Columbus, Saluda, and Tryon, North Carolina

The Polk County Friends of the Library presents a free program open to the public immediately following their 5:30pm Annual Meeting on Thursday, December 5^th.

“One Woman’s Appalachian Christmas,” an entertaining program featuring local artist Marilyn McMinn McCredie, will be presented in the Community Room of the Polk County Public Library on December 5^th at 6:15pm. She is the recipient of the Bascom Lamar Lunsford Festival Award for her significant contribution to the folk, musical, and/or dance traditions of the southern mountain region. She won the “Special Entertainer’s Award” at the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival in Asheville and has performed at numerous folk and arts festivals throughout the Appalachian region for many years. She has taught courses in mountain historical facts, folklore, music and culture at Blue Ridge Technical College. She particularly enjoys teaching the mountain dulcimer to international students where she expresses her amazement in how “music can so completely transcend the barriers of language and culture.”

McCredie was born in Hooper’s Creek, Henderson County, NC where her family has lived for generations. She grew up “steeped in Appalachian folkways and tradition;” her storytelling material includes ghost stories, Indian legends, tall tales, and how things happened years ago. One Elderhostel student remarked, “If we had a teacher such as Ms. McCredie during our school days, we would have been more appreciative of the value of history.”

For further information, please contact Marian Bryan at 828-894-6339 or bryan7168@windstream.net.