DATE:     4/16/01
CONTACT:  Sue Watts, (864) 656-6235     
WRITER:   Diane Palmer, (864) 656-4741

Festival to celebrate
traditional music and arts

     CLEMSON -- Relax and celebrate spring in a beautiful setting,
while being entertained, at the South Carolina Botanical Garden on
Saturday, April 28.
     To celebrate Arts in April at the university, "Voices and Hands"
will showcase traditional arts, music, storytellers and the history 
of Upstate South Carolina. The festival will run 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., 
on the lawns of the Fran Hanson Discovery Center and is free of 
charge.  
     The Discovery Center House will not be open to the public 
until May 14. 
     Nancy Basket, a Cherokee from Walhalla, and third generation
basketmaker, will be on hand to demonstrate her skills as a kudzu
basketmaker and display her kudzu paper artwork, which is also for
sale. Other items for sale will be kudzu blossom jelly, chocolate 
kudzu candy and kudzu soap, all made by her mother, Shirlee Hendriks.
     "I take my name from the work I do and from my Cherokee
grandmother, long ago," Basket said. She's been making baskets for 
over 20 years. 
     Gail McKinley will be displaying her unique talents making split
oak baskets. She will also make herbal medicine.
     Alda Smith will be playing early 19th century Euro-American folk
country, Hawaiian and western swing on his square-neck Dobro. He may
even play some tunes of old Scotland, Ireland or Appalachian hillbilly
numbers, as well. 
     Smith will have for sale, his recently released, Ralph Smith CD 
"A Soldier's Musical Legacy".
     "This is a tribute to my father who passed away, July 28, 1998,"
Smith said. The CD was produced in cooperation with the S.C. Arts
Commission's Folklife and Tradition Arts Division and the Pendleton
Historic Commission Museum. 
     Mike Ellison and Nick Hallman will also be playing old-time 
music tunes.
     Listen to enthralling storytellers, Nancy Basket and Nnde' De
Chaco.   
     Other local traditional craftspeople to display their talents
are Walter Dillon, tinsmith; John Diehl, wood carver; Maree Dowdy,
soapmaker; Pati English, basketmaker; Heather Kline, potter; Deb
Potter, spinner; Becky Queen, soapmaker; and Warren Carpenter, will
be turning bowls from wood.
     The Reverend Kenneth Fugate and Bobby McQueen, from Liberty, 
and Dell Millar, from Easley, will tell about life for Native 
Americans in the Upstate and share their collections of Native 
American artifacts. Demonstrations about flint-knapping, bowmaking 
and how to throw an atl will also be given.
     Hear about the life on a plantation and the drama of the Civil 
War from the Pendleton Historical Foundation.
     Visitors will be able to purchase interesting and unique gifts
made by the craftspeople. Refreshments will be served in the 
courtyard.
     Also, the Pendleton District Gem and Mineral Society will be
showcasing their lapidary arts at the Bob Campbell Geology Museum 
from 1 - 4 p.m.
     The South Carolina Botanical Garden is on the Clemson University
campus at the intersection of Highway 76 and Perimeter Road. The 
Garden encompasses 270 acres of gardens, streams and woodlands. It 
is open year-round from dawn to dusk at no charge to visitors.
                              END