A guitar leaned against an empty chair during the Aurora Fiddle Society's recent Friday night jam. The sight left many of us shaken. One of the societySA国际影视传媒檚 longest serving members had left us.
Wally Watson had been accompanying fiddlers for more than 20 years, first in Fort Simpson where he and wife Teresa lived before moving to Yellowknife in 2010. Once here, they dedicated themselves to the Aurora Fiddle Society helping them get their fiddle feet under them.
His loyalty and dedication never wavered until illness made participation impossible.
True, he couldn't play fiddle, which his wife sometimes taught, but his guitar accompaniment was impeccable. His ability to circle back to the tune saved wannabe players from some near fatal mess-ups. When we went off key, got lost, fell behind or went ahead, he kept strumming and bringing players back into line. Sometimes his plucking was the only thing holding us together.
His words were always encouraging, though he heard many painful squeaky fiddle notes over the years. He just kept playing. He wouldnSA国际影视传媒檛 let a few squeals stop him. He didn't flinch when we did.
Nothing means more to the Aurora Fiddle Society or Kole Crook Fiddle Society in Hay River than getting young people involved. Bitten by the fiddle bug, many have gone on to study at intensive workshops all over the country. And why not? It's wholesome, family and community friendly. Metis players here have turned out to be the best fiddlers and jiggers anywhere and playing has produced a sense of camaraderie thatSA国际影视传媒檚 turned into lifelong friendships, a family of sorts.
Sharing the goals of both societies, Wally was dedicated to this work because of his love for youth. What could be more important than keeping kids engaged in healthy pursuits?
The rationale? Young people cope with so many negative influences that the fiddle associations try to show a flipside where people feel supported. It's like a hand reaching through darkness.
We know that drugs and alcohol are endemic in communities, culminating in skyrocketing suicide rates. Young people are hungry for positive pursuits and that is what the fiddle societies work to do. There is a thought that if people can feel a sense of pride, belonging and accomplishment there, that supportive cocoon will impact their life on the outside too.
In fact, Linda Duford, head of the Kole Crook society, said that at one school where she taught fiddling recently, two youngsters returned after having dropped out a few months previously.
They heard the fiddlers were coming.
The Kole Crook society had its origins in a brilliant young fiddler named Kole Crook from Hay River, who left this earth tragically and young after spreading the magic of fiddle music throughout Northern communities. The society has worked to keep his goal alive since he died more than 20 years ago.
Wally rarely missed an event, whether it be a biweekly jam or weekend workshop. Even on those -40 C winter nights when lead fiddler and teacher Andrea Bettger thought about cancelling, she kept the doors to the studio open, knowing that Wally and Teresa would come.
They almost always did.
This dedication to both the craft and the goal of community building culminated in a nationwide event in Whitehorse last summer in which a dozen fiddlers from the NWT participated. It was a feather in the cap of the board of directors and supporters who had worked tirelessly on this project for months. The North was made proud.
What Wally showed us through his dedication, loyalty, kindness and support was that you don't have to hold high offices to be a great person, you just have to care. And that he did.
When asked what the fiddle association would do without him, Bettger said they'll play on, of course. They have to. It's what Wally would want as well - keep helping the kids.
The fiddle jams and dances won't be the same, but Wally's chair and his spirit will always be there in the same way that Kole CrookSA国际影视传媒檚 spirit still travels through the North. Neither one forgot the fiddlers and the fiddlers won't forget them.
Play on, you guys. Play on.
SA国际影视传媒擭ancy Vail is a longtime Yellowknifer concerned with social justice.
