The fall of 1982 was coming on and I was having a birthday. I'd been fixing up all day long getting ready for a specially fancy dinner because my boss Joe Quiroz, head of the Inner Canyon Unit, was coming up from Phantom that day with some frozen steaks, and a bottle of wine. His sister-in-law was accompanying him to come up and have dinner with me. They'd spend the night and go on back the next day.

In the course of the afternoon, having done my campground chores, I came back and heard music in the breezeway between the major ranger station at Cottonwood and the bunkhouse. Thinking--here is this very good looking dark haired fellow (Robert Bonfiglio) playing a harmonica with music set up--and very serious. I'd always thought that harmonica was just a fun toy thing that you played. He said, "Oh do you mind if I practice? I'm a concert harmonicist and I have to practice three or four hours a day or else I' can't keep my technique at top peak all the time. We're on our way up to the North Rim and have the night here--with a permit." I said, "we? There's someone else in your group?" He said, "Yes, Clare Hoffman is here. She's a flutist with the group. We're on our way from the east coast to the west on a concert tour with a troupe and we decided we wanted to hike."

I said, "This is fine, I've got some work in the kitchen and I'll enjoy listening to you", so I did. I came out periodically to watch because it was interesting. He had little instruments and bigger ones--playing them. While I was there (in uniform) a woman came up with a deep frown on her face and she said, "Ranger, I wish to complain about this. I didn't come down here to hear this kind of music, I came down to get away from everything."

I said, "It will be very easy. All you'll have to do is go down by the creek and you won't hear anything unless you happen to hear a flutist down there". "Oh," she said, "I just think this is real out of place." I said, "Well fortunately I disagree with you. I think you are much in the minority, but why don't you just go to another part of the campground." She said, "Well!" and hunched off.

He kept playing and I kept thinking, "This is so pretty." I hadn't met Clare at that point. But a flute and a low harmonica would sound lovely together. Maybe it would add to our dinner. So I said, "Would you consider playing for our meal this evening? We're having a candlelight. It's my birthday and my boss is coming up. We're having a nice dinner and I've made a special dessert of blackberries that I picked down in Indian Gardens last July, some Jell-O and cookies to go with it and you could join us and we'd love to have you."

"That sounds great. It's much better that what we've brought in on our backs from the South Rim."

So supper time came and it was early evening in October down there. Joe came and we had good time welcoming each other. He cooked the steaks and I said, "Oh, by the way we have a little chamber music going to be present tonight." Come to find out, Joe and his wife Cheryl, then the doctor on the South Rim, are classical fanciers and they have a fabulous library and excellent equipment for playing so he perked right up--he thought that was a nice idea. Then in came this handsome man and a very lovely willowy blond gal with a deep dimple in one cheek and a flute in her hand and they played chamber music. He played the oboe part and she played the theme. They'd discuss which they were going to do--by candle light it wasn't easy to see I'm sure but we had a lovely dinner and they joined us for dessert.

Well, unbeknownst to me, when Joe got back to the rim, he waited for them. They were on their way to the North Rim at that point. They had another night back at Cottonwood and it was three nights I'm sure before they got back to the south rim. By then it was pushing towards the weekend. So he asked Robert if he would be willing to play for a sort of impromptu concert at the Rock of Ages on Sunday afternoon. Would he be there?

"Oh yes, there are about six or eight more of us you know." So they did. They put on a performance for the townspeople that Joe could round up in time for it, and that was the beginning of the Grand Canyon Chamber Music Festival Concerts.

Used by permission of the Grand Canyon Pioneers Society.

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