Staff writer
Finish carpenter Kim Schmidt, former fiddle player for the Greenhorns, traveled from his home in Goessel to Marion County Park and Lake on Friday for a relaxing weekend of camping and music.
“I don’t get out here enough,” Schmidt said. “It’s a really nice place to come. It gets busy but it’s not overrun with people.”
He brought his four-legged friend, Winston, because he thought his dog might enjoy what he calls a clean safe place to spend some time.
Winston is a laid-back cairn terrier that looks like Toto from “The Wizard of Oz” when he isn’t sporting his summer cut.
“I’ve tented out here several times, but this is the first time I brought my camper,” Schmidt said. “When you’re performing, it’s easier just to keep things simple and stay in a tent.”
Schmidt has attended Blue Grass on the Lake almost every year since it started. He performed with the Greenhorns a couple years before the band disbanded.
He said he always wished more people would turn out for the event but understood harvest interfered with attendance some years.
“The event is holding its own,” he said. “It’s one of the only festivals [with bluegrass and an open-mic] in the area I know of besides Redneck in Ramona and Threshing Days.”
Schmidt plays several different instruments. He started on guitar, plays a little mandolin, but moved to fiddle because that was the instrument past bands he played in were missing.
He wasn’t sure he would play his fiddle during Saturday’s open-mic competition but he was open to the idea of jamming if the right people were to attend.
“We’ll see who shows up,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of friends who are musicians. I want to support them and the festival.”