- About
- Future Students
GraduateCertificates
- Academics
Academic Resources
- Current Students
- Athletics
- Alumni / Give
Because the festival is cancelled for 2020, we are going to wait until 2021 to award the next Lunsford Award, as we want the recipient to be able to fully enjoy the moment and all that goes with it.
Congratulations to Loretta Freeman, recipient of the 2019 Lunsford Award!
Freeman’s roots are deep in Appalachian culture. She comes from a long line of dancers and traditional musicians, and she is known for developing her own style of Appalachian dance that combines buck dancing, flatfoot, and traditional clogging. She has danced with Mars Hill University’s Bailey Mountain Cloggers and the Southern Mountain Fire Cloggers, among other teams. She serves as chair of the Folk Heritage committee, a group of volunteers who’ve kept the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival (founded by Bascom Lamar Lunsford in 1928) going for 92 years and Shindig on the Green for its 53-year run.
Loretta Freeman comes from a long line of dancers and traditional musicians. Her father (Gordon Freeman), uncle (Arvil Freeman), and brother (Terry Freeman) are all prior recipients of the Lunsford Award, and Loretta is helping to make sure those family traditions continue. Her daughters Lynsey and Lauren also clog, and son Dexter plays the guitar. Both Loretta and Lynsey have been recognized by America’s Clogging Hall of Fame as All-American Cloggers.
The Lunsford Award will be presented on the main stage of the Lunsford Festival on Oct. 5, 2019, at 11:00 am.
The Bascom Lamar Lunsford Award has been given out since 1980 to individuals who have made significant contributions to the folk, musical, and/or dance traditions of the southern mountain region.
Past Winners
2018 Brian Hunter
2017 Jeff Atkins
2016 Carol Rifkin
2015 Peter Gott
2014 Nick Hallman
2013 George Banks
2012 Boyd Black / Kathryn Parham (Lunsford Youth Award)
2011 Paul Crouch
2010 David Shelton
2009 Leonard Hollifield
2008 Laura Boosinger
2007 Vernon and Ruth Riddle
2007 Doug Phillips
2006 Jerry Sutton
2005 Joe Penland / Donna Ray Norton, Denise Norton O’Sullivan , & Melanie Rice (Lunsford Youth Award)
2004 Bobby McMillon
2003 Marilyn McMinn-McCredie
2003 Mrs. Nelia Hyatt
2002 Terry Freeman
2002 Marvin Faulkner
2001 Ralph Lewis
2001 Vickie Hensley
2000 R. Kirk Randleman
2000 Buddy Davis
1999 Lena Jean Ray
1999 Roger Howell / Josh Goforth (Lunsford Youth Award)
1998 Bailey Mountain “Square” Dancers
1998 Don Pedi
1998 Jerry Adams
1997 Sheila Kay Adams
1996 Gary Spence
1996 Hilary Dirlam
1995 Luke Smathers
1994 Johnny Rhymer
1993 Richard Dillingham
1993 Wayne Pressley
1992 Ralph Fox
1991 Danny Johnson
1990 Carroll Best
1989 Arvil Freeman
1988 Ernest “Red” Ivester
1988 Ray Hutchinson
1987 Dellie Norton
1987 Mack Snoderly
1986 Thelma Parham
1986 Chub Parham
1986 Lamar Lunsford
1986 Quay Smathers
1985 Gordon Freeman
1984 Obray Ramsey
1983 Ed Howard
1982 Carl Chandler
1981 Byard Ray
1982 Betty Smith