Ocoee bluegrass group celebrates 25 years

If you’ve been to Twistee Treat in Ocoee on a Friday night, you have probably seen — or at least heard — a live musical performance somewhere near that  swirly-roofed stand. It was November 1990 when Jack Lewis and his wife, Judie, now in their 70s, started a weekly bluegrass jam in the parking lot at West Colonial Drive and Maguire Road. 

This month, the Lewises and the other musicians who play there are celebrating 25 solid years of this tradition centered on music and friendship.

Decades ago, Jack was on an Army mission to make a delivery to the office building where Judie worked. He saw her there and waited until she had finished working for the day to introduce himself.

A few days later, they were married. 

Jack has been involved with the Florida bluegrass scene for almost 40 years. Judie was at first a passive listener, until she was inspired by a young woman who played the lead on the upright bass at one Friday night jam. After that, Jack taught Judie to play, and she became a key picker at the jams. 

Before the jam started in Ocoee, Jack Lewis and some friends had been playing together regularly outdoors near Tanner Hall on the shore of Lake Apopka. But the mosquitoes were too vicious to continue there. Lewis knew some firefighters who let the group move to a firehouse in Winter Garden, but concerns about liabilities arose and Lewis had to come up with a new plan.

The pickers moved again to the parking lot now anchored by Twistee Treat, Pizza Hut and a strip mall. At first, the Lewises worried the business owners might ask them to leave, but no one ever did. 

“I think what made it kind of a success was, we’d be out there in the middle of the parking lot … and people would get ice cream and they’d wander over to see what was happening,” Jack Lewis said. 

At first, the jam was a Thursday event, but it soon switched to Friday so the musicians could stay up late without worrying about getting up early for work the next day.

“We have been out there 1:30, 2 o’clock in the morning, back when I was younger,” said Gerald Creed, a longtime jam participant and a member of Lewis’ band, The Moonlite Express. 

The only rules are no alcohol and no cussing.

“It’s just good, clean fun,” Creed said. 

Lewis remembers musicians who have come from all over to join the jam. People from across the United States have found out about it and stopped by during their vacations to Central Florida. There was an airplane pilot who would join whenever he was in the area. And even bluegrass enthusiasts from Switzerland, Russia, England and other countries have participated.

“A lot of people have come and gone,” Lewis said. “Good friends that have passed away, some that would come to pick and others that would just come to listen.”

Those listeners are also an important part of the jam. At times, there have been more than 100 people watching. There are always at least several people who set up lawn chairs or sit in the back of their trucks and vans to enjoy the music. 

Many of the listeners tend to be older couples who appreciate an opportunity to watch the guitarists, bassists, mandolinists, violinists, banjo players and singers for free, but all ages are welcome and embraced.

Anyone is invited to pack up their instruments and head over to pick along at the jam. The music tends to start up around 7 p.m.

“We all love the music — that’s the main thing,” Lewis said. “And you meet a lot of people there. I’ve met some wonderful people.”