The Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree and Crafts Festival held their opening ceremony last Friday evening, managing to get some performances in before some severe thunderstorms rolled through, cancelling the rest of the night’s events.

The opening ceremony began with a prayer by Jonathan Anderson of the Smithville Church of Christ, and the National Anthem by Emily Phillips with members of the Smithville Fire Department posting the colors.

Visitors were then welcomed by DeKalb County Mayor Matt Adcock and Smithville Mayor Josh Miller, as well as President of the Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree Kim Luton. County officials were also recognized, including Smithville Fire Chief Charlie Parker, Smithville Police Chief Mark Collins, DeKalb Sheriff Patrick Ray, EMS Director Hoyt Hale, and Judge Brandon Cox.

Congressman John Rose and his family, State Senator Janice Bowling, and State Representative Michael Hale later presented flags to visitors who traveled the furthest distances to the Jamboree.

Congressman Rose presented Jeremy Bell and family with a flag for being from Australia. The Bell’s recently moved to Alexandria where they have opened a business.

State Senator Bowling presented a flag to Sue Conger, formerly of Smithville, but now lives in Camas, WA, for traveling the farthest in the United States, while State Representative Hale presented a flag to Elise Fleming of Memphis for the farthest in the state.

Afterwards, the Smithville/DeKalb Community Chorus took the stage and performed several patriotic and bluegrass renditions.

Faye Fuqua, the long-time director and founder of the chorus, was then recognized with an award by the Jamboree Board. Fuqua’s daughter Kim Luton, presented the award to her mother.

After the chorus, the crowd was treated to Zeb Ross and the J. Creek Cloggers, a group that has been entertaining audiences since 2009, and founded on the ideals of education, community, and inclusiveness to bring joy to the masses through freestyle group clogging.

Unfortunately, they would be the last performance of the evening as dark clouds and lightning moved into the area. Officials tried to wait out the rain, but as the storms continued the event was eventually canceled for the rest of the evening.

Awards were eventually presented on Saturday morning, taking the top three scores in the preliminaries as the winners of Friday’s competitions.