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It was so close, we live in--my family lives in Chapel Hill, it was just, we could just get here. And with a lot of kids, it was a great, safe festival. We came probably in year 2. Probably, thereabouts. And uh, so it just became fun for the kids. They knew they could come here and we would just say, "please, you know, come back to the tent at 6:00" and sometimes they did. But to take it a little further, then, we're both musicians and down at barn--the old barn right down there where the beer is being sold, used to be the equivalent of this, it's called the Coffee Barn Stage. And Ed and I just came on our own and played music there, it was a great scene. That sort of overpowered the sales aspect of that building. So it was moved up here and we were asked to run it. So that's sort of the whole arch of almost 20 years. Coming just as a participant. Becoming a musician down there. And now, for probably the last 5 years, 10 festivals, we've been responsible for it.

ROBERT: An interesting thing, you can go to Walnut Creek, you can go to Red Hat in Raleigh, you can go to North Carolina Museum of Art. There are a lot concerts, outdoor concerts. This is a festival, where you can pull your wagon in here and stay for four days. And uh ED: So it's much more personal, I guess, really, which is nice. ROBERT: And it's not so big. ED: Yeah, it never feels hugely crowded. I mean, yeah, it never feels hugely crowded or anything, you know. ROBERT: It's a unique experience. You're out here, and you can be a different person if you want, nobody knows the difference, so I think it'll endure. No reason why it wouldn't.

JOHN: Yeah, cause when we started we were sitting at the board meeting, we're doing all these fundraisers. And it's like, well if we're going to do fundraisers, we have to do more than just be known for the place that puts on music. What are we going to do? KEN: It got to the point where we were funded enough to not be concerned about making the year. We were like ok, now how can we give back to the community financially? JOHN: And so what happens is the AVID program had just begun in Chatham County schools that year. And I was excited about it. And so what we decided to do an arts scholarship for a student who was going to major in the arts, whether it be visual, performance, musical, what have you, photography and one to an AVID student. And that--it was two for $500 each correct? And over the years, things have changed and we've gone starlight to the AVID and last year we gave away six $1,000 education grants to six students. Two-- MARTHA: Two from each high school JOHN: Two from each high school. So we do--Bynum's always been known for giving back as giving back to the community. And we figured that Bynum Front Porch needed to do the same.

And the-the broad goal was basically again to have this open as a community space. To let people basically use it for what they wanted to use it for. You know, we don't maintain a lot of the programs except for the music series in the summer. There's usually one concert a month over the winter months and storytelling over the winter months, one a month also. Most of the other things are community-driven: the bluegrass picking, the guys who were here right before us that's 5 guys taking lessons for string instruments. We just make it available to people to do what they want to do.

Well, it's just like we said. Jerry [Parton] was closing the store. We, uh, he was having music on Friday nights. We did not want that to stop. So, like I said, a group of 18 of us got together, you know, we're all neighbors and friends. And we just rented the store to keep the music going. And we ponied up $250 each to rent the store for a year and to pay the light bill, you know, and the heating bill and stuff. And that's how it really got started. And like Ken was saying, we were under the umbrella of the Chatham Arts for a time until we got our own non-profit status.

I just really like the feel of it here [Shakori Hills]. You know, it's a different feel than, you know, than-than the rest of life, you know. Although we try to play as much music as possible. And there's an amazing music scene around here. And I know part of this interview was asking us the music scene in Chatham county. I feel like I know so little about what's going on. But there's so--there's all these circles, like I know these people. but then Robert knows these people and they intersect a little and you know how it is. You know, I just love the music, you know, it keeps-keeps me going.

Except that there's a real pride. I think people know that this is special. They come here, they look forward to it. And the great thing is it's twice a year. You're not just waiting for the once-a-year thing. So it comes around [Ed: it comes around quicker] It comes around quicker and it's much-anticipated and much enjoyed. A real tight group of people working it.