article from the paper

Isaiah DeRuyter , age ten , competed in the South Dakota Fiddle Contest in Yankton this past weekend. Isaiah is the son of Rich and Stephanie DeRuyter. Isaiah lives south of Ruthton on a farm with his four siblings . Isaiah has many interests besides fiddling. He plays the piano , participates in the MACHEA Home school group , is an active 4-H and Western Heritage member. He started playing the violin in May 2006 and has continued to take lessons in Sioux Falls with Mary Jewell. He plays with the South Dakota Old Time Fiddlers on the weekends during the summer. He has performed in Lake Benton, Flandreau , Brandon , Pipestone and Sioux Falls . He was ask to compete in the fiddle contest and decided he was up for the challenge. Isaiah had to prepare two numbers , a waltz and a tune of choice. The fiddle contest started on Friday evenings with a fiddle jam session. A jam session is when a bunch of players get-together and play tunes , someone starts with a song and everyone else joins in . Isaiah was able to meet and play with some of the top fiddlers in the country. Saturday consisted of the contest -Isaiah competed in the JR-JR Division. Isaiah played "Amazing Grace" and "Boil Them Cabbage Down " . He placed 3rd in his division and was the youngest fiddler at the competition. The contest continued all day Saturday until the evening when it was time to hear the Invitational Fiddlers - Ten fiddlers in the country are invited to the contest to compete against each other- theses fiddlers are the best in the country!! They put on a great night of fiddle music. All the fiddlers ended up at the Fryin Pan restaurant in Yankton after the contest Saturday evening . They ended up having a another Jam Session right in the restaurant. Isaiah played two numbers there and ended up playing with one of the top youth fiddlers in the country. On Sunday morning the Fiddlers put on a Gospel Sing and church service ,Isaiah played "Amazing Grace" in memory of his great uncle Carl Petersen . Carl was a long time supporter of the SD Old Time Fiddlers and Isaiah plays Carl's fiddle . Isaiah had a great time and is already making plans for attending next year!! Isaiah has one more performance with the Old Time Fiddlers this year. They will be in Flandreau the end of Oct.