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stouffville suntribune thursday dec 4 2003 7 roaming around with jim thomas rising bluegrass star remembers her roots stoufivilies loss is markhams gain helen lewis one of this towns most naturally talented vocalists has hit the bluegrass circuit creating waves of sup port at every stop the group called general store includes bill blance of brampton on banjo norm tillier of cambridge mandolin brian risebrough of caledon guitar john perkins of erin bass and ms lewis of markham on autoharp in addition to instru mental skills second to none four of the five produce a down- home harmony unequalled anywhere in a recent competition at deerhurst lodge near huntsville they received four nominations most promising band gospel group of 2003 vocal group of 2003 and mandolin player of 2003 all this in less than two years helen comes by her vocal talents honestly her father the late joe lewis was an accomplished guitarist and mary her mother loves to sing as did grandfather obediah peacock to this day mary recalls how her fathers solo hymn- sing in the potato patch resulted in verbal responses from area neighbours as a student attending stouffville district secondary school helen sang with a folk club mak ing occasional appearances at assemblies following graduation she spent two years on the road partici pating in concerts throughout the maritimes and northern ontario despite amazing versatility helens deep love of bluegrass kept her searching for the right combination and sound she found it through tom mccreight also an sdss grad tom in announcing plans to retire introduced helen to members of a band called silverbirch a rehearsal was arranged and the rest ishistory helens so deeply immersed in music one group isnt enough she also belongs to a company called country friends a band headed by john and laura heighway of unionville however general store takes up most of her time the quintet has performed at many fall fairs including orangeville brampton and lindsay it has also participated in several sum mer festivals and church concerts a recently released cd is currently enjoying success it con tains 14 songs including one about the old bethesda store that helen wrote the store once on warden avenue was operated for many years by helens aunt and uncle roy and marjorie smith the chorus goes the old bethesda store isnt open any more the windows are all dark and theres no sign upon the door my aunt and uncle dear ran the store for years theyre gone to some place i can only dream about from here in the garden one of helens favourites has brought audi ences to tears the groups repertoire of songs is close to 100 because bluegrass music receives little or no air play in north america manyknowlittle about it helen says but once people hear it they love it she adds helens instrumental strength is the autoharp its simple to play she claims she also enjoys piano mandolin and guitar women a rarity for a woman to be part of a bluegrass unit is unique helen admits until recently bluegrass was supposedly an allmale domain but not anymore im doing what i love she says helen sees no limit as to how far the group can go or what it can accomplish we think of ourselves as at the beginning she said general store hopes to eventually tour canada the united states and maybe even england were closing no doors she says closing no stouffville doors either wheels are already turn ing helen says that despite the fact she now lives in f markham she still maintains a strong affection for the town where she grew up and went to school who knows she says perhaps after all these years some may remember ma they will once they hear her and her friends nor will they soon forget jim thomas is a stouffville resident who has written for area newspapers for more than 50 years smavios zpaiutyliny mario arminia would like to welcome back o saturdays only book your appointment now 9056401099 1 si i s the markham spring vendors me wanted for the markham spring home show feb 27 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