I should add that one of the highlights of our visit to the Ozark Folk Center was an impromptu jam session behind the theater. Jeanne Cahill and Jerome Campbell of the group Call of the West—Jerome was one of the thumbpicking contestants—and fiddler Steve Mitchell who works at the Center played some of the most beautiful Bob Wills and Sons Of The Pioneers selections I've heard in a long time. Steve Mitchell has appeared on A Prairie Home Companion in the televised edition and told us he's been back in St. Paul filming another edition to be aired later. At the Center, Steve operates the donkey-driven merry-go-round and has a band that plays up the road in Calico Rock. We had to choose between the Thom Bresh, et al. concert for which we had tickets and driving up to Calico Rock to hear Steve Mitchell's band. It was a tough choice.

      - Mark