Cleda was an exceptional person. Though Jimmy often brought her on stage, she was content with remaining in the background while Jimmy was very comfortable being the focus of public attention. Particularly in later years she almost always accompanied Jimmy on stage and not only helped remember the words to songs but also had a phenominal memory of names. She was a gracious hostess and although the quiet half of the team, she was by no means a secondary partner.

While the Driftwood legacy in Stone County and Arkansas is of huge dimensions they were not founders or co-founders of the Arkansas Folk Festival as stated in the obituary. The festival was one year old before the Driftwoods assistance was sought to provide musical entertainment. It is certainly correct to say that the Driftwoods had a tremendous influence on the musical aspect of the Festival for many years and even to this day. The Driftwood's presence at the festival and their promotion of the festival helped to establish it as one of the premier folk festivals in the country in the early years and this was done mostly with local performers rather than booking outside professional acts. It did not hurt that the festival was visited by professional performers who came of their own volition and performed under the same conditions a the local folk.