More Memories from the 1974 Joplin Fest

It never ceases to amaze me the details I can remember from the first Sedalia ragtime festival 50 years ago. Yet, I can’t for the life of me remember what I had for supper last night. I guess that’s the collateral damage from adding 30 earlier years to those 50. As I was reviewing fuzzy old color slides, I came across some images from the idyllic local piano playing contest preliminaries on the manicured lawn of the Carnegie Library just three blocks west of Ohio Street. The photos were of young people playing my old, blue-keyed baby grand we moved at great cost to our backs from our home across town. Stately old trees shaded the performers and some of the audience. But for the cars on the street and the contemporary ’74 summer fashions, they could be tinted lantern slides from the 1890s with the lovely old homes across from the library in the background. Now here is a good example of my mind (and the photo) playing tricks. The fact is numerous people have reminded me that we chose the hottest, muggiest days of summer to hold the festival. The only days we could get the city’s Convention Hall were in late July, but the weather was miserable, and turned the scene into a sauna. My mind left the latter part out and I have only pleasurable memories of the festival, especially the outdoor events. Melvin Kerr, who still appears with his famous church choir at festival events was