MAKING TIME FOR A DANCE: The live bands that have played at Terhune Orchards over the last few decades often inspired co-owners Pam and Gary Mount to fit an impromptu dance into their busy schedules. A concert in memory of Gary Mount, who died late last year, has been organized by the musicians who have entertained at Terhune and continue to do so.
By Anne Levin
Live music has always been a part of the popular farm festivals that draw crowds to Terhune Orchards. From the first Apple Day in 1976, co-owner Gary Mount was the man who booked the bands. A regular roster of local musicians who became fixtures at the farm will pay tribute to Mount, who died on December 29, with a special free concert on Sunday, May 17, from 12-5 p.m.
Bill Flemer, Riverside, Mike and Laura, Mike Montemurro, ALBO, and Andy Koontz are scheduled to play, followed by combined sets featuring Jerry Steele, Tom Reock, Carmen Marranco, Jerry Monk, Bob Demetrician, Hal Ketofsky, and Bud Belviso. A performer at the farm for the past 18 years, Belviso is the main organizer of the event.
“Gary was always, always very involved with promoting local music for festivals and weekends,” Belviso said. “There was never a time when he didn’t come up, either while we were playing or after, to thank me — even when he was ill. Being a local musician, I play a lot of clubs and wineries. The ones that treat musicians as well as the Mount family are few and far between. They respect you. When you get booked, there is always a response back and forth. You never have to go after them. So playing there has always been a labor of love.”
Mount’s illness prompted daughter Tannwen Mount to take over the booking duties a few years ago. “Having great musicians and bands has always been part of things,” she said. “Apple Day kicked it off way back in the seventies, and it kind of progressed from there. We’ve always been about the community supporting Terhune and Terhune supporting the local scene. The list of bands grew over the years. Having a lively local music scene lends a great vibe when people are visiting the farm.”
Mount was known to be organized. “In true dad form, he had an Excel spreadsheet that he used to keep track of everybody over the years,” Mount said. “But although he was really busy, and running around doing a million things, you’d see him and my mom stopping off to do a little dancing. He would always make time to chat with the bands during their breaks, and have that relationship.”
Gary and Pam Mount were high school sweethearts at Princeton High School. After marrying in 1967, they spent three years as Peace Corps volunteers in Micronesia. They purchased the 55-acre Terhune Orchards upon their return. Today, Terhune is a 250-acre retail farming operation that has been key in the community-based farming movement.
Mount’s original contact in booking bands was Jerry Steele, who remembers Mount as having a strong interest in selecting who would play. “As the years went by, Gary moved that responsibility to the kids. But he never totally lost input,” Steele said. “He created a very festive atmosphere, not only for the patrons, but for the musicians. He was very welcoming, very family-oriented. I’ve played a lot of places, and that is really the only place I play anymore. I love all the people there. I could always count on Gary and Pam to sit in at least for part of my set. My memory of him is rolling up in his golf cart, sitting for a couple of tunes. I think he liked the stuff that I played.”
In a letter to Town Topics’ Mailbox just after Mount’s passing, bluegrass musician Bill Flemer praised Mount for his gift of “the live music he included among the attractions at the farm. For countless area musicians,” he wrote, “Terhune Orchards has been, and remains, our most reliable and enjoyable place to play, year after year. When my Riverside bluegrass band first played there in the 1980s, we were on the back of their old flatbed truck, next to the house, with the yellow Lab dogs in the yard behind us. Every band I’ve had in the 40 years since then has played for the Terhune audience — in the Wine Barn, for the elegant Farm to Table dinners, and under a tent for the big fall weekends.”
Flemer added this week, “It was just an easy relationship. He liked our music. I admired him. Terhune was the only place we’d play where we’d be told to turn the volume up, not down.”
Terhune Orchards is located at 330 Cold Soil Road. Visit terhuneorchards.com for more information.