Bluegrass Fest Fills a Niche

The Williamson Family put on an energetic performance complete with fast-playing roots music and loud foot stomping.

Kevin Williamson strummed his guitar while his wife and daughter, Debbie and Melody, 10, sang harmony vocals.

Before the end of their set, his youngest daughter, Kadence, 6, held out her fiddle and danced on stage to the delight of the crowd.

The family is from Tennessee, but they travel all over the country performing before a live audience of bluegrass-hungry fans.

"Bluegrass has its own following. Its own niche," Williamson said. "Bluegrass followers know where the good stuff is. They'll drive to any cow pasture to find it."

Since Thursday, fans have been spending their days and nights at the 87-acre Sertoma Youth Ranch for the annual Thanksgiving Bluegrass Festival.

Rows of RVs were parked under the giant oak trees that shaded most of the ranch from the Florida sun. The temperature by mid-morning was in the 70s. The skies were clear and the air was filled with the strumming of banjos and thumping of bass guitars.

Since it opened in 1975, the ranch has been the site for a variety of festivals, from bluegrass to folk to more recently, Christian rock.

"This is what pays the bills," said Steve Schadt, vice president of the Sertoma board. "These festivals make the money for the other groups to use it for free."

During the year, the ranch hosts gatherings from the local Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, as well as weddings and reunions.

On Saturday, it will host a fun day for disabled children and will include hay rides, games, gifts and an appearance by Santa.

"We've always been known as the best-kept secret in Florida, but we don't want to be the best-kept secret anymore," said Schadt.

Since Thursday, hundreds of fans - many of whom traveled 1,000 or more miles - were setting up camp somewhere near the main stage. Some wandered over to other sections to jam with friends they met at prior festivals.

Among them was 30-year regular Bruce Watson, who lives in Bushnell, but has traveled to most of the 50 states and Canada to attend bluegrass festivals.

"I've never been to a festival where I didn't meet a friend or see someone I jammed with," he said. "It's more of a family."

Watson sat on a picnic table near his camper. He wore a muscle shirt, jeans and hiking boots. He and his friends were waiting on a truckload of wood. It would be a good way to stay warm as they play well into the night.

"I used to play rock, but it got to be where I couldn't stand the noise anymore," Watson said, referring to the amplifiers and loud drums. "Then I tried country, which was about as loud. That was when I did acoustic music. I've been in bluegrass ever since."

Sertoma used to host three bluegrass festivals per year, but scaled it down to two - one in the spring and another in the fall. The board eliminated the Labor Day festival because it was too hot and it competed directly with other festivals across the Southeast.

Schadt himself admitted he knows little about bluegrass, but he gets excited when he sees the throngs of people showing up at the ranch twice a year. He thinks it says a lot when people travel from out of state and have Thanksgiving dinner on a picnic table under the towering oak trees at Sertoma.

"This crowd is the most loyal crowd I've ever seen," he said. "They're as die hard as they come. We had to start having dinner breaks. We would have to stop the music before we serve the food, otherwise they wouldn't eat."

The festival will continue today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sertoma Youth Ranch is located at 85 Myers Road. For more information, visit www.sertomayouthranch.com.