Teen fiddler group promised spot in Bush Inauguration Parade, then left high and dry

Jeffrey Libby

Monday, Jan. 15, 2001 | 11:05 a.m.

They had dreams of floating down Constitution Avenue bundled in hats and gloves, playing old-time American fiddle tunes like "Cabbage Down" and "Mississippi Sawyer" in the inaugural parade for President-elect George W. Bush.

Instead the Boulder City Hometown Fiddlers, a 16-member troupe of 13 girls and three boys ages 11 to 16, got a hard lesson in national politics.

The fiddlers, teacher Adam Schultheis said, had been promised a place in the parade by state representatives from both political parties as long ago as last summer.

But those promises were made before the group played in September and then in October for Vice President Al Gore and Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., during campaign stops in Nevada for the Democratic Party's presidential ticket.

The promises came before the U.S. Supreme Court ended the Florida recount effort in mid-December and former Texas Gov. George W. Bush was declared the 43rd president of the United States.

The promises were broken about a week ago. On Jan. 7, Schultheis said, he received a call from the Presidential Inaugural Committee to let him know that "his services were no longer needed."

The non-partisan Inaugural Committee had kept Schultheis waiting for three weeks -- while Schultheis strung along National Airlines for 23 flight tickets he couldn't confirm -- to tell him the group had been summarily dismissed, he said.

"I'm just disenchanted by the whole thing," Schultheis said Friday by phone over the background drone of stringed instruments at the band room of Garrett Middle School. "I'll never make an agreement with a politician again without a tape recorder or something in writing. They promise you the world and they don't deliver."

The official word from the Inaugural Committee, Schultheis said, is that the delayed election results in Florida forced a tighter budget. Committee members cut events from both the gala ceremonies and parade participants, they told the teacher.

The Inaugural Committee could not be reached for comment.

But Schultheis suspects something other than tight time schedules caused his group to be re-evaluated.

"No one came close to saying it," Schultheis said. But having played twice for the Democratic ticket, Schultheis said, the fiddlers were most likely viewed by the Inaugural Committee for the incoming Republican president as an easy group to cut.

Lindsay Heff, a 10th grader and cellist for the group, said she didn't know how to react when she heard the news.

"It was really disappointing. I thought we were going to be the first fiddling group ever in American history to be in the Inaugural Parade," she said. "I thought we'd be first. It'd be really cool."

Heff said she thought that by playing for Gore and Lieberman, her group's chances would have been improved, not compromised.

Robert Uithoven, spokesman for Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., also expressed surprise at the decision to cut the fiddle group.

At Schultheis' request, staffers for Gibbons reviewed videos of the group. Then Gibbons phoned the inaugural committee once it was formed in mid-December to endorse the group, Uithoven said.

"I'm sorry to hear they weren't invited," Uithoven said.

So, too, was retired U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Marilyn Nelson, a Boulder City resident who donated money to help the hometown fiddlers make the trip to Washington, D.C.

"I don't give a hoot," Nelson said. "The politics should have nothing to do with the youngsters. I remember when I was a teenager, when you looked forward to something. If it didn't work out, your heart just went down to your boot straps."

Still, Nelson said she is optimistic that the fiddlers will still make the trip to Washington, D.C., and in better weather.

Schultheis has applied for a spot in the Independence Day Parade July 4th.

Each state sends one representative for the parade, which follows the same route down Constitution Avenue to the White House as the Inaugural Parade.

Nothing is guaranteed at this point. But Schultheis, a nationally recognized public school music teacher, said he could hear about his application as early as Jan. 31.

"I told Adam to tell the kids that if they'd gone to the Inaugural ceremonies, no one would even have recognized them. They'd be so bundled up," Nelson said.

Early July in the nation's capital could be much warmer.

But for cellist Heff, the weather isn't an issue.

Playing in parades is about history for her. She said the hoe-downs, two-step polkas and waltzes played by the group bring her back to an understanding of the Old West.

"It's the people's reactions, I guess, and the sound of the music," she said. "On the float, I can see the people clapping their hands. They're dancing in the streets. It's always been that way, every parade we've been in."

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