Covid Journal, Day 299: Goodbye, Powerhouse: Fred Powers

29 this morning, warmed to about 40 with a little sun this afternoon.

Fred Powers, telling tales at a storytelling festival, the first time I met him.

I was stunned and so sad to hear of the death of my dear friend, Fred Powers. Fred was a force in this world, a man who started work in the coal mines on his wedding day, went to college while working full time as a miner, retired from mining to become a middle school teacher, and went on to earn his Master's degree while teaching. He became a storyteller while he was a teacher and traveled extensively telling the story of his life as a miner.

Thousands of adults and school children learned about the rigors of mining through Fred's presentations. He brought the tools of his trade with him, and often this was the first time people had ever seen or even heard of the kinds of tools necessary to a miner's existence. He earned the WV History Hero award and published a book or two of his stories. He was always working on new stories. His nickname in the coal mines was Powerhouse--he was a powerful man in more ways than one. The name followed him into storytelling.

With Fred--in the yellow shirt--and other West Virginia storytellers at a storytelling event. 

But wilth all of that, Fred was about the most humble person I ever had the privilege to meet. He didn't think he was smart--although he certainly was--and he worked hard to learn and explore new ideas. We spent many  hours together on the storytelling trail, often sharing the same stage, and frequently just hanging out with other storytellers after performances to talk and laugh and just be together. Fred was never one to demand the limelight; often he just sat back and listened, which is after all the mark of a good storyteller. His wife often accompanied him on his travels, and began doing presentations of her own on Appalachian games; they were a good couple, sharing Appalachian culture wherever they went.

I learned a lot about coal mining from Fred. When I met him I was already collecting some mining tools and telling a few stories from my husband's childhood in a coal camp. Fred was my go-to man when something puzzled me about a tool, or I needed to better understand some aspect of mining. We did a few presentations together and talked about doing more of them; our work complemented each other. Now that possibility is gone, and now telling the stories and singing the ballads will always remind me of my missing friend and the pleasure of listening to him. Fred's stories were always insightful, weaving humor, grit, determination and hope even when the story was about near-death experiences. What a storyteller. What a man.

Goodbye, my friend. You had a big, big heart, but in the end that heart just wore out. Your light has gone out of this world, and you will be sorely missed by all who were lucky enough to know you. 

If you'd like to see and hear more about Fred and his work, this link will take you to his website. Be sure to scroll down to watch the videos. 

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

West Virginia Folk Festival: Day 2

Breakfast at the Common Place Restaurant--good food, and Yankees and Confederates at the same table! 2nd Virginia and 116th Pennsylvania, to be exact. The fact of the matter was there weren't usually enough Yanks to turn out, so this guy dresses in a Yanks uniform although he's actually a Confederate! They were gracious enough to allow my camera to intrude after my husband commented on the oddity of opposing sides at the same table.
Dr. Patrick Gainer's granddaughter, Molly Callame, led a ballad session in the Oral Traditions tent. To hear her daughter and Molly harmonizing--pure, complete pleasure.

I was surprised and delighted to meet a delegation of ladies from my home county (Jackson) in the Oral Traditions tent). This year's Jackson County Belle is in the center of the group.

Larry is admonished by Eleanor Roosevelt, who apparently rose from the grave for the festival.

More storytellers and poets were featured in the Oral Traditions tent. Friday we featured poets Kirk Judd and Sherrell Wigal and storytellers Suzi Whaples and myself. Saturday I was emcee for the tent, and had a great time introducing and listening to the presenters. I also presented a ballad workshop later in the day (pics to come later, I hope).



Storyteller Ilene Evans had a standing-room only crowd that had organizers scrambling to find chairs. Ilene told the story of Wiley and the Hairy Man (you can find a short reader's theatre version here) and the audience sang along with her in the song about a slave who ran to freedom in Lost John (find a plethora of versions here).

Storyteller Fred Powers raised goosebumps with his tale of being trapped by a roof-fall in a coal mine...

and Rich Knoblich kept the crowd engrossed with Soldier Jack. This is one of my favorites of the Jack Tales cycle.

Poet Cheryl Denise read her award-winning poems to the crowd to complete the program.

Glenville had other interesting sites to see too, like this view of the "old road" through town and over the iron bridge, and the tiny Little Kanawha Bank and Trust Building.

I confess I did not take as many photos as I would have liked. Either I was too busy or the camera was where I was not. Some memorable moments not captured on the camera:

• Ilene telling her stories
• Mr. Bill Bennett, wearing his 50-year-old Glenville Lions Club jacket with pride
• a mandolin player in a wheelchair
• a boy of about 5 years singing harmony with a bluegrass group
• children splashing delightedly through a puddle
• the huge group of square dancers
• old-time music icons like Lester McCumbers, John Morris, Jimmy Costa, Patty Looman and many others playing in jams on the streets
• people meeting and greeting everywhere
• and contrasts : the old-time country life of Gilmer County and West Virginia banging up against, and for the most part accommodating, the new trends and generations.

It was an unusual way to spend my birthday, but it was a whole lot of fun!

National Storytelling Festival: Saturday morning

Saturday! A great start by running into Michael McCarty of California at the storytellers reception at the

International Storytelling Center.

After a late night (in bed just before 2am), we were up for breakfast by 7:30am Saturday morning. Hosts Mike and Starr Tester treated us to a great breakfast of eggs, sausage, home fries, toast, warm pear compote, juice and coffee. We were ready to go.

We arrived at the festival before 8:30 and went directly to the cabin to sign up for the story swapping grounds. I saw Fred Powers name on the list, so I signed up after him and decided to do something realted to coal mining since I knew Fred would be telling coal mining stories. I ran into Rudy Angelmeier there and he directed me to the morning meeting of Storytell listserve folks at the International Storytelling Center

Larry with Mary Garrett and Marilyn Kinsella--he's having too much fun!

There at last were the familiar faces of many, many storytellers--Mary Garrett, Marilyn Kinsella, Doug Elliott, Michael McCarty, Ellouise Schoettler and many others. It was a pleasure to see them all again; it has been three years since I've been with most of these friends. Soon everyone was on the run to the tents for stories. We stopped for coffee and ran into Fred Powers and his wife, and together we wandered up to the swapping tent.

Fred was amazing. His story of being trapped in a coal mine when the roof fell--a true personal experience--was riveting and I found myself holding my breath as we waited for him to be rescued. Too soon, his story ended and it was my turn.

I decided to sing a ballad about a coal mining disaster, then followed with a much-shortened version of my presentation about life in a coal camp (based on my husband's childhood and his pet crow) and finished with my version of The Carrion Crow, an audience participation song.

To my surprise, I was followed in turn by another West Virginia storyteller, Suzi "Mama" Whaples. She followed us into the mines with a story of her coal mining grandfather that brought tears and joy to everyone listening.

So Saturday morning swapping tent listeners were surprised by an impromptu set by West Virginia storytellers, on the theme of coal mining. We could not have done better if we'd planned it out. As it happened, it was purely serendipity.

Pipestem: Storytelling

This is the third year I've been invited to perform at Pipestem Resort and State Park for the Summer Performers in the Parks series. The performances are sponsored by the WV Division of Natural Resources and bring a wide variety of performers to the parks for free events for park visitors.

Fred Powers, a storyteller in southern West Virginia, came by to listen. Fred is working on a program of coal mining stories. He performs in the clothing of a miner, complete with the coal-dust face and clothes. He tells stories from the perspective of one who has been a miner himself, and knows the dangers and rewards of a miner's life. I expect that his program will have strong demand for its timeliness and interest in the topic. His stories need to be told.

As usual, I stayed for almost an hour after the program was over, talking to attendees who had questions or stories to share. It was a beautiful evening, with deer grazing behind the amphitheatre as the sun went down. A fitting setting for stories that are as much a part of West Virginia as our mountains.