By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
Featuring five bands, the Ditchfest was held at the Bucyrus T&O train station Sunday afternoon.
Named after original Hobo Band bassist Arvine “Big Ditch” Kindinger the 2014 Ditchfest featured the John Kennedy Quartet, Dave Miller, Elizabeth Brown and Karen Scott, Roger Hoover, and the Hobo Band.
Rob ‘Arden’ Neff explained that the Ditchfest was created to pay tribute to friend Arvine Kindnger.
“Arvin was our original bassist in our band, and played with us until his shoulder gave out. He was out here each time we played. He was a big supporter of ours, and a dear friend of ours and we miss him greatly. He was also the Wynford Music director for close 30 years. Music was a big part of his life, and a big part of the lives of all that he knew. So we thought no more fitting tribute than to come out here and have a little music and have a little fun, and share some memories about the man that we affectionately called ‘Big Ditch,’” Neff said.
Neff recalled how Big Ditch received his nickname.
“One of the things we did in the Hobo Band was we each took hobo names, and in hobo culture it is typical that you don’t go by your real name, you go by your hobo name. Some of the names were clamed by individuals and some were assigned. Arvine’s hobo name of Big Ditch was assigned by spell check, because if you run spell check on anything with his name Arvine in it, it comes out ravine, and a ravine is in fact a big ditch. He seemed to embrace it and he was known, or at least will be known in the Hobo Band as Big Ditch,” Neff said.
John Kennedy recalled Kidinger in between songs “Just Friends” and “The wee small hours of the morning,” which were played at Kidinger’s calling hours.
“I met Arv the same day I met my wife. I met her on a blnd date at a school dance, and Arv Kidinger was a chaperone. He advised me to go to college where I majored in music for two years. Arvine played bass with us for twenty years until he retired from playing music,” Kennedy said.
Crawford County Park District Director Bill Fisher recalled Kidinger as a man who cared for the community.
“He was from Crestline I am from Crestline, and I am very proud of the work he did for Wynford and the Community. He had a great sense of community, and was a tireless energetic guy who did lots of things for everybody,” Fisher said.