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Don Grooms 1930 - 1998
Born in 1930, Don Grooms was raised in Cherokee, North Carolina. He came from a family with Cherokee and Appalachian heritage. As a child, he played a cornstalk fiddle, a cigar-box banjo, and a $3 Silvertone guitar. At age 10, Grooms began playing for square dances and at 14 he belonged to a dance band that played pop tunes. Grooms became a professional journalist and moved to Florida to teach journalism at the University of Florida. While in Gainesville, Grooms was influenced by Will McLean, which motivated him to return to songwriting and playing guitar. He became a fixture at the Florida Folk Festival, where he performed on stage alongside Florida Folk Troubadours Gamble Rogers, Jim Billie and Will McLean.
Grooms received the Florida Folk Heritage Award in 1996.
Don Groom was a Cherokee Indian and Florida songwriter. Born in Cherokee, North Carolina, Don later went on to study journalism and traught at the University of Florida in Gainesville. His songs are song at festivals and campgrounds throughout Florida. He
wrote songs about Native Americans, Florida and about being a good human being.
He was appreciated for his original songs, as well as his wit, humor and sincerity.
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Don performed throughout Florida and numerous times on Seminole Indian Reservation. He recorded several albums with Florida folk musicians.
Bill Hewitt August 9, 1926 - January 24, 2007
William Hewitt, 80, Sarasota, died Jan. 24, 2007. He was born
Aug. 9, 1926, in Chester, Pa., and came to Sarasota in 1951. He was a finish carpenter and a Navy veteran of World War II.
He was a member of Friends of Florida Folk and Sarasota Folk Club.
Bill was a distinguished member of the Sarasota Chapter of FOFF, later to become the Sarasota Folk Club. He was on the board of both organizations from inception in 1987 to 2006. Jean and Bill were involved with the beginnings of FOFF in 1982. Together they started the FOFF Booth and kept it going from then to now. They have won several awards including the Florida State Folk Heritage Award in 1992, and the Thelma Boltin Folk Community Service Award.
They have been attending the Florida Folk Festival for over 35 consecutive years. It would be hard to recall any major folk event in Florida without having memories of Bill and Jean sitting back and enjoying the music, sharing with kindred spirits, always encouraging and supportive of folk artists throughout the state. In his earlier years, you might be able to persuade Bill to sing "Jimmy Brown, Newsboy of the Town" or other classic folk songs. For many years, Bill and Jean have hosted a monthly folk jam at their Sarasota home.
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On Sunday March 18 at Longwood Park in Sarasota... 3-7 pm there was a potluck and jam to visit and celebrate his life.
Survivors include his wife, Jean V.; daughters Judith Seifert of Combs, Ark., and Jeanne Sicard of Sarasota; stepdaughters Patricia Gormley and Jan Buncik of Sarasota; sons William of Bradenton and Donald of Longboat Key; stepsons Peter and Michael Gormley of Sarasota; a brother, Paul Hewitt of Huntington, Pa.; 13 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
Cousin Thelma Boltin 1904 - 1992
Cousin Thelma Ann Boltin, was director and emcee of the Florida Folk Festival for 30 years, an institution that she helped found in 1952. Boltin was actively involved in the field of folklore for over 40 years, helping start smaller festivals like the Heart of Florida Folk Festival, held in Dade City.
She served as the chairman of folk music for the Florida and National Federation of Music Clubs and was the recipient of a national award from the American Association for State and Local History for "contributions to preservation and popularization of Florida folkways, folklore, and folk music."
Born in Beaufort, South Carolina in 1904, she moved with her family to Gainesville in 1907. After a stint at Emerson College in Boston, Boltin began teaching high school speech and drama. From 1954 through the 1980s, Boltin was actively involved with the Florida Folk Festival, as co-founder, performer, promoter, director, and emcee.
Charley Groth
Charley Groth, known as "The Music Man"
James Gamble Rogers, IV
"The stories I tell are all true except the few that are obviously whimsy."
Dennis Devine
Dennis "Absolutely" Devine
James Gamble Rogers, IV
"The stories I tell are all true except the few that are obviously whimsy."
Carl Wade
SOMETHING SPECIAL
Barbara Shaffer
James Gamble Rogers, IV
"The stories I tell are all true except the few that are obviously whimsy."
