the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia, and a life-sized statue of General Dwight D. Eisenhower in the U.S. Capitol. Jim likes to play with cars in his spare time, as well as with washboard, jaw harp, whistles, horns, and guns.

Matt Kirby’s picture is in the American Heritage Dictionary (American Heritage, 2nd College Edition) next to “dulcimer.” He is an artist by trade, with a degree from the Kansas City Art Institute. He plays a hammered dulcimer that he designed and built, plus accordion, snard drum, bodhran, sings and does vocal impressions.

For a day job, Steve Mason is a luthier: one who repairs, improves and creates stringed instruments. To make a guitar, he starts with the tree and carves away everything that doesn’t look like a guitar. He has a degree in biology and is only five years and a dissertation short of a Ph.D. Steve sings and plays banjo, fiddle, guitar, bass, and mandolin.

Mike Yoder admits to being the chief photographer at the Lawrence Journal-World newspaper. Some of his photographs can be seen in the books America 24/7 and Kansas 24/7. He usually drives the bus, sings and plays guitar, mandolin, and bass.

About The Barton County Arts Council

The Barton County Arts Council was formed to strengthen, sustain and enhance existing arts resources of every discipline, both traditional and non-traditional, established and emerging, in response to the cultural needs of the people of Barton County, Kansas. The general purposes of the corporation are to operate solely and exclusively as a charitable and educational organization.

Thanks to the cooperation of the Barton County Commissioners, the City of Great Bend, local businesses, individuals, and grants from the Kansas Arts Commission, the Kansas Humanities Council, and the Golden Belt Community Foundation, BCAC has brought and will continue to bring a variety of exhibits, workshops, and performances to the communities of Barton County.

Besides providing an outlet for the works of local and regional artists with a consignment gallery, BCAC works throughout the year to expand its educational programs and further cooperation with area schools. By conducting workshops and bringing in artists from all the visual, written and performing arts, the organization can play a vital role in the education of our children and the development and improvement of our communities.

About The Barton County Historical Society

Located on five acres, just south of Great Bend on U.S. Highway 281 and across the Arkansas River Bridge, the Barton County Historical Society Museum and Village strives to preserve our county’s history and educate our children and the general public about this area’s fascinating past. Recently, the Museum and Village received designation from the National Park Service as a Santa Fe Trail Interpretive Site.

The Village includes several period buildings: an 1873 native stone house, an 1898 church, a 1910 railroad depot, a 1915 school house, and a small post office, all authentically furnished. A Lustron house is the most recent addition to the Village, restored and furnished with 1950s era items. Children may often be seen pumping fresh water by hand at the Waupun wood-vaned windmill, beside a bed of native wildflowers. Inside the Museum and other buildings, visitors may take a peek into various aspects of rural community life and view displays illustrating the history of this area from the Paleo period through the days of the Santa Fe Trail and two World Wars.

Education is one of the primary roles of the Society. Each year, many area schools bring students to the Museum and Village, where they learn about the settlement of this region, the lifestyles of their forebears and how world events influenced local lives.

This program was presented in part by the Kansas Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Local sponsors for this event include Delta Tau Chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha International, the Great Bend Tribune, Great Bend Kiwanis, Community Bank of the Midwest, Mr. Roger Murphy and First Kansas Bank. Both the Historical Society and the Arts Council also receive support from Barton County and the Arts Council receives additional funding from the City of Great Bend and CPI Qualified Plan Consultants.