The Oregonian, Monday August 24, 2009, By Kristi Turnquist
Listening to Isaaiah Ruby Jean Baltzell play her fiddle, it’s easy to lose track of time. Isaaiah is practicing waltzes, hoedowns and rags, of the sort that families used to entertain themselves with in the days before television, radio or iPods. It takes work to be a champion, which Isaaisah is. In July, she won the Small Fry division at the National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest and Festival, in Weiser, Idaho. Isaaiah also is fresh off a win in the Pee Wee (8 and under) category of the Oregon Old Time Fiddlers Association Willamette Valley Contest. Her brother, Gabriel, won the Junior-Junior (9-12) category.