Music Makers Seed Savers class sponsored by local business

The kind folks at Ayers Auction & Real Estate make class a reality

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- Around 20 kids learned about Campbell County culture and heritage at a Music Makers Seed Savers class held at Postmark LaFollette on Wednesday.

TOP PHOTO: Upwards of 20 youngsters learned about Campbell County culture and heritage at a Music Makers Seed Savers class held at Postmark LaFollette on Wednesday. Kids are pictured holding Appalachian Picking Sticks which they got to learn how to play, as well as decorate and take home thanks to a generous donation and class sponsorship from the kind folks at Ayers Auction and Real Estate.

This class was provided and funded through a “generous donation from the kind folks at Ayers Auction and Real Estate Debra Nelson and Melanie Nance, as well as supply donations from Codi Ayers-Provins.”

The class was taught by local traditional artists Charlotte and Joanna Underwood and consisted of two parts, “music making and seed saving”.

“Home-grown food feeds the body and music feeds the soul,” according to the Underwoods.

The first part of the class, kids got to learn about heirloom seed saving, specifically the Moss Ivey Bean, a local heirloom seed the Underwoods have been saving back for around 100 years. Kids got to plant several Moss Ivey beans in small planter cups to take home, along with a flyer on the history of the bean, which dates back to the early 1900s.

“It’s literally planting a bit of Campbell County history,” Charlotte Underwood told kids as they filled their cups with dirt to plant the heirloom seeds. Kids learned that “when times were hard, people saved everything, especially seeds to grow their own food.”

The second part of the class was “all about folk instruments”, the history of cigar box instruments and cookie tin instruments, as well as interactive demonstrations on multiple types of folk instruments, including a washboard. Kids learned that everyday items such as the old-fashioned washboard can be turned into a percussion instrument and each child took a turn learning to play the washboard, which was a favorite part of the class.

Kids then got their very own Appalachian Picking Stick, which is a simplified version of a mountain dulcimer. A short lesson was given on how to play the instrument, with the focus on learning an old timey favorite “You Are my Sunshine.”

The last part of the class consisted of “creative free time” where everyone got to decorate their instruments with paint pens and stickers, as well as come up with a band name.

“The hope is, as cliched as it sounds, is that by providing these kinds of classes for kids, it will plant that seed of interest for music or gardening or art; and that they gain something from the experience that will stick with them and make them proud of their heritage and their culture and where they come from,” Charlotte Underwood said.

She also thanked the “folks at Ayers Auction and Real Estate” for sponsoring the class and making it possible to “continue their mission of preserving culture and heritage in our community.”

“We couldn’t do classes like this without great community investment and partnerships. We appreciate the gals over at Ayers Auction so much and we appreciate the partnership with Postmark LaFollette which generously allowed us the space to teach in. It’s a privilege and an honor to have these opportunities to preserve and teach the culture and heritage of Campbell County.” (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-06/25/2026-6AM)