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Lots to see at Pa. Heritage Festival
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BY TIFFANY PEDEN
STAFF WRITER
TROY — Walking around Alparon Park in Troy on Saturday, one really got the feeling that he or she had traveled back in time.
That was the effect created by the demonstrators and vendors at the Pennsylvania Heritage Festival.
The two-day festival is in its 18th year, and is being hosted by the Bradford County Heritage Association (BCHA) and the Troy Rotary Club, said Desiree Rockwell, a coordinator of the event.
There were many demonstrators at the event who were actually demonstrating activities that would have been done in past times, such as dyeing wool or cooking in an open hearth, said Bonnie Pierce, who was in charge of the demonstrators.
She added that this year, there were more vendors and more demonstrators than ever before, with about 37 demonstrators on Saturday.
Pierce said that the demonstrators donate their time to come to the festival to educate and entertain attendees, and added that many of the demonstrators are from the Bradford County area.
Rockwell said that families are encouraged to not only look at the live history presentations, but to also ask questions and learn about how things would have been done in past times.
The money raised by the Pennsylvania Heritage Festival “supports activities of the Bradford County Heritage Association and service projects of the Rotary club,” Rockwell said.
Along with being allowed to tour the Troy Farm Museum on Saturday, there was plenty for visitors to see and do around the park at the festival.
Pierce said that the vendors set up at the festival were juried, so the quality of the food and items being sold at the event was high.
Some people toured an old-fashioned school house and old church, while others bought fresh apples from an apple cart.
A crowd gathered to watch as Merle Eiffert of Gillett worked in a forge to make a metal rose.
He told people that he had to strike while the iron was hot, and explained why it was bad to have too many irons in the fire.
There were broom-making demonstrations, and the Center for Anti-Slavery Studies was set up selling baked goods.
The Merry Bees of Big Pond were quilting and showing off their handmade quilts as children played old-fashioned children’s games, like running along with a hoop and stick and trying to stand, then walk, on wooden stilts.
Sending woodchips flying, James Seifried chopped at a large log to try to square it off.
Van Wagner, a high school teacher from Danville, said that in past times, when workers needed to transport logs down the river, they could get more in the river at one time if the logs were squared.
The two demonstrated how earlier people would have squared logs, using a hand ax to make notches in the side of the log, which was called hewing, then using a broad ax to hack off the rounded edge of the log where the notches were made, which was called scouring, Wagner said.
The logs would have gone down river in the Towanda area in the 1830s and 1840s, he said.
“In about one week, 2,688 arks and 3,480 rafts (made with the squared logs) would go down the river,” Wagner said.
He added that in past days, workers would have used white pine, but said that they were working on aspen, as donated by Cummings Lumber.
Inside, sitting by skeins of wool and working on a spinning wheel, was Sylvia Robertson of Gillett.
She said that before the wool was spun out, it would have been washed and straightened using carders.
The wool could be dyed at any point, she said.
Robertson added that there are numerous kinds of natural dyes that people would have used in past times, such as onion skins, goldenrod, sumac berries and even bugs.
In another area of the park, John Seifried was hammering holes into pieces of leather.
He explained that he was making bags for black powder, and that by hammering in holes, it made it easier to stitch the bag up with sinew later.
The Pennsylvania Heritage Festival continues today, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., when there will continue to be live history demonstrations and vendors.
Tiffany Peden may be reached at (570) 888-9652; e-mail: reviewvalley@thedailyreview.com
That was the effect created by the demonstrators and vendors at the Pennsylvania Heritage Festival.
The two-day festival is in its 18th year, and is being hosted by the Bradford County Heritage Association (BCHA) and the Troy Rotary Club, said Desiree Rockwell, a coordinator of the event.
There were many demonstrators at the event who were actually demonstrating activities that would have been done in past times, such as dyeing wool or cooking in an open hearth, said Bonnie Pierce, who was in charge of the demonstrators.
She added that this year, there were more vendors and more demonstrators than ever before, with about 37 demonstrators on Saturday.
Pierce said that the demonstrators donate their time to come to the festival to educate and entertain attendees, and added that many of the demonstrators are from the Bradford County area.
Rockwell said that families are encouraged to not only look at the live history presentations, but to also ask questions and learn about how things would have been done in past times.
The money raised by the Pennsylvania Heritage Festival “supports activities of the Bradford County Heritage Association and service projects of the Rotary club,” Rockwell said.
Along with being allowed to tour the Troy Farm Museum on Saturday, there was plenty for visitors to see and do around the park at the festival.
Pierce said that the vendors set up at the festival were juried, so the quality of the food and items being sold at the event was high.
Some people toured an old-fashioned school house and old church, while others bought fresh apples from an apple cart.
A crowd gathered to watch as Merle Eiffert of Gillett worked in a forge to make a metal rose.
He told people that he had to strike while the iron was hot, and explained why it was bad to have too many irons in the fire.
There were broom-making demonstrations, and the Center for Anti-Slavery Studies was set up selling baked goods.
The Merry Bees of Big Pond were quilting and showing off their handmade quilts as children played old-fashioned children’s games, like running along with a hoop and stick and trying to stand, then walk, on wooden stilts.
Sending woodchips flying, James Seifried chopped at a large log to try to square it off.
Van Wagner, a high school teacher from Danville, said that in past times, when workers needed to transport logs down the river, they could get more in the river at one time if the logs were squared.
The two demonstrated how earlier people would have squared logs, using a hand ax to make notches in the side of the log, which was called hewing, then using a broad ax to hack off the rounded edge of the log where the notches were made, which was called scouring, Wagner said.
The logs would have gone down river in the Towanda area in the 1830s and 1840s, he said.
“In about one week, 2,688 arks and 3,480 rafts (made with the squared logs) would go down the river,” Wagner said.
He added that in past days, workers would have used white pine, but said that they were working on aspen, as donated by Cummings Lumber.
Inside, sitting by skeins of wool and working on a spinning wheel, was Sylvia Robertson of Gillett.
She said that before the wool was spun out, it would have been washed and straightened using carders.
The wool could be dyed at any point, she said.
Robertson added that there are numerous kinds of natural dyes that people would have used in past times, such as onion skins, goldenrod, sumac berries and even bugs.
In another area of the park, John Seifried was hammering holes into pieces of leather.
He explained that he was making bags for black powder, and that by hammering in holes, it made it easier to stitch the bag up with sinew later.
The Pennsylvania Heritage Festival continues today, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., when there will continue to be live history demonstrations and vendors.
Tiffany Peden may be reached at (570) 888-9652; e-mail: reviewvalley@thedailyreview.com
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