Greenbrier couple to present ‘Old Time Music and Dance’
CONWAY — David and Donna Peterson of Greenbrier have been entertaining — and educating — people for more than 40 years with dance and music. They will continue that tradition at 6 p.m. March 8 at the Faulkner County Historical Society’s annual program at the Faulkner County Library in Conway.
The program is free and open to the public.
“Donna and I will demonstrate ragtime, Cajun, waltzing and clogging,” David said. “And if the there are willing guests, some square-dance figures.
“We will be playing lap dulcimer, hammered dulcimer and guitar,” he said.
Peterson, 70, and his wife, Donna, 71, are members of the local historical society. David said he was once the editor of its publication, Faulkner Facts and Fiddlings.
The Petersons, who are natives of Wisconsin, moved to Faulkner County in 1976 when he accepted a position at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, where he taught mathematics until his retirement in 2009. He received a doctorate in mathematics from Michigan State University in 1971.
Donna also worked at UCA; she retired in 2010 after 30 years as a secretary in the philosophy and religion department. She studied lower-elementary education for three years at Oshkosh State University in Wisconsin.
The Petersons were first introduced to the dulcimer and clogging while they lived in Knoxville, Tennessee, where David taught math at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville for four years before accepting the teaching position at UCA. He had previously taught one year at Boise State University.
Donna was the first to learn to play the dulcimer.
“I made a lap dulcimer from a kit and learned how to play it. I played by ear,” she said.
“David liked it so much, he got into it,” she said with a laugh.
About that same time, Donna also took clogging lessons. David quickly followed suit. The couple joined the Tennessee Mountain Cloggers.
“We danced everywhere,” Donna said. “We even got invited to dance at the White House.”
David pointed out they did not actually dance “inside” the White House, but rather on the lawn.
“Jimmy Carter was president then,” he said. “However, we did not get to meet him.”
The Petersons continued to dance at nursing homes, fairs and festivals. They also played music, with David on dulcimer and Donna on guitar.
“After we came to Arkansas, I started teaching dulcimer through continuing education classes at UCA,” David said.
In 1978, the Petersons founded the Arkansas Country Dance Society, a nonprofit organization created to preserve and promote traditional music and folk dance.
“We still dance three nights a month at Park Hill Presbyterian Church in North Little Rock,” he said.
Over the years, the Petersons also danced with The Rebel Reelers, a local square-dance group in Conway. David said that group no longer meets.
David still makes dulcimers and teaches dulcimer at the couple’s home.
He also makes log cabins, including the one they live in on 54 acres outside Greenbrier. In addition to their home, David has built a log cabin he refers to as the music and guest house, a log cabin he uses for his workshop and another log and native rock structure he calls the “castle,” complete with a ballroom and a more-than-40-foot tower that stands above the treetops.
“That’s where we sometimes give parties,” he said with a laugh.
David said he always liked to work with wood.
“I made puzzles and whirligigs,” he said. “Then I learned to make dulcimers — both lap and hammered. I even made a harp once.”
“I just help him,” Donna said. “I volunteer for things. I help with a backpack program at Antioch Baptist Church that provides food for needy children.”
She also volunteers at the couple’s church, St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Conway.
David said Donna did help him build the log cabins.
“She dug all the rock,” David said with a laugh. “I bet we used 250 tons of rock in the castle.” David laid all of the rock himself.
The Petersons were high school sweethearts in Watertown, Wisconsin. They will celebrate their 51st wedding anniversary in July.
They have two sons. Eric, 49, lives in Minneapolis and is an architect specializing in airport planning and design; he has a 20-year-old son, Kai. Chris, 43, lives in Austin, Texas, and is an acoustic engineer and a musician.
At one time, the Petersons and their sons performed on weekends at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri.
In 2010, David Peterson was honored by Gov. Mike Beebe and the Arkansas Arts Council at the annual Governor’s Arts Awards ceremony and luncheon in Little Rock. Peterson received the Judges’ Special Recognition Award.