French Creek Folk, Honors to perform

Herb and Jan Conn are remembered most for their climbing and caving adventures, but their legacy also lives on in the Custer music scene.
Married in 1944, Herb and Jan were avid climbers in the Northeast. After several years of traveling the U.S., Canada and Mexico to rock climb, they settled in Custer in 1949, where they explored the rocks of the Black Hills, publishing several books about their adventures and climbs.  Using their climbing skills, they began exploring Wind Cave in 1963 and later Jewel Cave, where together they discovered miles and miles of cave passageways.
Jan was also a musician, songwriter, playwright and performer who gave classical guitar and flute lessons in Custer for many years. This led her to organize hootenannies where locals would gather to share music.  Many in Custer still remember her performances where she would sing about her caving adventures. During this time Jan copyrighted a musical, “Run to Catch a Pine Cone,” which was performed in Custer for the first time in the late 1980s and has since been performed throughout the country.  
Jan formed a flute trio with her students (Jan, Jen Nelson and Libby Oney) and a guitar quartet (Jan, Roger Steinhauer, Walt Griffin, Pauline Weichler).  When violinist Mary Miller moved to Custer Jan decided to combine the groups and they became French Creek Folk. Oney recalls, “Our first get together was at Walt Griffin’s house. Hollis Merroit joined us during the summers and provided a lot of the music that we started with.  One of her professors in Wyoming was Dave Brinkman. After Dave heard our group he wrote ‘French Creek Waltz’ for us, and we play it still.” 
In addition, Jeff Rohr, JoAnn Trask, Eric Nelson, Jenny Collins, John Betz, Wolf, John Savery, Dwight Vogel, Penny Knuckles, Jimmy Fechner, Hank Fridell and Marianne Fridell are all former French Creek Folk alumni.
Current members include Cheryl Mayer, Linda McElroy, Oney, Jennifer Nelson, Kerry Burns, Mary Fechner and Ed Fischer. They play instrumental music, including traditional and folk tunes, bluegrass, big band and jazz, polkas, waltzes and others not so easily classified.
Hanna Honors grew up in Custer and is an avid member of the Custer music and arts community. She graduated from Custer High School in 2018 and studied music education at Augustana University in Sioux Falls. After graduating in 2022, she moved back to her hometown of Custer and has been actively involved in performing, teaching and supporting music in Custer’s community. 
Honors is the lead facilitator and guitar instructor for Kids Rock Custer, a summer camp for young rockers who form their own band, write their own song, and perform it all in one week. The camp is supported by the Custer Area Arts Council. She has also written songs for Elder’s Wisdom Children Song, an opportunity for fourth grade students to write a song about an elder in their community. Honors also teaches private lessons for piano and guitar.
In addition to teaching, Honors writes her own music and performs often. Her style is a blend of several genres she is inspired by, including rock, folk, indie alternative, grunge, punk and classical guitar. She writes about the meaningful experiences in life, and how they all are important to who you are. 
She is working toward releasing her album of original songs next year. She hopes to inspire kids (and everyone) to play music and stay creative. 
French Creek Folk and Hanna Honors will perform at the Custer Trailhouse, 148 Gordon St., Friday, Nov. 21, at 7 p.m. Donations are suggested, with the proceeds going to the performers. The event is sponsored by the Custer Area Arts Council.