The Matthews Rotary Club invites you to the 7th Annual Bluegrass Festival being held on Saturday October 22, 2011 at Stumptown Park in downtown Matthews, North Carolina. Events this year include a bike ride, chili cook-off competition, and, of course, bluegrass music!

Proceeds benefit Matthews Help Center (provides services for individuals’ basic needs), The Levine Senior Center (activities for seniors), Habitat for Humanity-Matthews (housing assistance in Matthews’ area), and Christ Our Shepherd Ministries (children’s assistance focusing on single parent families).

Matthews Rotary Club also has other programs, such as our annual scholarship to local youth, assistance and training to impoverished peoples in Peru, support of Rotary International’s Polio Plus Fund for the eradication of polio, book donations to local children’s libraries, our annual Veterans Day Luncheon and sponsorship of World War II veterans trips to Washington D.C. on the Flight of Honor.

If you would like more information or have questions, please contact our Festival Chairman Alan Moseley at mattrotarybluegrassfestival@gmail.com.

Bicycles East, the Charlotte area's oldest bicycle shop, is a full-service, locally owned business operating in the heart of downtown
Matthews, NC since 2004. Bicycles East carries several major lines of bicycles including Specialized and Cannondale bikes. They sell and
service all types of bikes: road, mountain, commuter, BMX and bikes for children of all ages. Bicycles East is proud to sponsor the
Rotary's Veterans Day fund raising efforts by supporting this bicycle ride and helping to promote cycling and cycling safety. Bicycles East
sponsors group rides during the mornings every weekend of the year and encourages local cyclists to get out and enjoy their bicycles as much as possible.

The Chili Cook-Off begins at 11:00am and will run until approximately 3:00pm (or until the chili runs out). Approximately 10 or more Chili Cook-Off Teams will participate in the event. The teams come from local organizations, businesses, restaurants and others, who will be providing samples of their chili to be judged. The judges for the contest are those attending! Buying a ticket allows attendees to taste each team’s chili and pick their favorite. Prizes are awarded to the top three winners. This is a fun event that everyone can participate in! Chili Cook-Off tickets are $5.00 per person, and are available on the day of the Cook-Off from members of the Matthews Rotary Club, Matthews Help Center Thrift Store, Matthews Habitat Restore, Christ Our Shepherd Ministries, and the Levine Senior Center.

Click here to open and fill out the Chili Team Entry Form. Please email completed form to mattrotarybluegrassfestival@gmail.com.

Richard Hollis and Friends
Richard Hollis was born August 26, 1954 in Chester, South Carolina where he lives today with wife Penny, son Thad and daughter Fran. He became interested in guitar around age 8 and later took up the dobro after he attended a Flatt & Scruggs Concert where he met, Buck (Uncle Josh) Graves who was the Resonator Guitar (Dobro) player for the band. Josh was considered by his piers as, America’s finest dobro player.

Richard started his professional career as a musician in 1972 and has played for Betty Fisher & Dixie Bluegrass Band and Lowground. In 1986 Richard began a freelance career working with many of the bands in the Southeast. In October of 1992 he started working for The Jones Brothers & Log Cabin Boys staying with them until 2008 leaving to join R.C. Harris & Blue Denim until they disbanded in 2010. In February 2011 he received an invitation from Fiddlin’ Dwight Moody to join The WBT Briarhoppers to join the group where he currently plays guitar and dobro.

Richard makes appearances with George Hamilton IV, The Moody Brothers and has shared the stage with the “Legends of Bluegrass.”

The Lemonds Family
The Lemonds Family is a Bluegrass and Gospel Band from Charlotte North Carolina. The Lemonds have been playing as a band for about 2 years and individually for about 6 years. The family is very active in Dilworth United Methodist Church.

Sarah (12), saws on the fiddle & has many ribbons from various bluegrass festivals. She also enjoys sailing, art & her cats.

Vance (13), mandolin player extraordinaire, also has quite a ribbon collection and enjoys video games & basketball.

Clint (16), award winning banjoist, also sings lead & back-up vocals. He also uses his fleet fingers for sketch art & video games (when not pondering analytical philosophy).

Christi (Mom), keeps rhythm with her guitar & sings lead vocals. The movie, "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" was her inspiration to start the band. She says the family flavor of the bluegrass community fuels their pickin’ & grinnin’!

Gerald, (Dad), self-taught upright bassist, is the latest to join the band and also sings lead and backup vocals. He chooses most of the bands repertoire and enjoys traditional tunes from Flatt and Scruggs, Jimmy Martin & Bill Monroe.


Amantha Mills
Introducing Amantha Mills, based out of Boone, North Carolina. They derived their name from the small mill community Amantha Mills, North Carolina. The mill washed away many years ago in a flood but if you are driving through Cove Creek you can still see part of the footings. The band hopes you enjoy the musical heritage that the old Bingham Roller Mill gave them in music to share.

Rebecca Eggers-Gryder plays bass & lead vocals. Her signature song is “The Ballad of Willa Kale”. Billy Helms holds down the banjo spot and sings harmonies. Billy spent seven years in France with the Moody Brothers at Euro Disney and later Disneyland Paris. Randy Pasley from Grassy Creek, North Carolina plays guitar and dobro. He is a three-time winner at the Galax Old Time Fiddlers Convention on dobro. John Cockman is the fiddler and a member of the First Family of Bluegrass Gospel of the Carolinas, “The Cockman Family”.

The Matthews Rotary Club welcomes Amantha Mill to share the stage for the 7th Annual Bluegrass Festival.


Dwight Moody
Dwight Moody’s extensive musical career began in the mid-forties performing with his aunt and uncle’s band. His first professional performance was at a Democratic Party rally in Richmond, Virginia. In 1947, he played for a radio show in Henderson, North Carolina, as a member of The White Owl Future Farmers of America Band and later started his own radio show in Blackstone, Virginia. Dwight’s talents have provided him with the opportunities to perform on the Grand Ole Opry in the late forties and tour the country from coast-to-coast. He and his sons, The Moody Brothers, made two trips to the White House with President Ronald Reagan and George H. Bush as part of the Take Pride in America Campaign. In 1985, his sons received a Grammy Award nomination for their instrumental performance of Cotton Eyed Joe, on which Dwight played fiddle.

A member and founder of the Mint Hill - Matthews Rotary Club, Dwight is proud to say that he has performed in 19 countries helping to eradicate polio. He says three things happened in his life that define who he is, first the day he accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior, second the day he married his late wife, Cathy “what a gracious thing it was to have walked through life with her”, and third the day Past District Governor and founder of Rotaract, Charlie Grier ask him to join the Charlotte North Rotary Club. Dwight is honored to be included in the Armed Forces Museum & Archives of the Carolinas’ efforts in building a world class facility in Mint Hill, North Carolina to tell the story of the military men and women who served their country to keep us all safe.


Firehouse Cloggers
The Firehouse Cloggers have been together since 1978. They have won over 100 Championships, including 3 times International, 2 times National Championships, North Carolina State ,South Carolina State, Georgia State, East Coast and America’s Clogging Hall of Fame Championships and many others. The team was declared Ambassadors to Germany by Gov. James Martin in 1987 where they performed while representing Charlotte Sister Cities. They have performed with Mickey Gilley, Johnny Lee, Charlie Pride, The Moody Brothers, George Hamilton IV, Little Jimmy Dickens, T. G. Shepherd, Jerry Clower, The Briarhoppers, Riders in the Sky and a host of others. This group in considered one of the best Appalachian Freestyle Clogging Teams in the World.. Thanks to the Firehouses Cloggers for being a part of this event to support our troops. This is their 5th years being with us.