GOOD WEATHER AT BOLLINGER MILL FOLK MUSIC CONCERT DRAWS LARGE CROWD

Calvin Brennan of Cape Girardeau joined about 300 other folk music enthusiasts for Sunday's fall concert at Bollinger Mill State Historic Site.

"I came just to enjoy the music," said Brennan.

Husband and wife Dave Para and Cathy Barton teamed up with Bob Dyer to perform as a trio Sunday afternoon. All three are from Boonville but spend much of their time traveling around the country entertaining.

"I came from a family that enjoyed music and singing," said Barton. Barton has been involved in music since she was young. "I can't remember not doing it," she said.

In addition to performing all over the United States, the duo has taken their folk music to Europe.

Dyer, a free-lance writer, keeps busy with his publishing company and recording company when he isn't performing.

The trio's selections Sunday included some of the songs Dyer had written.

Bryan Bowers has been a musician for 30 years.

"I heard some of the late 60's music and thought it was neat," he said. Bowers started on the guitar but soon discovered the Autoharp.

"What started out as a whim soon became an obsession," he said.

Bowers spends most of his time on the road.

"I love what I'm doing," he said. But he's also looking forward to returning to his wife and children in Washington state. He and his wife perform in a trio in Washington.

The mill was also open Sunday for exploration and tours.

"About a hundred people have taken the guided tours," reported Donna Allen, tourist assistant for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

The covered bridge was also open for travel. Moddy Jaco of Jackson remembers when crossing the bridge was the normal route for motorists to take.

His sister, Ruby Long, remembers the bridge for something else.

"It used to be the old necking place," she said. Sunday she strolled through the bridge to try to find some of the names she and others had written 40 years earlier.

"The ones written in pencil have all faded away," she said, "but the carved ones are still there."

Danny and Sue Rees took the long way around and bicycled from their home in Jackson through Oak Ridge to Bollinger Mill. Both are avid cyclists and use the time to get away from the pressures of everyday life and just enjoy themselves.

Jack Smoot, historic site administrator for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, has been at Bollinger Mill since 1983.

"We first began the concerts in '93 or '94," he said. When outdoor concerts are rained out, they move to the Opry house up the road.

"I think the nice weather had a lot to do with today's attendance," he said.

The concerts are usually held at the mill itself, but construction on a retaining wall called for a different location.

The Showmobile, a portable stage, was set up in the woods across from the mill. The trees offered shade from the afternoon sun.

Many brought lawn chairs while others spread blankets for an old-fashioned picnic before the concert began.

The department of natural resources provided the concert free of charge to the public as their way of drawing a community together.

Smoot selects the actual entertainment.

"The grist mill used to be the social hub of the community," he said. People would come for miles to have their grain ground. It became a place they could catch up on family and news.

Smoot felt the folk music really went along with the actual culture of the area.

Felicia Fox of Cape Girardeau brought her 93 year-old mother, Juanita Snider, also of Cape, to Sunday's concert.

Fox enjoys the concerts at the park and enjoys being able to take her mother out.

"We'll stay just as long as she wants to," said Fox.

A Halloween story-telling night, complete with a bonfire, will be held at the mill in October.

"About 200 people were here last year," reported Allen.