As this month of love closes, a final Valentine story about a
man who put aside his affection for playing the French horn when his
heart wanted only one thing: the hand of a pretty girl.
Decades later, his lovely lady is gone, but his interest in
playing in a band has returned, having patiently waited in the wings for
more than a half-century. The urge to renew his acquaintance with his
brass friend offers the man a new challenge and a means to help fill the
void in his life.
After 62 years of marriage, Wade “Hamp” Shuford of Hickory lost
his beloved Joanne White Shuford in May. In the fall, with the help of
Western Piedmont Symphony Conductor John Gordon Ross, who allowed
Shuford to borrow a WPS French horn, Shuford began playing with the
Catawba Valley New Horizons Band.
Shuford hadn’t played since his days as a student at Catawba
College. The reason? He sold his French horn in 1951 to buy Joanne an
engagement ring.
Shuford said he and Joanne met at Hickory High School, but they
didn’t date until Shuford was at Catawba College, majoring in Spanish
and French and Joanne was at Salem College studying home economics. “I
invited her to a dance at Catawba College while she was at Salem,” said
Shuford. “She reciprocated.” Shuford said he and Joanne “started dating seriously” when
Shuford was working on a master’s degree at UNC Chapel Hill. Love
bloomed, and Shuford was ready to pop the question. He didn’t have the
cash for a ring, but he did have a valuable French horn. “At the time,
it was not hard to part with the horn,” Shuford recalled.
The couple wed in 1951, followed by Shuford’s enlistment in the
Air Force. The Korean War was in full swing, but Shuford remained
stateside, “doing psychological testing of pilots,” he said. Shuford left the Air Force four years later and attended Austin
Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Texas. “I didn’t want to preach,”
said Shuford, who trained to be a director of Christian education.
The couple eventually settled in Hickory.
“My real career was Christian education,” said Shuford. “Church
camping, Sunday school teaching, and so forth.” Even while giving the
business world a try, Shuford was working as recreation director at a
United Church of Christ camp, John’s River Valley in Collettsville, in
Caldwell County. “Altogether (in my career), I worked at four camps,” said Shuford.
When Shuford talked about his mother, Nora Allgood Shuford, it
was clear from whom he’d inherited his passions. Nora was a graduate of
Flora MacDonald College (now defunct) in Red Springs, N.C., where she
studied music and French. She later became a piano teacher. “She was 18 years younger than Dad,” said Shuford, who was an
only child. “She was 38. He was 56. I was lucky to get here.” Nora
insisted that Shuford study piano and voice, and she bought him a
mellophone. “It’s a starter for a French horn,” Shuford explained.
Also influencing Shuford’s future interests were the friendships
he developed with older neighbors. As a teen, Shuford visited an elderly
woman who, it turned out, maintained a still in her basement. “She gave
me a taste more than once,” Shuford admitted. The clandestine activity
ended when the distillery exploded and the woman’s house burned down.
Since 1983, Shuford has been an Adult Life Programs volunteer. In
Hickory and Conover, Shuford serves seniors who participate in the
adult day care. “One of my missions is to help older folks adjust to the
vicissitudes of life’s changing values and that dirty word,
‘technology,’ ” Shuford said.
Now, after a long separation from band membership, Shuford is
becoming reacquainted with the French horn. “I had to relearn the
fingering,” he said. Depending on his progress, Shuford may decide to
buy a horn. In the meantime, he’ll keep practicing on his WPS loaner.
The Catawba Valley New Horizons Band “is a great group for folks
over 55,” said Shuford, who’s 85. “You don’t have to know how to play an
instrument. They will teach you.”
Thanks to New Horizons Band, Shuford’s enjoying something few people experience: a return to one of the joys of youth.
