Looking back to his childhood growing up on a small dairy farm, Jerry Apps recalls a party at a neighbor’s house on a cold winter night. Everyone walked in the winter and as his family approached the farm they could hear music from the three local musicians, all farmers, who entertained at every function in the rural community: a three-fingered fiddle player, a banjo player named Pinky and a squeeze-box player who brought tears to peoples’ eyes with his haunting tunes from the old country. A midnight meal, laughing at dancers who jumped around like they were goofy, and enjoying the antics of people who had a little too much to drink made for welcome relief from difficult times in sandy, poor farm country during the Great Depression and World War Two. And there was no problem with drinking and driving because walking home in the sub-zero temperatures sobered everybody right up! Hats off to Frank, Pinky and Harry, who made life so much more pleasant in times when life wasn’t that pleasant.
Airing December 2014 on most PBS stations (check your local listings at pbs.org/tvschedules)
Support your local PBS station now — you make it possible for your PBS station to offer amazing performances and the opportunity to discover something new every day, whether on TV or online. To donate to your local PBS station, visit https://www.pbs.org/support
