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1999 SESSION

996263728
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 556
Offered February 19, 1999
On the death of Saford Hall.
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Patrons-- Reynolds; Delegate: Day
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WHEREAS, Saford Hall, a Depression-era bluegrass musician who enjoyed a second career in the 1980s, died on February 11, 1999; and

WHEREAS, a native of a small Patrick County community called “the Hollow,” Saford Hall, according to Ralph Barrier, Jr., of the Roanoke Times, “rose from humble roots to become a prominent musician on Roanoke radio, serve under Patton and win medals during World War II, then make a successful musical comeback five decades later with his twin brother, Clayton”; and

WHEREAS, born in a log cabin on May 4, 1919, Saford Hall learned to play instruments and sing from his mother, then used the cabin’s front porch as a stage, performing with his brother and his cousins for neighbors and passersby; and

WHEREAS, in the late 1930s, Saford Hall joined Roy Hall and the Blue Ridge Entertainers during their successful run on Roanoke radio station WDBJ, playing guitar and fiddle and meeting such famous entertainers as Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers; and

WHEREAS, Saford Hall’s burgeoning musical career was interrupted by World War II, in which he served with Patton’s Ninth Division, 60th Infantry (the “Go Devils”) and from which he emerged with a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star, a Good Conduct Medal, and the Croix de Guerre Etoile de Bronze, awarded by French leader Charles De Gaulle; and

WHEREAS, shortly after the war, Saford Hall retired from music to work in the Radford Arsenal and in the furniture industry until the mid-1980s, when he and his brother were rediscovered as the Hall Twins and the Westerners; and

WHEREAS, the Halls’ blend of old-school bluegrass and western music proved popular with audiences from Maryland to North Carolina, and Saford and Clayton Hall enjoyed renewed popularity in their late sixties; and

WHEREAS, in the words of Ralph Barrier, Jr., Saford Hall “took his final bow, laid down his fiddle and exited life’s stage . . . after a rich life of music, patriotism, hard work and love”; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly mourn the passing of a uniquely talented Virginian, Saford Hall; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Saford Hall as an expression of the great respect in which his memory is held by the members of the General Assembly.