DOBSON — Hosting an old-time fiddlers convention represents a first for Surry Community College, and organizers are confident it won’t be the last.

“You’re witnessing history,” Robbie Ernhart Shaw said Friday night as the old-time group Backstep performed in the college gymnasium — its sounds luring a crowd of square-dancers to the floor.

“This could be going on 75 years from now — like Galax,” Shaw added in reference to the long-running event in Virginia that is considered the granddaddy of all fiddlers conventions.

Shaw, a former 10-year employee of WPAQ, the Mount Airy radio station that has done much to promote old-time music, is serving as an adviser for the inaugural Surry Old-Time Fiddlers Convention in Dobson. It kicked off with a special concert in the gym Friday night featuring The Slate Mountain Ramblers and The Mountain Park Old-Time Band in addition to Backstep.

The actual competition gets under way today at 11 a.m. with individual performances, after a 10 a.m. registration period. Youth performances begin at noon, folk-song competition at 2 p.m. and the band contest at 6 p.m. After a special performance by a local master artist at 7:30, the competition resumes at 8 p.m. — with a dance contest planned afterward.

A venue that has witnessed many a basketball game featuring the SCC Knights has instead been decked out for music, including a raised stage boasting a well-equipped sound system that allows the old-time sounds to emanate throughout the building.

More than 20 colorful quilts adorn the gym, which, according to Buck Buckner, another person involved with the convention, are there for appearance as well as aiding the acoustics.

Along with the musical performers and dancers, a seating area in the gym was filled Friday night with people simply enjoying the old-time tunes so richly rooted in the Appalachian region.

An exclusive focus on the traditional brand of music at the Surry Community College event represents a departure from other fiddlers conventions, which feature bluegrass as well as old-time competition.

“It’s purely old-time,” said Laurette Leagon, president and chief executive officer of the Yadkin Valley Chamber of Commerce, which has a Dobson division. The chamber is staging the convention on behalf of local tourism-development groups.

“That was kind of our hope, to be a little different,” Leagon said of the strict old-time theme. Organizers considered the SCC campus to be a perfect location for the convention Leagon believes will complement similar events already being held in the area.

“I just think it brings greater attention to the traditional old-time music,” Leagon explained.

Since no advance registration occurred, the number of competitors expected wasn’t known Friday night. Leagon said participants from a three-state region who have appeared at other area fiddlers conventions in the past were contacted about the newest one.

It was planned with the help of old-time musicians in Surry County, Leagon said, and in addition to today’s competition, opportunities for impromptu jam sessions are anticipated.

Contact Tom Joyce at tjoyce@mtairynews.com or at 719-1924.