Last week, the Fayetteville Folk School hosted what may be the last old-time jam and square dance at the Walker Stone House in downtown Fayetteville. Owners Bernice and Brian Hembree officially closed the doors this month, with hopes to leave the house to local nonprofit Ozark Folkways. But with true ownership lying in the city's hands, there are questions as to what's really to come for the historic space.
Ozarks at Large’s Sophia Nourani attended last week's dance and spoke to the host, Steve Green, as well as other attendees about their thoughts on the matter.
Abby Hollis is a board member and the president-elect of Ozark Folkways in Winslow. She says it's been a couple months since she and other community members found out about the folk school closing its doors.
“This group of volunteers has been meeting about weekly since then to figure out what happens next,” Hollis said. “Obviously, this is a really important community space, and people are committed to keeping it going. It’s been a journey, but it’s been really cool to see everyone come together and try to figure out what's next.”
She says the conversation is ongoing as to what things will look like.
“We're at the last square dance for now,” Hollis said. “We're hopeful that Ozark Folkways, along with a group of volunteers at the folk school and Experience Fayetteville, can find a path forward to keep this place going. But for now, this will be our last dance.
“It is a beautiful house. It was built in 1845. It's one of the oldest houses in Fayetteville, and it's been transformed into this really special community music space. We're hoping to keep what's been happening here happening and then to add in other things, like crafts and workshops that we've been doing at Ozark Folkways in Winslow since 1972.”
Stepping inside, I was almost expecting a bittersweet feeling, but the house was alive with music and laughter. Two women who had never been to the house before said they wished they had been sooner.
“My name is Amanda Harris, and this is actually my first time at the folk school. I grew up in Mountain View, Arkansas, where we did lots of clogging and dancing on the square, lots of fiddle playing, lots of banjos. It’s so good to see all the folks here. I feel like I'm at home.”
“This is my first time here. I wish I'd been coming before. It was always something that I wanted to do, so I'll be active in trying to keep the folk school here and alive.”
Host Steve Green is a vibrant personality fit for the role of calling the dance.
“It's sort of like herding cats at an old-time square dance, which is part of what's wonderful about it,” Green said. “There's a lot of energy. There's new people, there's experienced people, there's people off the street — especially here, where we get walk-by traffic — and this is a community dance, so all are welcome. My job is to make sure they have a good time and maybe dance some while they're doing it.”
Steve explained how the city's Advertising and Promotion Commission and Experience Fayetteville own and control the house and the land around it, but he thinks both should be designated as a park.
“The A&P Commission, as I understand it, owns it and Experience Fayetteville administers it,” he said, “and through them, the folk school has a lease on very favorable terms because at the time the lease was negotiated, people agreed that the folk school was important to Fayetteville culture — what makes Fayetteville unique and funky and a place to be. Evidently that's being reconsidered.
“There are some who think this is an underperforming asset. I think you would not look at acres in a park as underperforming and say, ‘We should sell those acres because they're worth money.’ You wouldn't do that for a park. I think logically, the folk school here and the Walker Stone House should be viewed as a park.”
He explained how many people attended this month's dance in support of the folk school and the continuation of community-led programming.
“First of all, this is a regular monthly dance,” Green said. “It's the first Tuesday jam and dance — old-time jam followed by a square dance. Tonight's will be a little bit bigger because the A&P Commission is considering not renewing the lease to the folks of Fayetteville for the Walker Stone House here.
“Everybody's turned out to tell Fayetteville, ‘We love you, Fayetteville. We love what you've done for us with the folk school here. Please renew our lease.’ And a heritage dance for us that goes back hundreds of years in a house that goes back 175 years. There's nothing like this in the nation, much less in Arkansas, where you're dancing just off the downtown square in a place like this. There's certainly no place in Northwest Arkansas. Bentonville doesn't have it. This is a Fayetteville phenomenon, and I think it's important.”
Before the music started up again and Steve took his place, a fiddler named Petey stopped me and shared his passion for the house and the regularly occurring dance.
“My name is Petey. I live in Fayetteville. I'm a fiddler. I love old-time music. I'm a big advocate for the continuation of the folk school. I love it here. I've been coming to the square dances to play fiddle for them, and it's super fun. It's a really awesome way for the community to get together. I've met a ton of people through this thing, and it would be really sad to see it go.”
With that, Petey took the room and the dancing began.
Abby Hollis says those who are interested in learning more or advocating for the Walker Stone House can attend a happy hour at Arsaga’s Mill District tomorrow night (Aug. 14) at 5:30 p.m. to learn more about their potential plans for the house.
“Aug. 14, we're going to have a fundraiser for Ozark Folkways that'll be at Arsaga’s Mill District, and you can find more information on that at Ozark Folkways,” Hollis said. “We'll have musical performances, craft demonstrations, and food and drinks by Arsaga’s, and it's going to be a lot of fun.”
Owners of the Fayetteville Folk School, Bernice and Brian Hembree, also encourage those who support community programming at the house to attend the upcoming A&P Commission's public meeting on Aug. 25, or reach out to Experience Fayetteville with your testimonials about the space. For more information, you can visit the Folk School of Fayetteville’s website.
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