Promoter, boys ranch official celebrate first festival since 2020
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Rhonda Vincent and the Rage perform Friday afternoon during the annual Fall Palatka Bluegrass Festival at Rodeheaver Boys Ranch. -
Vincent strums the guitar as she belts out tunes during the festival. -
Brad Hall, executive director of the boys ranch, holds up a quilt people can win in a raffle. -
The sun sets on the horizon as Rodeheaver Boys Ranch residents take a break from the festival and enjoy downtime. -
Positively Putnam FL
By Casmira Harrison
Palatka Daily News
charrison@palatkadailynews.com
As the sun sank and burned its colors across the Rodeheaver Boys Ranch on Friday, lilting, hushed harmonies echoed across the ranch’s 800-acre property.
The sounds of headliner Rhonda Vincent and The Rage seemed to soothe the souls of the hundreds gathered at the 13th Annual Fall Palatka Bluegrass Festival.
Meanwhile, the sound of more than 300 attendees’ applause soothed the soul of Brad Hall, executive director of the boys ranch, who hadn’t heard that sound on the open field for more than a year.
“This is the first festival in a year and a half. The last one we had was the February 2020 festival and then COVID happened,” said Hall, adding he had been worried how the pandemic might affect concertgoers this year, but after seeing the hundreds of RVs across the field, felt relief.
“It’s been a great turnout,” said Hall. “It’s going to raise some much-needed funds for our boys ranch. It takes a lot of money to keep us going.”
Rodeheaver Boys Ranch exists to help, nurture and foster at-risk boys. The bluegrass festival, which continues today, helps provide much-needed funding to care for the boys, while the boys help with the festival and care for the land and livestock kept on their St. Johns River home.
Hall said the ranch gets no government funding and most of the support they receive is from grants, donations, volunteer work and the events and festivals, like this one, that the ranch hosts several times a year.
The ticket sales go toward paying the performers, while the RV park fees, vendor items and food sales go directly toward ranch operations, Hall said.
But funding isn’t the only point of the festival, said Hall.
“More importantly, we’re introducing these people to the ranch,” said Hall. “These people are from all over the United States. And when they come here and see what we’re doing, learn about us and see what our ministry is, they become supporters.”
That means the boys ranch can continue to help the boys it serves, he said, so getting the word out is of utmost importance.
“I don’t think half the people in the community even know this is here,” said Ernie Evans, vice president of Evans Media Group, the promoter of the festival. Evans said the public really should come out to see the ranch as well as the festival. “It’s a labor of love.”
The festival continues today, starting at 11 a.m. with an open mic and lasts through 9 p.m. with local and national bluegrass musicians, including The Grascals, The Burnett Sisters Band and Remedy Tree. Saturday also includes a classic car show, raffles of a guitar and a bluegrass-inspired quilt, and tons of food and fun.
“We have one of the top bluegrass festivals in the nation out here,” said Hall.
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