Rod's Memorial

When my good friend and banjo instructor RCCook (Rod Veverka) died back in December it was decided that there would be a celebration of his life down at his cabin. His cabin is located down by Dennison Ohio and I looked forward to going. I drove down Sunday morning with a terrible head cold but in good spirits. TomTom allowed me to relax, sip on my coffee and listen to NPR programs for the two hour drive.

TomTom took me down a dirt road and announced, "You have reached your destination!" I stopped and I was nowhere. I got out and took three pictures of the side of the road. I just combined them into a panorama. As you can see I wasn't quite near civilization.

I drove around a while and found the road. TomTom almost got me there so I can't really complain.

Rod's cabin is back in the hills and what is the closest thing to heaven that I've seen. Across the way are beaver dams and a swamp that is full of wildlife. The whole area is so alive. I saw this flower and had to take a picture.

I ambled up to the cabin and was surprised by how many people were there. I only knew a few but knew that by the time I'd left I'd have many friends. Not surprising, Nick was set up playing music with a bunch of guys. I found out that many of them had been in bands with Rod in the old days. Each were marvelous musicians and I spent a lot of time just watching them play.

There was lots of food and lots of stories of Rod. I didn't know he was a professional wrestler when he was young. Of course, I forget that I only knew him for the last year of his life. It's hard to believe that kind of friendship could be forged so fast.

Later in the day a ceremony was held where a minister said a few words and then Nick scattered Rod's ashes. Then the men fired off a few rounds with their rifles. When they finished there wasn't a dry eye for quite a distance. When the ceremony was over there was a solemn silence that lasted for a long while.

Nick went back to leading the music and I walked around listening to stories about a young Rod. I would have loved to have known him as a young man.

Just as dusk was approaching Nick took a group of us up to the peak of a mountain across the way and we looked down over the valley. The view was breathtaking.

We went back to the cabin and sat by the fire for a while. My cold was getting worse and I decided to head home. It was a little over a two hour ride and I was tired. Today had been a fitting tribute to Rod. It had been about music, stories and family. I hope we do it every year.