September 2008

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Heritage Festival Goes Green for 2008
by Jan Powers

As part of ICPJ’s commitment to collectively reducing our carbon footprint, the 2008 Adams County Heritage Festival will make a concerted effort at recycling. Not only will there be staffed recycling stations for four different kinds of items, but for the first time we are purchasing bio-degradable food containers and utensils for food vendors to use. Although we may not have 100 % compliance from all vendors this first time around, we hope to set a precedent for other community events.

The Festival will kick off at noon on Sunday, September 21, with Rodney Yeaple’s bagpipes calling us to attention, followed by the invocation and proclamations from community leaders. Jerry Christianson will again be our MC.

Thanks to the Adams County Arts Council and a PennPat grant, we’re fortunate to have the well known folk duo Simple Gifts as our first performance of the day. Local musicians are welcome to bring their instruments to an Appalachian Music jam session with Simple Gifts in the Rec Park building at 2:30 p.m.

At 1:15 p.m. we’ll hear the toe-tapping, don’t-you-want-to-get-up-and-dance rhythms of Réveillons, a lively French Canadian group out of Quebec. We wanted so much to bring them to Adams County that we went to the trouble of setting up a special tour for them at other venues in the PA-MD area. The Canadian government also kicked in a grant to make their visit possible

On the docket at 2 p.m. is Tin Kettle, a Pennsylvania threesome playing superb Irish music and featuring local artist John Winship on fiddle and concertinas. Mid-afternoon, we’ll welcome back the charming young Mexican dancers of Generación Diez, with their colorful costumes and traditional heritage. Steel drums will be the next order of the day, with a four-person group from the Philadelphia area playing tropical Afro-Caribbean rhythms.

Although we don’t have a children’s play this year, our 4:15 slot will feature an extraordinary performance by the New Life Dance and Drama group, depicting local African-American life in an earlier century. Thanks to the Eternal Praise Ministry of New Life Outreach Ministries for making this special dance and drama presentation possible. Because this performance is suitable for the whole family and will occur on the main stage, the Festival will go on until 5 p.m.

Ethnic food and craft demonstrations will be available all afternoon, as well as exciting children’s activities, alternative sports demos and information from non-profit organizations. All events and parking are free at the Heritage Festival so that everyone can appreciate the food, culture and art of Adams County. Attending the festival is a great way to express our unity as a community and begin to realize the goal of social justice.

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Last updated September 7, 2008

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