By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

As people began arriving to tour the Schaeffler House Saturday in Hillsboro, the Cottonwood River Band performed in the parlor, sending strains of “Christmas Time’s A ‘Comin’,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” and other familiar songs of the season.

Made up largely of members from Hillsboro and Tampa who attend Durham Baptist Church, the band has been together since 2010. They sing gospel, bluegrass, and country music.

Richard Dirks, retired, plays harmonica. Vince Jantz plays electric base and his wife, Julie, sings. They own Jantz Construction and live at Tampa.

DeLayne Herbel plays guitar and sings, and Tim Diener plays guitar. Both work at Countryside Feed.

Newest member, Bob Woelk of Hillsboro, joined the group one and one-half years ago. He plays mandolin and is a teacher at Hillsboro.

Diener said the group started when he asked Julie Jantz and Herbel to perform with him at church.

“What are you going to do?” Jantz asked, knowing that Diener couldn’t sing.

“I’m going to play my guitar,” Diener said.

It turned out to be a success, and more instrumentalists soon joined the group.

Their first performance was at a Valentine’s Day banquet in February 2010. This Saturday performance was the 67th.

They perform at churches, care homes, benefits, and other public events and get together once or twice a month for a jam session.

“We almost enjoy more playing together for fun than performing for others,” Woelk said.