Doc Erby Drums Up a Storm at Lanark

On Saturday evening, Lanark Village put on a show to "celebrate the merger of Lanark with Carrabelle and heal the wounds the community received making it possible."

The evening included art, music, puppetry and a cookout.

On display were works by Lanark artists Joan Matey, Harold Arnold, Betty Roberts and Olinka Broadfoot.

Members of the internationally known Lanark Scottish Fiddle Orchestra kicked off the evening's fun with a series of lively folk tunes.

"A friend of mine in Japan knows about us," said Cal Allen. "And Tamara knows someone in England."

They were followed by Irish tenor Jim Phillips.

"Playing after those folks is like passing the collard greens after you've already eaten the banana pudding," quipped Phillips, but the audience was far from disappointed with his haunting a-cappella rendition of traditional gospel pieces including "The Lighthouse."

Headlining the show was Erwin O'Conner a.k.a. Doc Erby, Lanark's own pitch man descended from two generations of medicine show doctors.

O'Conner's grandfather, Doc Happy, was a blacksmith in Dayton, TN, site of the infamous Scopes Monkey Trial, but he also traveled as a medicine man touring the South from 1890 to 1925.

Doc Erby's father, Doc DB O'Conner, followed the trade from 1925 until 1935 when he was shut down for selling water and traveled with Johnny's United Carnival.

O'Conner's Indian Cure-all Herb Tonic, made by the Red Star Medical Company of Nashville, TN, lists no ingredients on the label, but promises to cure, "arthritis, warts, ringworm, baldness, PMS, athlete's foot, love sickness and most anything that's wrong with you."

Doc Erby played the banjo on an outdoor stage Saturday until a passing shower drove him and his audience into Chillas Hall.

The storm didn't dampen spirits and the crowd regrouped in the Hall carrying their suppers and their chairs.

Inside Chillas, Shotgun Annie, the world's oldest woman at 125, took to the stage touting the health giving virtues of the tonic, which she said allowed her to outlive 14 husbands.

When Erby returned to the stage, he finished up the show with feats of prestidigitation using his father's "magic hat."

To cap off the evening, there was a film of the puppets of Jerry Hartnett, world famous puppeteer and Lanark resident. Hartnett fashioned exquisite creatures for his show including dancing mermaids and twirling skaters.

Perhaps a little politics was also in the air. The "Barnes Burgers," were prepared with a little of Bangkok and a little of Calcutta by Bruce Barnes of St. George Island, candidate for the Republican nomination for sheriff. Skip Shiver of Apalachicola, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for sheriff, and his wife, Julie also attended the festivities.

Among the Lanark residents who contributed to this fun event were Paul and Barbara Lasher who helped organize the affair, Pauline Sullivan who worked on some special costumes and Bill Snyder who designed posters to announce the show.

Hooray for Doc Erby! How lucky the residents of Lanark Village are to have so much talent among them and to be able to come together for such a grand community celebration.

The event was sponsored by the Concerned Citizens of Lanark and donations for the meal will be used to buy new windows for Chillas Hall.