Tabor City tribune. (Tabor City, N.C.) 1946-1991, 1958-12-17
Every Day Is Busy One For
County Bundrnuster Modues


And il is a destiny he has been
fullfilliuG, for the enrichment of
Columbus county, since 1896.
Bob. IS little fellow. phySic-
ALI. Sut every inch OF his be-
in is filled with energy and
drive. and all OF il is for better
ami more muslC Tor his adopted
That Is the way it has been
since 1856 whcn he turned from
dance band music to music
teaching. 1t is a reason why to-.
day the Columbus school system
can boast of a junior band, a
senior band, and two drum and
bugle corps, and rising fame
among its peers.
The interest of some $40 stu
DOS in music as fostered by
Hodges is prime reason why
the area has to put up $4,000 to
provide uniforms for the big
band"
Music and teaching are two
hcritagcS of long standing in
Bob'S family. This heritage pre-
Sentcd him with a challenge as
a boy that has carried him to
his position today.
Corn and educated in Flor
ence. Bob Hodges lost his moth
er when he was 3Is years old.
She left a valuable violin. And
1t was decided that it would go
to either his two sisters, himself
or some cousins, whoever show
ed the strongest ability in mus
&c.
Il had to have that fiddle"
Bob recalled. 1T was the only
tSpg there was of hers, and l
waited it."
His stcpmothcr encouraged
him. We went shopping for a
violin to start on. Money was
tight in those days, and | found
a 81 fiddle and a bow that cost
So"
To pay for lessons, Hodges
worked on Saturdays for a Sl.5O,
and sold milk from the family
cSY. His teacher was J. v.
Nang
MY sisters and the others
didn't show any interest in vio-
lin, or music. my cousins were
more football players and ath-
lcteS, so | thought l had the vio-
lin for sure. But my folks
wouldn't let me have it. They
said I had to prove myself"
To prove himself, Bob went
to. work to win the state high
Stool music contest. Strang
mapped out a work schedule on
an extremely difficult piece of
music that had the young must
clan practicing from 4 to a.
m, two hours before supper and
two hours after supper, every
day
In two weeks he had memoir
led the technically impossible"
selection, and in four months
Was excellent enough to win the
sAte prize.
The violin came soon after at
graduation from high school.
1t has always been music with
Bob. There were three or four
years in dance band work. There
was study under some noted
teachers. And the field of music
widened.
Some of his work included
teaching at the Florence Acade-
- of Music. For awhile he was
with Jan CARRIER, then and now
nationally known band, as
well as other groups we'll known
of the time.
In 1884, Bob and his wife, to
who he credits much of his sue
cess. came to Lake Waccamaw
where he played dance music at
the Anchorage.
Then in 1896 he went to music
tRching in the schools here.
Most of the work was at Halls
boro and Whiteville, which was
then a part Of the county sys-
tenn.
There were some 80 to 35 stu
dents in each school. The COM
plexion OF music was consider
ably different than II is now.
1--WE had maybe 20 violins and
two drums, combinations like
That then" Bob said
%radually things began shift
ing around and more and more
band type instruments came in
to the picture. Today there are
some $40 band students.
The business of developing
BARGAIN EVENT
Tabor City merchants VIII
offer harVains paIore nm Tues