2018 Filming

by Alburn

We’re back in Indiana, capturing the ongoing story of Eric Jarboe and the Jennings County School Orchestra program. During this trip we’ll be exploring the very beginning of the program as well as its future.

Monday, we got the chance to talk with William “Bill” Carnes, the man, besides Eric, who is most responsible for the creation of the string orchestra program in the Jennings County Schools. Bill lives with his lovely wife, Wilma, in a suburb of Indianapolis. The whole Jarboe clan drove up and while Susan and Wilma caught up with each other, Kelsy and I filmed a conversation between Bill and Eric. 

The two spent some time reminiscing about how the original idea for teaching strings in Jennings County started. Eric wanted to be a part of an orchestra program but didn’t think that Jennings County could support one. Bill, principal of the Junior High School at the time, thought that he could help with the politics of getting a program like that started. Thirty five years later, Eric’s daughter and I would be in the high school filming that very same program.

Eric did his own bit of producing and brought a scrapbook to help jog their memories. Kelsy and I were both humbled by the openness and passion that both Eric and Bill had in discussing not only the start of this program, but also the importance of music education across the country. To paraphrase Bill, “Reading, writing, and arithmetic are all important for education, but music is what creates good citizens.”

Wednesday we’ll be talking with Grant Pfifer, who has been teaching the orchestra since Eric retired. We’ve already had some great interactions with Grant and know that the program is in good hands. Kelsy and I look forward to hearing from him about the continued impact of the Jennings County Orchestra program in North Vernon, Indiana.