[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 145 (Tuesday, October 13, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2126-E2127]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   TENNESSEE'S DALE CALHOUN RECEIVES NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS 
                 ``1998 NATIONAL HERITAGE FELLOWSHIP''

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN S. TANNER

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 13, 1998

  Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, Dale Calhoun is a fourth generation builder. 
What he builds has brought him richly deserved recognition. Mr. Calhoun 
builds boats. They are special boats with a unique history forever tied 
to the legend of Reelfoot Lake. He builds them by himself and he builds 
them by hand.
  And this week, his talents, nurtured with four generations of family 
experience, were recognized at the White House. Mr. Calhoun was one of 
15 recipients of the National Endowment for the Arts' prestigious 1998 
National Heritage Fellowship, which recognizes outstanding 
contributions to America's folk and traditional arts.
  Along with the National Heritage Fellowship, Mr. Calhoun received 
$10,000.
  For 52 years, Mr. Calhoun became a master builder of the famed 
Reelfoot Lake ``Stump Jumper'' after honing his craft with skills 
learned from his father, William Calhoun. His father learned the craft 
from Dale's grandfather, Boone Calhoun, and his great-grandfather, Joe 
Calhoun.
  The boats are made of cypress and covered with fiberglass. Each one 
is nearly 16 feet long. And they are typically powered by anything from 
a three horse-power engine to an eight horse-power engine. The boats 
have become known as ``Stump Jumpers'' because they can go in 12 inches 
of water, or even less as long as the boat is able to float.
  People as far away as California call to order these boats that are 
built to last for decades.
  What's more, they have become part of the legend of Reelfoot Lake, 
the largest natural lake in Tennessee. Reelfoot Lake was created during 
the earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 when for a time during each of the 
earthquakes the Mississippi River flowed backwards and filled in what 
is now Reelfoot Lake.
  Dale Calhoun is carrying on the tradition with his fourth-generation 
mastery of the craft, and he is being correctly honored with the 1998 
National Heritage Fellowship.
  I want to congratulate Mr. Calhoun for the skills he has honed over 
more than 50 years of boatmaking, his wife, and his father, grandfather 
and great-grandfather for all of the stories they have made possible 
with the thousands of ``Stump Jumpers'' they have built by hand.
  Printed below is a story published in the Union City Daily Messenger 
with the headline: ``Reelfoot Lake boatmaker reels in $10,000 award.''

             Reelfoot Lake Boatmaker Reels in $10,000 Award

                           (By John Brannon)

       At Calhoun Boat Works at Blue Bank, the phone sometimes 
     rings and rings. That's because Dale Calhoun has to stop 
     whatever it is he's doing to walk over and answer it.
       Phones ring every day everywhere. No need to get in a 
     hurry.
       But this call got his attention, took him by surprise, even 
     stunned him, It was from Washington.
       ``It was unreal. Unbelievable. It's something that happens 
     to somebody else, not you,'' Calhoun said. ``It's like the 
     lottery. You have a ticket but somebody else always wins.''
       Not this time, though.
       The caller was an official from the National Endowment for 
     the Arts. The occasion was good news: NEA had selected 
     Calhoun to receive one of its 1998 National Heritage 
     Fellowships.
       The award, one of the nation's most prestigious honors in 
     folk and traditional arts, includes a $10,000 cash prize for 
     each of 15 artists in 11 states.
       Calhoun, a well-known builder of the Reelfoot Lake ``stump 
     jumper'' boat, still finds it hard to believe.
       ``They told me I'd won but not to tell anybody about it 
     until their press release came out,'' he said. ``Well, the 
     press release is out and I'm telling everybody.''
       Other honorees include a jazz fiddler from Kansas City, a 
     silversmith from Oklahoma, a beadworker from Oregon, and a 
     trio of Jewish musicians from Florida.
       ``These performers and crafts-people, who together 
     represent a rich cross-section of America's many cultures, 
     are honored for their achievements as artists, teachers, 
     innovators, and keepers of traditional art forms,'' said 
     Cherie Simon of NEA.
       ``They join the ranks of previous National Heritage Fellows 
     who include bluesman B.B. King, Irish stepdancer Michael 
     Flatley, cowboy poet Wally McRae, and acclaimed musicians 
     Bessie Jones, Doc Watson and Bill Monroe.''
       Calhoun and other honorees will attend a special 
     presentations program Oct. 5 at Washington. Calhoun said he 
     will be accompanied by his wife, Joanne. He's already kidding 
     about it.
       ``She's going to be there to get the check. I told her I'd 
     bring it back, but that didn't work,'' he said with a grin.
       Calhoun, who in July 1997 retired from 25 years service 
     with the Tennessee Department of Corrections, is anything but 
     retired from building Reelfoot Lake boats. In fact, he is a 
     fourth-generation boat builder, in direct lineage from 
     previous masters of the

[[Page E2127]]

     craft--his father, William Calhoun; his grandfather, Boone 
     Calhoun; and his great-grandfather, Joe Calhoun.
       Calhoun estimates in his time he's built thousands of the 
     shallow-draft boats a writer once dubbed the African Queen of 
     Reelfoot Lake.
       ``Standard length is 15\1/2\ feet. Made of cypress, covered 
     with fiberglass, powered by anywhere from a 3- to an 8-
     horsepower motor and a set of oars,'' he said.
       ``It's called a stump-jumper because it'll run in about 12 
     inches of water. As long as it can float, it will go. You 
     take care of it. it'll last a long time. There's some around 
     here that's 50 and 60 years old.''
       Price of one of his boats ranges from $1,500 to $2,500.
       Calhoun has displayed his boats and demonstrated his 
     craftsmanship at the World's Fair at Knoxville in 1982, the 
     Tennessee Aquarium at Chattanooga, and at the Smithsonian 
     Institute at Washington.
       At the boat-building demonstrations, a curious public stops 
     and watches, he said. Invariably, wherever he's set up shop, 
     a curious public always asks the same three questions.
       ``Those questions are, `What kind of wood do you use?', 
     `How many do you make in a year?, and `How long does it take 
     you to make one?' '' he said.
       ``I don't know how many I make in a year. It takes me about 
     10 days to make one, but I take my time, and the phone rings, 
     and ain't nobody here but me. Besides, I'm supposed to be 
     retired. So who knows? I still have orders to fill. I just 
     put their names down and get to 'em when I can.''
       A Reelfoot Lake boat is one permanent display at Obion 
     County museum, Dixie Gun Works, the Tennessee State Museum at 
     Nashville, and the Fish and Wildlife Museum at Atlanta, GA.
       Calhoun's customers are nationwide.
       ``I keep a boat on hand for a man in California. He might 
     call today and say. `Send it to me.' He's the largest 
     wholesale grocer in California, and he gives Reelfoot Lake 
     boats to his customers,'' Calhoun said.
       ``He says they can't get one like it anywhere else, so it's 
     something unique for them.''

     

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