Ginny Achin

There was nothing else anywhere like The Beaux!
NoOne else around like Tommy.
Those were
THE DAYS

Ginny with her hand-painted Banjo in 1978

Ginny frequented Beaux Arts In '65 and '66, then from late '69 through late '73 while living the the area.
Then visited a few times in '74, '75, once in '77.
She returned to the burned remnants of one of the fires in the Spring '87!

She started her performances at Beaux Arts in 1965, playing solo sets of folk, folk blues, and her original songs. She then moved on to more intricate banjo, and played in duets in their sets.
Upon her return visits in the 70's she read her peotry, to a musical accompaniment, and brought paintings and leather crafts and displays to ornament the garden.

Ginny ranks herself as a friend, fan, artist, writer and musician of The Beaux.

Her curernt passions were captured on video and made the local press when she spontaneously "broke out in song" from her wheel-chaired, "MAKE WAR OBSOLETE" sign-holding, 'nose-hose' oxygen supported position in the latter portion of the Grant County Peace Coalition contribution to/entry in the parade (pictured below)

BeBop Fairytale 
Ginny (Arthur) Achin

Hello and Howdy too
   to all who I once knew,
       who sang and played and danced
           and dared to take a chance
               in bygone days of Yore
                  when Mother watched the door,
              where stood the Golden Crèche;
          each with a cigarette,
       up front in single file
   like Palace Guard, no smile–
for tourists coming through,
   to pay the way for you
       Pinellas County Freaks
          who gathered there to seek
              Communion on the strings of
                 instruments and things,
                    and all the arts, upstairs and down,
                        out back and all around.........
                             when ALL the freaks in town
                         could fill the place with Sound,
                      yet still have room to share
                   with tourists who could spare
               each their greenback dollar
            to the hand of Mother
        when coming through the door.
    The dollar then was more,
 which few Freaks had, you know;
     but they could Give a SHOW,
           .....whether giving it in song,
                    or in artwork all along
                       the walls and stairs, well hung,
                         in cacophonic fun,
                      or in the gallery
                  advertised by Tommy
               as “Featured Artist’s Show,”
             between the movies shown,
         Or folks could pay their way
       as actors in a play—
             through the theater door,
                 with stage and sloping floor;
                     while poets’ hearts and heads
                         o’re microphones were read
                              between the music sets,
                                  poetic intellects—
                               When all beatnik folkies
                          with cigarettes and stogies,
                     Ethnic, Sandaled, Hairy,
                (Squares then thought them scarey!)
      ....all gathered there at once,
   then Tommy had a hunch
there’d be a game with Tom
   to keep him up ‘til dawn
       At least to keep the door,
             right up to two or four,
                   OPEN!
                      while the cop-shop denizens
                          with flashing photo guns
                             shot our license plates, when
                                even then, perched on trunks,
                                    we passed around the wine,
                                       recalled forgotten lines......
Back once upon a time
       in bygone days of Yore,
   we played a game with Tom;                   
            an’kept him open
                 up ‘til four.

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