Bucky Moon vows to 'Leave the World with a Satisfied Mind'

By Wendy Post (Times Shamrock Writer)
Published: July 20, 2010

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Photo: N/A, License: N/A, Created: 2010:07:18 13:16:41

Times-Shamrock Photo/wendy post Bucky Moon picks up his microphone and gets ready to sing along. Pictured in the background, from left, are Dean Goble of Candor, N.Y., Roy Matthews of Van Etten, N.Y., and Bill Ely from Apalachin, N.Y. Other band members Larry Bates of Addison, N.Y., Bud Smiley of Rome, Pa., and Jerry Garrison of Windham, Pa. also played music during Bucky's belated birthday bash.

CANDOR, N.Y. - Hundreds crowded into the Candor fire station recently to celebrate with Bucky Moon, an accomplished musician who has performed throughout the Southern Tier of New York and Northern Tier of Pennsylvania for over sixty years.

Suffering from scar tissue that has made his breathing near impossible, friends and family members of Moon wanted to have a sort of gathering for Moon that would celebrate his life and his music.

Sitting in front of the crowd that gathered to celebrate his belated birthday, which was an appropriate reason for pulling everyone together, Moon sat in a wheelchair - with oxygen strapped on the back - and simply pleased the crowd with his stories of music, and the people he has met along the way.

Having to rest occasionally because of the oxygen intake, Moon invited friends to stand by his side and tell their stories as well. But the highlight of the event, which took place from 2 to 4 p.m., was when musicians that have performed with Moon in the past, and those who currently perform with him, took the stage to play a few of the favorites that his fans and friends have known to love so well.

Some of those musicians included Dean Goble of Candor, N.Y., Roy Mathews of Van Etten, N.Y., Bill Ely from Apalachin, N.Y., Larry Bates of Addison, N.Y., Bud Smiley of Rome, Pa., and Jerry Garrison of Windham, Pa.

What was even more surprising, was when Moon picked up his microphone, between his struggles to catch his breath, and began singing like it was 1950 again. "It's hard to believe that everything he's feeling - physically - just goes away when he sings," said Steve Cooper, who put together a small program for the event.

But most in the crowd that gathered, many friends and some family, talked about Moon's kindness and his spirit. Cecil Coons from Halsey Valley, N.Y. has listened to Bucky Moon's music for more than 35 years. "I've been listening to him for a long time," said Coons.

Roger Hills, from Apalachin, N.Y., has known Bucky Moon since the early 1950's and has watched him perform over the years. "They don't come any better," said Hills of Bucky Moon.

And throughout Moon's reminiscing about life and music, he recalled an old song entitled, "A Satisfied Mind."

With all eyes on Bucky as he talked to his friends and family with love, he said, "I'm gonna leave this world with a satisfied mind." Moon then began talking about the old Merle Haggard song entitled "House of Memories."

And the guests, some of who were teared up by Bucky Moon's love, honesty and wisdom, requested him to accompany the song, vocally, with musicians who arrived for the celebration. Once again, Bucky Moon transformed and sang - as if the words were coming straight from his soul.

Moon, who picked up a guitar and began playing in 1948, served in the U.S. Navy as a deep sea diver during World War II on the USS Saratoga, and in areas such as Bikini Atoll - the area where the atomic bomb was being tested during that time. But as the years passed for Moon following his service, the scar tissue damage inflicted by the air pressure from his deep sea diving began to take a toll.

According to Moon's wife Donna, his condition is deteriorating rapidly, and he is now in need of around the clock care. But this isn't stopping him from performing at his final gigs planned up until the end of the year. It is at that point, said Donna Moon in an earlier interview, that Bucky will retire.

And Moon's popularity sparked in the 1950's when he served as the primary entertainment at the Borough Hall in South Waverly with Woody Williams & the Jamboree Gang - a group comprised of 24 members form the Southern Tier of New York and the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania.

His years of excellent musicianship, his ability to entertain, and the support he has shown others in the community, earned Bucky Moon recognition with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York State Country Music Hall of Fame.

"I've enjoyed my life as an entertainer, and I met many musicians in my life," said Bucky Moon to the hundreds who gathered to see him. His real birthday was on June 27, 1928.

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