COUNTY LIFE
Making his own music: Skeeter Boyd handcrafts, and plays fiddles
BY DEBBIE DUNLAP
Bill “Skeeter” Boyd makes his own music. Literally.
The 79-year-old fourth-generation Forestburg native has not only taught himself how to play the fiddle, but also to hand-craft fiddles.
Born to a large family with a long legacy of musicians, Boyd has played the mandolin since the age of nine.
About four years ago he found a “really good deal” on a fiddle, so he bought it. Having never played a fiddle, he just let it sit for a couple of months until friends informed him they needed a fiddler to play in their band for an upcoming performance. His reply to them was that he knew some fiddlers he could ask.
“They said they didn’t want someone I knew,” he recalls. “They wanted me. Well, I didn’t know how to play a fiddle, so I went home and started working. I had eight days to learn it, and I spent a lot of hours practicing that week. But I did it.”
Read the full feature in your weekend Bowie News. Pictured, Skeeter Boyd plays the fiddle, that he also built himself. (Photo by Debbie Dunlap)
As North Texas finally transitions towards cooler temperatures, community water needs change as well.
Preparing your home for freezing temperatures can save time and money, especially with meteorologists expecting El Nino to bring wintry weather to the Southwest United States. Use these tips from the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District to winterize your house and well, all while saving a few gallons.
Now is the time to check fixtures in your home for leaks or moisture loss.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
In today’s edition enjoy the funny and touching letters to Santa submitted by children from across Montague County. Businesses also thank their customers for their patronage this past year with holiday greetings.
It’s here, the first day of winter marked by the winter solstice at 4:21 a.m. on Dec. 21.
The winter solstice is the day with the fewest hours of sunlight throughout the year, making it the “shortest day” of the year. Thankfully, after the winter solstice the days begin to grow longer and longer again and until the summer solstice, the first day of summer and the longest day of the year
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