The memorial service will take place at the Mermaid Inn. (Photo by Chris Woods)
Devotees of the Irish traditional music session at the Mermaid Inn in Chestnut Hill will remember Donald Trefsger. He was hard to miss. “Donny” was the big guy with the big upright bass.
Friends today are mourning his loss. Paralyzed following an accident on his treasured Harley on July 11, 2009, Trefsger died November 20 of complications from his injuries. He was 62.
Fiddler Chris Brennan Hagy, who anchors the Mermaid session, was one of his closest friends. She recalls meeting him for the first time at a weekend gathering of the Philadelphia Folksong Society. “There was this big fella in the back of the room playing bass, smoking a cigar. He had tattoos,” she remembers. “That was Donny.”
That meeting was about 26 years ago. Hagy and Trefsger became fast friends, and they played together in the SPUDS contra dance band. It was only a matter of time before he would wind up taking his place in the circle at the Mermaid. He would go on to play on two “live at the Mermaid” recordings, including Hagy’s.
Trefsger was devoted to music, Hagy says. “He played in a lot of groups. He loved bluegrass. He went to folk conferences, and he traveled to the Grand Ole Opry. When he was a kid, he and his dad marched down Broad Street in the Dick Crean String Band. He was always around music.”
For the past 16 months, Hagy and other musical friends were his constant companions at Arista Care in Plymouth Meeting. They would talk for hours and play CDs. “He always had a smile for you,” she recalls.
This Sunday, a group of musicians will gather once again at the Mermaid for a celebration of Don Trefsger’s life. Hagy plans to bring along Trefsger’s trademark stool and his cremains. Before he died, Hagy says, she and Trefsger never talked about anything like a memorial, but she has a feeling he’d have liked the idea. It’s hard saying goodbye to such a good friend, but in his time Don Tresfsger had an impact on local music, and those who knew him appreciated his contribution. “Don was a good fellow, a good-hearted guy,” says Hagy. “And he loved to play.”
