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20 Feb 06 - 09:24 AM (#1673735) Subject: Good folks From: Jerry Rasmussen Last summer when I went home to Wisconsin for my Mother's 98th birthday, her one request was that I play some music at one of her birthday parties. (She always has at least three.) I didn't want to lug a guitar with me, but she was sure I could rent one when I got out there. As soon as I arrived, I went through the Yellow Pages and started making calls. The only music store in the area that rented instruments was out of business, and after a couple of days of asking everyone we could think of, it looked like I wouldn't be able to find one. Finally, I went back to the Yellow Pages and saw an ad for someone who sold instruments out of his home. I called the number and Don Rummelhoff answered. I explained my situation and how much it would mean to my Mother, and he immediately agreed to let me have a guitar. When I asked him how much he'd charge for renting one for the weekend, he said he wouldn't ask for anything. He told me to just come over to his house and pick out a guitar and an amplifier (I was playing in a nursing home without a sound system.) At that point, he hadn't even asked my name. When I got to his house, he gave me a choice of several guitars to use. The one I picked was a hollow body electric with autographs of Kenny Chesney and George Strait on it. It had beautiful action and coupled with an expensive amplifier, the sound was great. When I offered to put down a deposit, he refused. He didn't want to see any identification... just gave me the guitar and amp completely on trust. The birthday party was very joyful and my family really appreciated my doing a few songs, calling out requests. When I returned the guitar and amp, Don wouldn't take any money for the rental, so I sent him some CDs in appreciation. About a month ago, I got a phone call from my home town newspaper. They were doing a story on Don as a "Person Who Makes A Difference." He's quietly been doing good deeds for many years... just giving instruments to kids in poor families who can't afford to buy them, and giving instruments as prizes in local competitions for kids. Don is definitely a "Good Folks." Funny thing is, it never occurred to me to ask if he was a Republican or Democrat or whether he believed in God. I didn't even ask if he likes to shop at Walmart! Good folks (like bad folks) come in all sizes and shapes, religions, political and sexual persuasions. The only "label" required is the one the paper gave to Don.. "A Person Who Makes A Difference." Got any candidates? Jerry |
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20 Feb 06 - 09:28 AM (#1673741) Subject: RE: Good folks From: Beer Great story Jerry. |
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20 Feb 06 - 10:08 AM (#1673778) Subject: RE: Good folks From: songs2play Wonderful story. Keep them coming Jerry. |
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20 Feb 06 - 11:12 AM (#1673833) Subject: RE: Good folks From: Jerry Rasmussen "Mother" Tate is a 104 year old volunteer. She is a church "Mother" at the Baptist church where my wife and I go. It's an honorary title given to women who have given unselfishly of themselves all of their lives. For the last several years, Mother Tate has been confined to a wheelchair in a nursing home. Each year on her birthday, the Men's Chorus that I sing in goes to sing for her and the residents of the nursing home. What really impressed me is that even though she is confined to a wheel chair and can no longer walk, she is still helping others. There are many residents who have lost the use of their hands and cannot feed themselves. Mother Tate can't walk, but she can move around in her wheelchair. At her birthday party, she spend much of her time helping other residents eat their cake and drink their punch. With so many helpless people and the limited number of staff to assist them, if it wasn't for Mother Tate, they'd just have to sit and stare at their food until a staff member came to help them. I thought that it was really beautiful that when we celebrated her 103rd birthday last year, Mother Tate was taking the time to help feed others less fortunate than her. This year, there was a heavy snowfall on her 104th birthday, and we couldn't make it. But, next month my Gospel Messengers are going to make a surprise appearance for Mother Tate. The whole nursing home is excited about it, because she has known Joe and Frankie in my group for fifty years. They want to keep our coming a surprise, and just wheel her in after we get set up. They asked if we would play for the wheelchair residents to do a wheel chair dance. They will clear a large area in the center of the room, and staff members and visitors will help those who are wheel chair bound to "dance" in rhythm with the music. They've done this before and everyone loves it. It's little enough to do for someone who has done so much for others, and is still doing it. Jerry |
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20 Feb 06 - 11:52 AM (#1673864) Subject: RE: Good folks From: Jerry Rasmussen About thirty years ago, I received a wonderful book in the mail of Folk Songs Of Wisconsin. It's a large songbook, and a wonderful resource. It came completely out of the blue from a musician I'd met at a Folk Legacy Festival in Hartford, Connecticut. My first album had just come out, and this was my first folk festival as a performer, so it was a very heady time for me. I met a lot of musicians I'd heard of, and some who were still new to me. Not being particularly good with names, I had many Junior Moments and forgot names as fast as I heard them. And as often happens at a festival, most conversations were hit and run in a hallway on the way to the next workshop. The person who sent me the book said that he liked my first record and thought that I should have the book. He said that we met at the Folk Legacy Festival but in honesty, I was off in the ether with excitement, and didn't remember our conversation. It was probably one a them hallway ones. But, I was very moved that someone I knew so little would be so generous in sending me the book. So, I wrote a long letter of thanks to him. I don't do short. A couple of weeks later, I got a short letter back, saying that the man wasn't a letter writer and not to expect any more letters from him. Undaunted, I started pummeling him with long letters, and as our correspondence grew, his letters became more frequent, and as long as mine. Somewhere along the line we surely passed a thousand letters, as we often exchanged four or five a week for many, many years.. We saw each other through my divorce and many bleak days on both of our parts. By the time we first met, we were already old friends. In all these years, I've never failed to be moved by the warmth, love and generosity of the man and I love him as a brother. And it all started with a gift from someone I hardly knew. My buddy, Art Thieme Jerry |
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20 Feb 06 - 08:00 PM (#1674319) Subject: RE: Good folks From: AllisonA(Animaterra) Jerry, it's been clear to me for quite awhile that you are a Person Who Makes A Difference! |
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20 Feb 06 - 08:25 PM (#1674355) Subject: RE: Good folks From: Bert Ya know Jerry, Art probably wouldn't have ever posted on Mudcat if someone hadn't got him started writing. Thanks. |
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20 Feb 06 - 10:25 PM (#1674461) Subject: RE: Good folks From: Jerry Rasmussen Mudcat with Art? Ya gotta be kidding.. Five or six years ago I was invited to perform at the Big Muddy Folk Festival in Boonville, Mo. My friends Dave Para and Cathy Barton are the organizers. The first evening when we went to supper, I loaded up my plate and looked for a table where I didn't know anyone. I enjoy doing that whenever I can, because you end up meeting some wonderful people. I asked if I could join the folks at one of the tables and they welcomed me warmly. During the course of our conversation, Don Stevens showed me a thick three-ring notebook he'd brought with him, catalouging his record collection. It was in teeny print, and must have been four inches thick. Don has over 8,000 albums. He asked me if there was anything in particular that I was looking for and I told him that I had tried to find more records of the Phipps Family. I have one treasured album and had only seen one other one (which I didn't have the money to buy at the time.) All of their albums are long out of print, and I had just about given up on finding any. Don flipped through his book to "P" and showed me that he had nine albums of theirs. I was too excited (almost) to eat. He asked me for my address, and shortly after I got back from the festival a large box arrived in the mail. In it were cassette copies of all nine Phipps Family albums, and several videos of other groups that he had copied for me. There were close to twenty pieces in the box. Just about the time I was so overwhelmed with Don's generosity, another package arrived in the mail from Jim Hickam (a fellow Mudcatter.) I had casually mentioned that I really loved Lonnie Donegan, and Jim sent me the whole Bear Boxed set of Lonnie on cassette, along with a few other cassettes of Lonnie when he was with the Chris Barber Band. Now mind you, Don and Jim were complete strangers when I sat down with them and out of the kindness of their hearts, they bombarded me with music. They became friends over the years, and we all had a great time when I brought the Gospel Messengers out three years later. Some people don't take time to become friends. They just skip over the preliminaries and open their hearts to you. Hey, I could keep going on here, and have a couple of people I still want to talk about. Howzabout someone else sharing an experience you've had with someone who overwhelmed you with their generosity? If no one else does, I'll tell you about the chicken before I let this thread die. Jerry |
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20 Feb 06 - 10:26 PM (#1674462) Subject: RE: Good folks From: Jerry Rasmussen Oh, and thanks, animaterra.. |
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20 Feb 06 - 11:13 PM (#1674485) Subject: RE: Good folks From: freda underhill This is great, Jerry. I could talk about a number of people, my top three being Sandra in Sydney, Jennyo and Bob Bolton, who all bring wonderful music to people in Sydney by running clubs and venues, for the love of it. But I would like to talk about my older brother, Rob, a barrister, who has helped a huge number of people by taking on their cases for free. As a young lawyer he assisted on a number of cases including the Franklin Dam case against the Tasmanian government, a case that was a huge win for environmentalists in Australia. For many years he gave free legal advice over the radio to listeners, always qualified by the understanding that he could only talk in consideration of the info provided. Even his neighbours, an older Polish couple, didn't know that they were entitled to compensation as former work camp interees of the German government. He let them know what they were entitled to, and assisted them over a period of years in providing documents and answering questions. They now have a regular pernsion from the German government, as acknowledgement of the hardships they endured as slaves and the loss of their liveliehood in the second world war. They were not interested in the money - the psychological impact of an apology, an acknowledgement of their suffering and reparation gave them a sense of empowerment and victory, at last, over the evil government that had treated them as sub-human. He is a great person, but most people who know him have no idea of the sort of cases he takes on, in his spare time. freda |
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21 Feb 06 - 12:09 AM (#1674527) Subject: RE: Good folks From: open mike there is a nice portion of the weekly radio show e-town where they honor someone who is a doer of good deeds. http://www.etown.org/index_flash.php The E-Chievement Awards are presented to volunteers who make a difference. http://www.etown.org/awards.shtml Anyone is welcome to nominate a recipient@! The music on this show is always good, too. Nick Forester in Colorado is the host. |
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25 Feb 06 - 01:52 PM (#1678665) Subject: RE: Good folks From: ranger1 Wow, yet another great thread, Jerry. I'm enjoying all the little stories you have. My neighbor Kathy is one of the best people I know. She is an elementary school counselor, which can be a thankless job when the adults get involved, but she's made a huge positive impact on so many of the kids that go through her school system. She is one of those kind of people who are forever doing good things for others without any thought involved of what's in it for her. She's on automatic pilot, I think. We'd lived across the street from each other for about a year and a half before we really said more than two words to each other. The icebreaker was her new dog, Joey. He and my dog Clancy started playing together and Kathy's and my friendship took off from there. We'd only been friends for a couple of months when there was a knock at my apartment door. When I opened the door, there was Kathy. She handed me an Easter basket, said "Easter Bunny!" and went turned around and went home, leaving me with my mouth wide open. Just because she wanted to do something nice. She's like that. Recently, I've had a chance to repay some of her kindness and generosity of the past several years. Last month, she took a nasty fall down a flight of stairs and shattered both the fibula and tibia in one leg. I've been doing doggie duty, running errands, etc. This has given many of us the opportunity to repay her in some way for all the good she's done for us through the years, but she's been depressed about being dependant on other people. I finally told her that she just needs to cash in a few of those karma points that she's built up over her lifetime. It hasn't helped a whole lot,but at least she's a little more willing to let people know when she needs help. |
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25 Feb 06 - 02:33 PM (#1678699) Subject: RE: Good folks From: Jerry Rasmussen And about that chicken.. Back in the early 60's I was hopelessly confused about what to do with my life. (Weren't we all?) I had a summer back home with no idea what to do about continuing my education (I didn't) and an old buddy of mine had just come back from Korea and was equally befuddled. So, what's a fella to do? We decided to take an informal tour of every bar withing driving distance. It was an odd thing to do, because neither of us was much of a drinker. But, I guess when you're at odds with yourself, you do odd things. After about 20 bars, we ended up one night at a small bar out in the country where they kept an old Gibson electric hollow body guitar behind the bar. Anyone was welcome to play it, even though they didn't have an amplifier, and it was hard to hear over the bowling machine and the juke box. Back in those days, no one had a moustache (except me and Groucho Marx.) When my friend and I walked in the bar, we got some hostile looks. We weren't hippie looking types. It was just the moustache, we found out later. After a couple of nights my friend Dick encouraged me to play the bar guitar as it was being passed around. I'd just started taking lessons from Dave Van Ronk and could do some Travis picking stuff, and so I asked for the guitar. I got plenty of threatening looks when I took it. But, when I hit into Freight Train, them boy's hearts just melted. They acted like I was Chet Atkins. From that point on, they bought more beers than my friend Dick and I could drink in one evening, and I had to start bringing along a friend or two to help keep up with them. There was one gawky, quiet guy who really loved my playing. When we were ready to leave, he insisted that I come over to his house to meet his wife and kids. I was kinda sceptical as it was close to midnight, but he kept asking until I finally agreed. When we got back to his apartment, the wife and kids were asleep, and he woke them up. I felt real badly about that, having experienced too many unwelcome late night awakenings when my Father brought his loud friends home from the bar. Even more awkward, he asked his wife to make a meal for us. She was mighty agreeable for such a late hour, but I could see that she was concerned when he asked her to serve the chicken. They were a poor family, and I overheard comments that she was saving the chicken for their next meal. But, she prepared a nice meal for us and when we sat down to eat, even though the chicken was small and we had a table full, they insisted that I take a big piece of the breast. Somehow, I've never forgotten that. It was the kind of generosity that you rarely see. Like the Widow's mite. I don't know what they had for their next meal, and it's probably just as well that I don't. I don't remember the guy's name, or much else about that night. But I remember the humility and generosity. I was very moved by it, and still am typing this. Oh yeah... my experiences playing at the bar ended up in the song Evergreen Bar that I recorded on my first Folk Legacy album. They was good folks. Jerry |
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25 Feb 06 - 03:08 PM (#1678724) Subject: RE: Good folks From: GUEST,Art Thieme I FOUND THIS THREAD AGAUN!! Thought I'd lost it since I couldn't remember the name. (And then I forgot who had started it and that Jerry had said some nice things about me in it... That's my life these days. But it got refreshed---and the title interested me so I entered--and on we go. Don Stevens, as Jerry said, is a fine guy even if he is, philosophically, a few straws short of a bale !!!! He knew I had a strong affection for Grandpa Jones because he had taken the time to give me a banjo lesson a long time ago when I was trying to learn to frail that instrument. Because Don is who he is, I now possess three VHS videos made up of clips of Grandpa that Don had in his collection---some going back to when Mr. J. had to paint his mustache on his face because he was too young to grow one yet. (Never fear, that old guy voice was always there!) That was followed by more and more recordings and videos than I can ever tell you about. I did try to say thank you to Don by reciprocating, but that just prompted him to send more music my way. I (we) have been getting by with, not a little, but a whole lot of help from my friends ever since my health started to go south. Jerry, and so many others have compounded Don's kindness a thousand fold over the last couple decades. And Mudcatters are a huge part of this thank-you note I am striving to write. It's a good thread you've started Mr. Rasmussen! As I said, I'm glad I found it again! Love, Art |