Fiddling around: Boulder City youths, shunned at inaugural, get their chance to play in Washington

Tuesday, July 3, 2001 | 10:45 a.m.

Asad story about a troupe of young fiddlers who were denied a performance in the presidential inauguration in January will have a happy ending Wednesday.

The Boulder City Hometown Fiddlers, made up of 13 students between the ages of 11 and 16 from Boulder City schools, are scheduled to be among those in the annual Fourth of July parade in Washington, D.C.

The students and their chaperons, including their director, Adam Schultheis, left Las Vegas Monday morning to complete a journey that actually began last year, when the group first was told it would perform at the inauguration.

But that promise was made before the controversial presidential election in November, the outcome of which was not known until mid-December when George W. Bush was named the victor.

But regardless of who won, Schultheis thought his group would be performing in Washington, D.C. The community raised $12,000 to cover the cost of the fiddlers' trip to the inauguration.

Then, Schultheis said, on Jan. 7 the non-partisan Presidential Inaugural Committee called to tell him the fiddlers were being "un-invited."

"We thought we had the OK from (Sen.) Harry Reid, but I believe because Bush got in Reid dropped the ball," Schltheis said. "I did not hear from him or from (Rep. Shelley) Berkley."

Schultheis was upset that his students were being treated similar to a political football, and became determined to take them to Washington anyway, and attempted to keep politics out of it.

Schultheis applied for a position for the group in the Fourth of July parade in the nation's capitol.

"I thought the inauguration was a done deal, but the parade was in the back of my mind as a back-up," Schultheis said.

He found out on Jan. 14 that Jan. 31 was the deadline for applying for the parade.

"There was very little time to put it together," Schultheis said. "And I didn't want to play politics. I wanted the application to rely on the merits and accolades of the group."

He submitted an application to the National Independence Day Committee and it was approved on Jan. 31.

"It required the recommendation of one politician, and so Gov. Kenny Guinn did that for us," Schultheis said.

Schultheis said the students could use the $12,000 they raised for the failed inauguration trip.

"But the (Clark County) School District wouldn't allow the money to be released to us. They wanted to throw it into the general fund," he said. "I said forget that and (named it) the Boulder City Hometown Fiddlers Association as a nonprofit group to raise funds.

"The association was able to receive the $12,000. Every penny is accountable, and we didn't have to deal with a lot of administrative bull."

But Schultheis learned that $12,000 would not be enough. "The big thing was paying for a float in the parade," he said. "The float fee was $4,000."

He said the students had about four months to raise the additional funds.

Several businesses made large donations and the group ended up with almost $19,000, Schltheis said.

"Once we got approved and raised the money and definitely knew we were going on trip. We got proclamations from the governor and the Boulder City mayor and we got recognition on the (U.S.) Senate floor from (Sen.) John Ensign and on the House floor from (Rep.) Jim Gibbons," Schultheis said.

Schultheis said acceptance by the parade committee was not based solely upon Guinn's recommendation, but upon achievements by the group.

While the Boulder City Hometown Fiddlers Association will make its debut before a national audience, its members have been performing for years.

Schultheis actually created the string band four years ago. In addition to fiddles (or violins), the group consists of three celloist, three viola players and a bass player.

Schultheis said the goal of the group is to promote patriotism through fiddling.

"My idea was to put a string element in marching parades," he said. "We had to buy a a float and a complete sound system."

The group routinely performs in parades in Southern Nevada, including events in Pahrump and Henderson, as well as Boulder City.