 |
In the early 2000s, the late Harry Hawk and I decided to raise money for the Family Life Center at Andrews United Methodist Church. Our plan was to gather all the local musicians for a show that we named “The Mountain Music Jamboree.”
It was held at the Valleytown Cultural Arts Center, and the first show was standing room only with more than 300 people in attendance. The music was amazing. You could not have heard better music on the Grand Ole Opry. We continued to have the music shows for several years, and it was so popular that we would have them four times a year, with each show packing a full house.
Some of the musicians were The Jimmy and Steve Jordan Bands, Carolina Bluegrass Boys, Barker Brothers Band, L.B. Solesbee, Desmond Parker, Bill and Wilma Millsaps, Julie Nelms, Henry Wilson, Raymond Yonce, Bill Pruitt, Oliver Farley, Jerry Hensey, Terry and Jerry Parker, and Sonny and Margaret Reighard.
Other special singers were June Farley, Joan Whitaker, and, of course, Wilma Millsaps. Over the past several years, we lost many of the musicians and singers. Jimmy Jordan was the first, then Desmond Parker, L.B. Solesbee, Joan Whitaker, and most recently, Margaret Reighard.
I have so many memories of Margaret and her beautiful smile. She was always there backing up her husband with the “Hillbilly Base.” Margaret Ann Mason Reighard passed away on June 4, 2025, leaving her husband, Sonny Reighard, after 63 years of marriage.
Sonny Reighard was always the Master of Ceremony at the music shows, who kept the crowd laughing, and Margaret never tired of Sonny’s jokes. She was his biggest fan. The couple had two daughters, Sherry and Denise; one son, Terry; and a stepdaughter, Darlene, and many grandchildren.
Margaret was born to Dewitt and Mary Lunsford Mason in Topton, and was one of four children, three girls and one boy.
Margaret’s beautiful voice rang through the rafters of the cultural arts building bringing back the gospel songs to what was once the old Baptist Church. The heartwarming music that filled that space will long be remembered in the minds of those who witnessed the Mountain Music Jamboree.
“Don’t weep for me …” Margaret would have said, “for I’m playing the Hillbilly Base, in a gospel band in Heaven, directed by God’s own grace.”
Kandy Barnard is a columnist for the Cherokee Scout. To talk about the Andrews Valley, call her at 828-361-3268 or email kandybarnard@gmail.com.