Chris Eldridge at the Celebration of Life for Ben Eldridge – photo © Jeromie Stephens
This past Sunday, September 29, friends and family gathered in Fredericksburg, VA to honor the memory of Ben Eldridge, legendary founding banjo player with The Seldom Scene, who passed away on April 14 of this year.
Jeromie Stephens and his wife, April, were in attendance, and he shared these photos of what he described as a joyous event.
“The afternoon’s events were punctuated several times by short, 2-3 song sets by the Seldom Scene, accompanied by Chris Eldridge. Katy Daley MC’d and took the mic around to those who were stage-shy.
Ben’ ex-wife Diana Runyon told the story about the day Ben gave her his ‘Harvey’ banjo – that it was not lost in a divorce. As she told it, Ben came to visit her after they separated and brought Harvey along. Since she no longer had a banjo, he said she needed a good one and gave it to her.
The final number was Angel Band. We all helped with the singing.”
Ben’s two ex-wives and his widow reprised their singing of For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow, which they had performed before in his honor at his retirement concert with The Seldom Scene at The Birchmere.
