As you might know, we had a fire here last week.
We also had our annual fiddling competition at Homestead Park with about 25 participants.
As he takes the stage at Homestead National Monument of America's Monumental Fiddling Championship, Joe Fedrizzi of Dearborn, Mo., is connected to history through the music he makes.
Part of that connection is the instrument he plays, and its connection to his own family history.
“My grandpa fiddled, actually this is my grandpa's fiddle,” he said. “I guess I got that talent passed on to me.” But the connection runs deeper than that for the teen. “I play on the street in a town (near his hometown),” Fedrizzi said. “It's a historic town, a lot of tourists go through.”
But the connection is more direct in the moment, it's a connection to the homesteaders who filled the air with music they made themselves as their only form of entertainment.
“They didn't have television or video games. They made their own music, for entertainment and passing the time,” Homestead National Monument Ranger Susan Cook said.
She said it was common for homesteaders to have instruments around, whether they brought them along on their journey or improvised.
“If they didn't have one they made their own out of whatever they had,” Cook said. That's the reason for the Monumental Fiddling Championship each year, to commemorate a part of the lives of those two million people who filed claims under the Homestead Act, she said.
