One of the narrators will be Colonel Jim Peva, a long-time friend of Bill Monroe, who will weave his personal remembrances into a telling of the life of the Father of Bluegrass Music. Peva will primarily speak about Monroe’s forty-four years as proprietor and featured performer at the Bean Blossom Music Park, and the bond that developed between them and their families during that time.

“By the mere passage of time, I have become a “senior citizen of bluegrass” in the state of Indiana. I have been attending shows at Bean Blossom, IN, since 1961 (before the outdoor festivals began), and have never missed a June festival there. I met Bill Monroe at Bean Blossom in 1961 and over the years we became good friends. He watched my three girls grow from small children to young women on the front row of the Brown County Jamboree Barn, and I really believe Bill thought of us as “family.” In 1977 Bill gave my family and I a lifetime pass to the Bean Blossom festival because I would not take money for a favor I was able to do for him. He visited our home and we visited him at his farm at Goodlettsville, many times. He was always a perfect gentleman to my wife, daughters, and myself, and we thought a lot of him not only as an entertainer and musical genius, but also as a person. We also came to know and be friends with Bill’s sister Bertha and brother Birch, his son James, and many of the Blue Grass Boys who played in Bill’s band over the thirty-five years of our friendship. We visited him in the hospital after his stroke in 1996, and we attended his funeral in Rosine, Kentucky.

I am happy to be able to participate in this program honoring a former friend who I believe was one of America’s greatest and most original artists and poets of the rural south. His contribution to American culture needs to be recognized.”

Colonel Jim also asked that we remind everyone of his effort to have the life and music of Bill Monroe recognized with a commemorative postage stamp when he becomes eligible under US Postal Services guidelines in 2006. You can get more information about this grassroots campaign, and learn how you can assist their efforts, at the Bill Monroe Stamp Campaign web site.

Mike tells us that the show on 11/18 will be filmed, but he isn’t sure at this point whether it might be edited and packaged for retail sale. Though there are no plans to “take this show on the road,” he said that he would be happy to assist anyone who might have an interest in presenting it in their area.

Mike Butler can be reached by email.

Items from The Bill Monroe Museum in Bean Blossom will also be on display at the Basile Theatre on November 18. For more details on attending the show or obtaining tickets, contact the Indiana History Center at (800) 447-1830. There doesn’t seem to be any method of purchasing or reserving tickets online.