Processed in July of 2015
This collection was donated to Utah State University Special Collections and Archives by Ron and Lisa Goede in 2013.
No restrictions on use, except: not available through interlibrary loan.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from the Bridger Folk Music Society papers must be obtained from the
The Bridger Folk Music Society was founded in 1979 by Ron Goede, Sue Packer and Steve Nrny after Goede, who moved to Cache Valley in 1966 from West Virginia, began hosting sing-ins to suppliment the lack of local bluegrass and folk bands.
The society sponsored its first concert in 1980 when Bill Staines, folk singer and champion yodeler performed in the Newman Center for an audience of 14. After that, the society continued to develop concert venues in the valley and new volunteers such as Brad Cole and Mike Johnson joined the effort. In 1989, the Bridger Folk Music Society became a non profit organization, and started hosting concerts in the top floor of the Bluebird restaurant. Later, in the 1990s, the society began to support acoustic jam sessions in the Chapter II book store, which eventually developed into twice-monthly sessions in the Whittier Center in 1998.
Closely entwined with the Bridger Folk Music Society is the Cache Valley Contra Dance Group, which was organized by Kay Forsyth in 1990. Kay connected with Jerry Jurniak (a local mandolin player), Ron Goede, and several others to form a Ceili band to play Irish and Scottish Dance Music for contra dances. The the monthly gatherings gave the folk musicians an opportunity to perform thus strengthening the local folk community.
By 1993, the Society was flourishing and strengthening relations with both local and nationally-acclaimed folk musicians. That year they helped select performers to play at the grand opening of the Ellen Eccles Theater and Bullen Arts Center.
In 2003, Blair Larsen took the lead of the society while hosting a weekly show called, "Fresh Folk" on Utah Public Radio. He began booking regular concerts at Crumb Brother's Bakery. Today, Bridger Folk Music Society continues to contribute a great deal to the cultural ambience of Cache Valley through regular events and concerts.
Source:
This collection contains the papers of the Bridger Folk Music Society which was established in Cache Valley in 1979. The materials are contained in two archival boxes, and consist of Society records as well as posters for musicians who played at the Bridger Folk Music Society. These papers are beneficial to anyone researching folk music in Cache Valley.
The first box consists of records from the founding of the society in 1989, including an interest survey sent out to Cache Valley residents, photographs from the Bridger Folk Music Society, news clippings of visiting performers, and papers of visiting performers who were connected with the Bridger Folk Music Society, such as Banish Misfortune, Bryan Bowers, Trapezoid, and others. The organizational papers of the society are ordered by material type while the documents concerning specific artists (the latter half of the box) are ordered alphabetically.
Box two contains of the oversized items in the collection including two Cache Valley magazines with published articles on the Bridger Folk Music Society and several posters advertising the upcoming concerts of visiting artists. The items in box two are ordered chronologically and according to material type.
Originally a manuscript collection, these materials were transferred to the Fife Folklore Archives in 2026.