<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>Balsam Range Archives - nedforney.com</title> <atom:link href="http://nedforney.com/index.php/tag/balsam-range/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://nedforney.com/index.php/tag/balsam-range/</link> <description>Writer</description> <lastBuildDate>Tue, 15 Aug 2017 22:47:02 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1</generator> <item> <title>A Korean War Veteran, Bluegrass & Barbeque, and the Dillard House</title> <link>http://nedforney.com/index.php/2017/08/08/a-korean-war-veteran-bluegrass-barbeque-and-the-dillard-house/</link> <comments>http://nedforney.com/index.php/2017/08/08/a-korean-war-veteran-bluegrass-barbeque-and-the-dillard-house/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ned Forney]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 08 Aug 2017 13:55:06 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Current Events]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Korean War]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Balsam Range]]></category> <category><![CDATA[BBQ]]></category> <category><![CDATA[bluegrass]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Busan]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Dillard House]]></category> <category><![CDATA[North Georgia]]></category> <category><![CDATA[South Korea]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://nedforney.com/?p=781</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>It was a picture perfect day. The weather, music, food, and new friends we made all came together for one of those memorable events that, as we say in the South (the South of the United States, that is), “doesn’t get much better than that.” It was the weekend of the 21st Annual Dillard Bluegrass…</p> <p>The post <a href="http://nedforney.com/index.php/2017/08/08/a-korean-war-veteran-bluegrass-barbeque-and-the-dillard-house/">A Korean War Veteran, Bluegrass & Barbeque, and the Dillard House</a> appeared first on <a href="http://nedforney.com">nedforney.com</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="fl-builder-content fl-builder-content-781 fl-builder-content-primary fl-builder-global-templates-locked" data-post-id="781"><div class="fl-row fl-row-fixed-width fl-row-bg-color fl-node-5989c4b452421 fl-row-default-height fl-row-align-center" data-node="5989c4b452421"> <div class="fl-row-content-wrap"> <div class="fl-row-content fl-row-fixed-width fl-node-content"> <div class="fl-col-group fl-node-5989c5216031e" data-node="5989c5216031e"> <div class="fl-col fl-node-5989c52160436 fl-col-bg-color" data-node="5989c52160436"> <div class="fl-col-content fl-node-content"><div class="fl-module fl-module-photo fl-node-5989c5216026e" data-node="5989c5216026e"> <div class="fl-module-content fl-node-content"> <div class="fl-photo fl-photo-align-center" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject"> <div class="fl-photo-content fl-photo-img-jpeg"> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="fl-photo-img wp-image-783 size-full" src="http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Dillard-Marvin-Smith-Korean-War-veteran-Bluegrass-fan.jpeg" alt="Dillard - Marvin Smith, Korean War veteran & Bluegrass fan" itemprop="image" height="480" width="640" title="Dillard - Marvin Smith, Korean War veteran & Bluegrass fan" srcset="http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Dillard-Marvin-Smith-Korean-War-veteran-Bluegrass-fan.jpeg 640w, http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Dillard-Marvin-Smith-Korean-War-veteran-Bluegrass-fan-300x225.jpeg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="fl-col-group fl-node-5989c4b452daf" data-node="5989c4b452daf"> <div class="fl-col fl-node-5989c4b452ec6 fl-col-bg-color fl-col-has-cols" data-node="5989c4b452ec6"> <div class="fl-col-content fl-node-content"><div class="fl-module fl-module-rich-text fl-node-5989c4b455197" data-node="5989c4b455197"> <div class="fl-module-content fl-node-content"> <div class="fl-rich-text"> <p>It was a picture perfect day. The weather, music, food, and new friends we made all came together for one of those memorable events that, as we say in the South (the South of the United States, that is), “doesn’t get much better than that.”</p> <p>It was the weekend of the 21st Annual Dillard Bluegrass and Barbeque Festival, held in the beautiful mountains of North Georgia, and like hundreds of visitors from the Southeast (and South Korea) who enjoyed America’s quintessential “mountain music," we tapped our feet, slapped our knees, clapped our hands, and sang along with the feel-good, Appalachia-inspired tunes. People from every walk of life and age group - young, old, hippies, church-goers, yuppies, cowboys, and a myriad of combinations of the above - kicked up their heels and had a good ole' fashioned time. When they weren’t singing, they were eating: barbeque. Award-winning, cooked-all-day <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-785 size-medium" src="http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Dillard-About-100-feet-from-the-Bluegrass-stage-300x213.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="213" srcset="http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Dillard-About-100-feet-from-the-Bluegrass-stage-300x213.jpeg 300w, http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Dillard-About-100-feet-from-the-Bluegrass-stage.jpeg 640w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />barbeque.</p> <p>At some point during the festival I met Marvin and Norita Smith.</p> <p>Mr. Smith, wearing his Korean Veterans cap, immediately caught my attention. After introducing myself and telling him how much I enjoy living in Korea, he told me he’d served in the US Army and was sent to Korea in 1953. He spent most of his time in Busan - or “Pusan" as he called it - and was shocked when I described the port city as modern, high-tech, and beautiful. That’s not the way he remembered it.</p> <p>He said one of the happiest days of his life was when he was told the armistice had been signed. For him it meant one thing: he could go back home - to America. Mr. Smith and his wife now live in Florida, and like me, they love Bluegrass and barbeque. I thanked Marvin for doing his part to help South Korea defeat communism and assured him that the citizens of the Republic of Korea are grateful for what he did for them. The expression on his face and the twinkling in his eyes when I told him all this was the best part of the day.</p> <p>The next morning, we had what’s known in these parts as a “country breakfast” (we’d spent the night at the <a href="http://www.dillardhouse.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Dillard House</strong></a>, an inn founded in 1917 which is now a hotel complex with 92 guest rooms and suites and over 28 cottages). The all-you-can-eat feast of biscuits, bacon, sausage, chicken, eggs, gravy, pancakes, and of course, grits, was "Good eatin’!” Awesome, no other way to describe it.</p> <p>Thanks to the Smiths, the musicians - especially the guys of <strong><a href="http://balsamrange.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Balsam Range</a></strong> - and the festival volunteers, we had a great time.</p> <p>See you next year in Dillard . . . and could you please pass the grits?</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="fl-module fl-module-photo fl-node-5989c8836d1a6" data-node="5989c8836d1a6"> <div class="fl-module-content fl-node-content"> <div class="fl-photo fl-photo-align-center" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject"> <div class="fl-photo-content fl-photo-img-jpeg"> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="fl-photo-img wp-image-784 size-full" src="http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Dillard-A-little-piece-of-North-Georgia-heaven.jpeg" alt="A piece of North Georgia heaven at the Dillard House" itemprop="image" height="394" width="640" title="Dillard- A little piece of North Georgia heaven" srcset="http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Dillard-A-little-piece-of-North-Georgia-heaven.jpeg 640w, http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Dillard-A-little-piece-of-North-Georgia-heaven-300x185.jpeg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /> </div> <div class="fl-photo-caption fl-photo-caption-below" itemprop="caption">A piece of North Georgia heaven at the Dillard House</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="fl-col-group fl-node-5989c6425874c fl-col-group-nested" data-node="5989c6425874c"> <div class="fl-col fl-node-5989c6425897f fl-col-bg-color fl-col-small" data-node="5989c6425897f"> <div class="fl-col-content fl-node-content"><div class="fl-module fl-module-photo fl-node-5989c64582e81" data-node="5989c64582e81"> <div class="fl-module-content fl-node-content"> <div class="fl-photo fl-photo-align-center" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject"> <div class="fl-photo-content fl-photo-img-jpeg"> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="fl-photo-img wp-image-786 size-full" src="http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Dillard-Banjo-case-reflects-years-of-traveling-and-performing.jpeg" alt="Marc Pruett's (Balsam Range) banjo case reflects years of traveling and performing" itemprop="image" height="363" width="640" title="Dillard- Banjo case reflects years of traveling and performing" srcset="http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Dillard-Banjo-case-reflects-years-of-traveling-and-performing.jpeg 640w, http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Dillard-Banjo-case-reflects-years-of-traveling-and-performing-300x170.jpeg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /> </div> <div class="fl-photo-caption fl-photo-caption-below" itemprop="caption">Marc Pruett's (Balsam Range) banjo case reflects years of traveling and performing</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="fl-col fl-node-5989c642589c3 fl-col-bg-color fl-col-small" data-node="5989c642589c3"> <div class="fl-col-content fl-node-content"><div class="fl-module fl-module-photo fl-node-5989c8603f27c" data-node="5989c8603f27c"> <div class="fl-module-content fl-node-content"> <div class="fl-photo fl-photo-align-center" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject"> <div class="fl-photo-content fl-photo-img-jpeg"> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="fl-photo-img wp-image-788 size-full" src="http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Dillard-The-historic-Dillard-House.jpeg" alt="The historic Dillard House" itemprop="image" height="348" width="640" title="Dillard- The historic Dillard House" srcset="http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Dillard-The-historic-Dillard-House.jpeg 640w, http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Dillard-The-historic-Dillard-House-300x163.jpeg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /> </div> <div class="fl-photo-caption fl-photo-caption-below" itemprop="caption">The historic Dillard House</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="fl-module fl-module-photo fl-node-5989c896780f2" data-node="5989c896780f2"> <div class="fl-module-content fl-node-content"> <div class="fl-photo fl-photo-align-center" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject"> <div class="fl-photo-content fl-photo-img-jpeg"> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="fl-photo-img wp-image-792 size-full" src="http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Balsam-Range-2.jpeg" alt="Balsam Range performers: Dr. Marc Pruett, Tim Surrett, Buddy Melton, Darren Nicholson, and Caleb Smith" itemprop="image" height="668" width="1278" title="Balsam Range 2" srcset="http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Balsam-Range-2.jpeg 1278w, http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Balsam-Range-2-300x157.jpeg 300w, http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Balsam-Range-2-768x401.jpeg 768w, http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Balsam-Range-2-1024x535.jpeg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1278px) 100vw, 1278px" /> </div> <div class="fl-photo-caption fl-photo-caption-below" itemprop="caption">Balsam Range performers: Dr. Marc Pruett, Tim Surrett, Buddy Melton, Darren Nicholson, and Caleb Smith</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="fl-module fl-module-rich-text fl-node-5989e7e5e3930" data-node="5989e7e5e3930"> <div class="fl-module-content fl-node-content"> <div class="fl-rich-text"> <p><strong>Top photo</strong>: Marvin Smith, Korean War vet and fellow Bluegrass fan, with Ned</p> <p> </p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>FOR MORE PICTURES FROM THE FESTIVAL, <a href="http://nedforney.com/index.php/dillard-bluegrass-and-bbq-festival/">CLICK HERE. </a> </strong></p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="fl-module fl-module-button fl-node-5989f1c416384" data-node="5989f1c416384"> <div class="fl-module-content fl-node-content"> <div class="fl-button-wrap 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