Subject: RE: Obit: Ola Belle Reed
From:
KathWestra
Date: 19 Aug 02 - 02:41 PM
Ola Belle died on the 16th at her home in Rising Sun, Maryland. I booked her (along with her husband Bud) for a Folklore Society of Greater Washington monthly program about 20 years ago, and she was a terrific singer, a feisty and formidable presence despite her short stature, and a woman who spoke compellingly about the power of music to change the world, one person at a time.
Kathy
John Lupton of the U of Delaware's "Rural Free Delivery" radio program, wrote the following tribute on the Folk Alliance website, which is quoted with his permission:
"I got word earlier today that Ola Belle Reed passed away late last night or early this morning. She had been taken to the hospital a few days ago, and her condition continued to deteriorate until she passed away. If my recollection of her birth date is correct, she was almost exactly 86. She had been in poor health since suffering a massive stroke about 15 years ago. She lived her final years, as she had most of her life, in Rising Sun, MD, just below the MD/PA border on US 1.
"Ola Belle was a National Heritage Fellow. A North Carolina native, she and her brother Alex Campbell spent many years performing and broadcasting old time and country music on a variety of stations, including WWVA in Wheeling, WV. Their weekly show, "Campbell's Corners", broadcast live from their store in Oxford, PA was heard over much of the Eastern US.
"For 15 years or so, beginning in 1949, Ola Belle and her husband Bud Reed operated New River Ranch, a country music park near Rising Sun, before closing it down and moving up US 1 to Sunset Park near Jennersville, PA, where they were regulars for another 26 years or so.
"Ola Belle was a prolific songwriter, and is probably best known for her song "High On A Mountain".....She was a remarkable woman, a historic American folk musician, and a good friend. We will miss her greatly."
Funeral services will be Monday evening, August 19, in Rising Sun, Maryland.
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