Photo by Ken Odor
Goochland E.S. principal Diana Gordon (left) joins Eddie Gee, Joyce Guthrie, Don Park and Goochland E.S. teacher Kim Watts for a photo. Guthrie hold s photo of the Gee, Park and Larry Fitch from an earlier day when they first formed their band.

Teacher inspires a lifetime commitment to music
BY KEN ODOR


Oct 09, 2008

It was 1962 and fourth grade teacher Joyce Guthrie wanted to spark interest in music in her students at Henrico County’s Tuckahoe Elementary School

It was 1962 and fourth grade teacher Joyce Guthrie wanted to spark interest in music in her students at Henrico County’s Tuckahoe Elementary School.

“She walked in and said, ‘You kids are going to learn music,’ ” recalled Park.

Sandy Hook resident Park notes the unique role his fourth grade teacher played in his life and the lives of two of his closest friends.

“She put us together in ’62 and put us back together 20 years later,” said singer Don Park.

Guthrie, who now lives in Hadensville, was a big Kingston Trio fan. So she brought in her ukulele and played some of the popular folk group’s songs.

Just about the whole class went out and bought ukuleles as a result. And three members of the class stuck with it: Park, Eddie Gee and Larry Fitch formed a band called “The Patriots.”

“They idolized the Kingston Trio,” said Guthrie, who was with Park and Gee last week as they entertained students at Goochland Elementary School, where Park’s stepson Austin Lewis, 10, is in the fourth grade.

Guthrie said she used to pile the boys into her little MG sports car and take them to Kingston Trio concerts when the group came to town.

“They played their way through high school and college,” said Guthrie of the band she inspired.

Park said The Patriots played through their days at Tuckahoe E.S., Tuckahoe Junior High and Douglas Freeman High School.

They were regulars on the “Sailor Bob Show” on Channel 12.

The three band members went off to separate colleges, and the group broke up about 1972, said Park.

As time went by, Guthrie married and moved to Pittsburgh, where she raised two daughters.

She moved to Charlottesville in 1990 after a divorce, and ended up taking a job with the city school system.

“I hadn’t taught in years,” she said. So imagine her surprise when she found herself teaching Fitch’s two children in Charlottesville. Guthrie and Fitch decided to call Park and Gee, who came to Charlottesville for a reunion.

“I hadn’t thought about the Kingston Trio for 20 years,” said Park. “She sort of reassembled us again.”

In 1997 the three Kingston Trio fans traveled to East Carolina University and finally met their idols, becoming close friends with Bob Shane, the Kingston Trio leader.

“We took him out and partied until five in the morning,” said Park. “Our lifetime fantasy came true.”

Last week’s performance was a bittersweet experience for Park and Gee, when they learned later that Nick Reynolds, one of the original members of the Kingston Trio died Oct. 1, the day they played at Goochland E.S.

During their performance Park and Gee played several Kingston Trio hits, including “The MTA,” “Oh Miss Mary” and “Run Molly Run.”

Park said it’s always remarkable how well the old music is received, with some of the students saying they wanted to buy the groups’ CDs.

And he marvels at the influence one fourth grade teacher has had in his life.

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