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Russ Morton
Hatteberg's People
Reporter: Larry Hatteberg
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September 7, 2003--His work, is music to his ears. On Hatteberg's People,
a little north of Newton, I too, stopped to listen.
In his basement workshop, Russ Morton of rural Newton Kansas, is not simply relaxing. |
"Yeah, we'll bring this old fiddle back to life."
For over a quarter century, Morton has made a quiet basement into a life's harmony of work.
"This is going to be a nice little violin."
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Repairing, restringing, collecting and selling old fiddles and violins, that is what makes him the happiest.
"I never get tired of working on an old violin. It's just a joy to do."
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Part of that joy is being here in this little workshop, surrounded by his tools and the instruments he saves. There is satisfaction here.
"But I tell them just like it is...if I can't fix your old violin, it isn't broke."
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Some of his finished work sits on a nearby table, work that until recently, he wasn't able to do because of illness...but now he's back.
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"This work keeps my hands busy and it keeps your mind working all the time. You don't have room for slipups. It's good for the old soul."
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"Sometimes you come home from work and feeling a little bit down because things didn't go right today. You just pick up this old violin and play it a little and pretty soon you have no more troubles."
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| Russ and his wife attend festivals throughout the year, just enjoying what a little fiddle music can bring. |
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