MUSIC
annual “Show and Tell” meeting of the St. Lucie County
Historical Society. “It was the first time I’d made it to a meeting,
42
and she brought her father’s violin to show,” Baker says.
“The whole time she was talking about it, I kept wondering if
she would ask someone to play.”
And then she did, and Baker, who has played the violin
since fifth grade, volunteered. “I was so glad you did,”
Bussey tells Baker. “I hadn’t really heard it played in years. It
brought tears to my eyes and others, I suspect.”
It’s true, says Fort Pierce resident Maggie Minchew, a longtime
society member who was there that May evening.
“She mentioned she hadn’t heard it played since her father
died, and asked if anyone would play something,” Minchew
says. “A new member
stood, and after tuning
it, began to play a beautiful
classical piece. If
she hadn’t followed that
up with an Irish jig, the
whole room would have
been awash with tears.”
“You can’t imagine
the memories,” Bussey
says, smiling. “In my
mind, I can still hear her
play.”
Baker, a Kentucky
native who has lived in
Fort Pierce since 2006,
credits divine intervention.
“It was definitely a
God thing,” she says.
“I mean, what are the
Joe Roberts moved with his family to Fort
chances that I would be
Pierce in 1914. When he died here in
1959, one of the sweetest legacies he left
there to play it on that
his daughter was his cherished violin.
particular night? It was
such a pleasure for me, and it worked out perfectly.”
Bussey’s father, Joseph Lee Roberts, died in 1959 at age
73. When her mother died two years later, Bussey’s seven
siblings went through the Fort Pierce homestead dividing up
heirlooms, and decided Bussey should have the violin.
“It was a complete surprise, and a most pleasant one,”
Bussey says. >>
ABOUT THE ST. LUCIE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
The St. Lucie Historical Society Inc. was established in
1952 as a nonprofit corporation dedicated to the study
and preservation of the history and artifacts of the region.
Monthly dinner meetings are at 5:30 p.m. at the Fort
Pierce Elks Club, 615 S. U.S. 1, Fort Pierce. Dinner is $11
per person and open to the public. Upcoming dates are
Sept. 24, Oct. 22, Nov. 19 and Dec. 17. Annual dues are
$15, which includes free admission to the St. Lucie County
Historical Museum and subscription to the society’s quarterly
publication, featuring in-depth essays on a variety of
local historical subjects. More information is available on
the society’s Web site at www.stluciehistoricalsociety.org,
or by calling (772) 461-8020.
/www.stluciehistoricalsociety.org