This is from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, and will not be on line by tomorrow except for paid subscribers, unless they make exception to their usual policy.
Festival co-founder , dead at 86, created a haven for folk music BY MARK CHERRY Posted on Friday, April 30, 2004
TIMBO — Cleda Azalea Driftwood, who along with her husband, Jimmy, founded the Arkansas Folk Festival, died Sunday at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville at age 86.
Cleda and the late Jimmy Driftwood also helped turn Mountain View into the "Folk Music Capital of the World."
A Timbo resident, Cleda Driftwood was secretary of the Rackensack Folksong Society, a collection of folk musicians who played at the Jimmy Driftwood Barn. Jimmy Driftwood wrote the songs "The Battle of New Orleans" and "The Tennessee Stud" and won two Grammys.
Jack Morris, a nephew of Cleda Driftwood, called her "a wonderful person" and said that she was Jimmy's backup singer. "When he got lost on a song, she kept him on track," Morris said.
She first met Jimmy Driftwood when she was in the sixth-grade and he taught her class. They married seven years later, in 1936. He died in Fayetteville on July 12, 1998.
Cleda Driftwood graduated from Arkansas State Teachers College, now the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, and taught for more than 33 years. She taught third grade in Timbo and Mountain View and also taught in neighboring communities.
She was born March 1, 1918, to Charles McCallister and Delphina A. Goodman Johnson.
Her grandfather, Jess Goodman, was a prominent Timbo businessman and owned the horse on which "The Tennessee Stud" was based.
In May 2002, she donated $2,500 to the Western Arkansas/Oklahoma Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.
The Jimmy and Cleda Driftwood Scholarship at the University of Central Arkansas honors students majoring in music, poetry and history. The Jimmy Driftwood Barn, a farm and other donations were given to the university.
Cleda Driftwood died of complications from injuries she suffered in an April 1999 collision with a dump truck.
A memorial service will be 11 a.m. Monday at Timbo Valley Assembly of God, with the Rev. David Campbell officiating.
A memorial fund has been established at the Bank of Mountain View, with proceeds going to Timbo Public Schools.