I’ve never found myself around town during the times that
Mountain Stage has had events at the Creative Arts Center in Morgantown, but I
have a number of friends in the area who are musicians, and I’ve always had a
deep appreciation for the music of Appalachia and around the US from the Carter Family to today.
On Saturday, as the groom and groomsmen were getting shaves
in preparation for my friend Derek’s wedding, Larry Groce, the host of
Mountain Stage came waltzing into the barber shop. Of course, we let him cut
line amid our wedding preparation. He had to get out of town within the hour
for a concert gig.
It was great meeting a person who has done much for music,
for Appalachia in general, and for West Virginia specifically. It turns out
that he lives about a block away from Derek in Charleston, and he was extremely
conversant, pleasant, and down to earth.
Sometimes celebrities, whatever the status, can come across
smug or condescending. Not Larry Groce. In fact, he had an air about him that
seemed a celebration of many of the finer attributes of West Virginia.
And what made his visit even more fortuitous, was the fact
that the groom and one of the groomsmen had dedicated themselves to playing
multiple instruments (guitar, drums, mandolin, piano, vocal) and both were huge
fans of Larry Groce himself. In face, Cameron, one of my long time friends and
a groomsman, was able to get his photo taken with Mr. Groce.
I believe that all of our lives are filled with
opportunities to meet remarkable people. We just need to open our eyes. Some
are people like Larry Groce who have earned a degree of remarkability based on
their fame or vocation. Others, are more remarkable because they choose to live
their lives with an intentionality that is lacking in many. The only way to
discover these people, in my opinion, is to live one’s own life with eyes wide
open and with an intentionality with regard to discovering the remarkable gifts
and nature innately present in every human being.
May we each keep our eyes peeled for the remarkable, and in
our own intentionality and purpose may we begin to live our own forms of a
remarkable life.
