Glenville Folk Festival, Part 1

Here's my first post with photos about the West Virginia folk Festival in Glenville, WV this weekend. I'll have at least one or two more posts to follow.

The festival sponsors many events, all free to the public. Saturday was a full day, with the parade, the Oral Traditions tent, a spelling bee, shape note singing, and an evening concert on my to-do list. Larry's list included a session with a History Alive presenter who represented Mad Anne Bailey, and time listening to musicians in the singing tent. It was a hot, hot day, so I was glad to find activities we could do that were in air-conditioned buildings!

Our favorite place to eat in Glenville is the Common Place Restaurant. Yesterday I noticed this clock on the restaurant wall: "Booger Hole, Where Time Stands Still." That had to be a picture! As I snapped it, the restaurant's owner told me that his wife grew up in Booger Hole and knew many ghost stories from the area. I hope to return and interview her soon, because I know the area, in Clay County, is rife with stories. You can read my review of a book about the area and its history here.

Jim and Judy Meads are part of the Festival's organizing team, and work with me to organize the Oral Traditions tent. They are fast becoming good friends, and Jim is a fellow blogger--you can link to his blog from my sidebar or click here.

The Belles represent their home counties at the Festival. This year a session for Belle Storytelling was added and several participated. Here the Mason County Belle tells a story about her years as a military wife in Alaska, where she lived for 35 years. These ladies had good stories to tell. I hope this becomes a regular feature of the festival.

The spelling bee drew an almost full-capacity crowd, many to watch and about 20 to participate. I tried! I was fourth from the last one standing, I think, and went down on vinaigrette--I reversed the "ai." Daggone it. I knew better than that. But it was okay since I wanted to attend the shape note singing class anyway and it was almost time for that. I listened to a little of the class and got completely confused, so I left and I went to listen to Janet do her reading.

I invited Janet Smart to be part of our Oral Traditions tent this year. Janet is a new author from my county who writes middle-grade fiction and picture books. One of her books is currently under contract. Janet followed me to blogging and then to Two Lane Livin' and writes a column for children. In this photo, Janet is reading from her picture book "Miss Maizey" while two girls portray the scarecrows in the story. It was fun to watch a story I've helped to edit come to life. It's why a writing group is so important to a writer's career--we help each other to grow.

A little actor shows her stuff, while in the background is one of the many jam sessions that were scattered all over town.

Later in the evening we attended the evening concert that featured some of the finest old-time musicians in the region, and wandered for hours among the many jam sessions which featured some of the same musicians who had been on stage as well as many other fine, fine fiddlers, banjo pickers, guitarists, hammered dulcimer players, mandolin and bass players.