Fact Box
IF YOU GO
WHO: West Branch School.
WHAT: Fair and music festival.
WHERE: West Branch School, 755 Moore Ave.
WHEN: Check page 15 for a schedule of events.
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Outside Stage
Noon to 12:30 p.m. Mallory Scoppa.
12:40 to 1:10 p.m. The Back Pages.
1:20 to 1:50 p.m. Lux Bridge.
2 to 2:30 p.m. Emily Hulslander.
2:40 to 3:10 p.m. Cletus Mergitroid.
3:20 to 3:50 p.m.Bruce W. Derr.
4 to 4:30 p.m. Infinite Bliss.
4:40 to 5:40 p.m. Backwoods Experiment.
5:50 to 6:50 p.m. Earl Pickens and The Band Named Thunder.
Inside Stage
Noon to 12:50 p.m. Uptown Music Collective.
1 to 3 p.m. Fiona Soibhan Powell, Folklorist and Storyteller.
3 to 3:50 p.m. Katie Brosky-WBS Violin Students.
4 to 4:50 p.m. Ron Boslun (mandolin).
5 to 7 p.m. Uptown Music Collective.
Along with bluegrass festival favorite “Backwoods Experiment,” Earl Pickens and The Band Named Thunder headline this year’s West Branch School fair and music festival.
These two bands, and a host of others, will perform from noon to 7 p.m. May 10 at West Branch School, 755 Moore Ave. The fair features live music throughout the day, incredible food, arts and crafts and games for children.
“A tradition since the early years of the school, the fair is a wonderful event that brings together the school, alumni and the community to enjoy food, music, games and arts and crafts,” said Steve Hulslander, long-time teacher.
“This year the fair and music fest promises to have a special flair with a “Carnival of Animals” theme for children’s games and some fantastic music. There will be a variety of games and activities for children of all ages. Delicious shad dinners, gourmet salads, strawberries and cream, fresh-squeezed lemonade and a scrumptious dessert bistro are offered, along with more traditional fair food. In addition, we have WVYA’s very own Fiona Powell weaving her tales for children,” fair coordinator Anita Casper said.
Powell, a professional storyteller, has made a career out of her interest in Celtic folklore and speechways.
The daughter of a Welsh-American lawyer and a British actress, she has lived in Japan, France and Great Britain.
For a time, she worked as a shepherd in Somerset, Wales, and Scotland. In addition to appearing at schools, festivals and other events as a storyteller and performer, she is an announcer for WVIA, northeastern Pennsylvania’s public radio affiliate. She returns to the British Isles every year, spending most of her time in her beloved Wales, where she studies the folkways of her ancestors.
Tom Waffenschmidt, a parent at West Branch School said, “I came to the fair long before our daughter attended school here; that’s how I found out about the school. I come for the incredible food and great music!”
Children can play in the “bouncy house” join the dinosaur dig and duck-fishing pond, and visit the kitty corral, provided by Lycoming Animal Protection Society.
Mask-making, face painting, a school store, and a frog-flinger are other highlights. The human strength machine, scream-0-meter, an elephant trunk toss and a balloon man appeal to kids of all ages. A live llama will be wandering available for petting, too. For the wee ones, there will be a toddler area for the young ones, including a tunnel, and a toddler-sized “bouncy house.”
As part of the children’s games area, there will be a stuffed-animal contest. Children are invited to bring a stuffed animal and draw a picture or write a story about it. Awards will be given to all children. In addition, children are encouraged to bring used stuffed animals to donate to the Women’s Center, an organization that serves families of Montour and Columbia counties.
A line-up of folk, rock, blues and jazz music will be played at outdoor and indoor stages throughout the day. Artisans will be selling jewelry and other items.
A raffle drawing will be held at 7 p.m. for an 18k yellow gold diamond and sapphire earrings by James Meyer valued at $1,272, a family membership at the YMCA, Tennis Club Membership, box seats to the Orioles’ game, an overnight at the Peter Herdic Inn, show tickets, and more.
Tickets are $2 each or three tickets for $5. Tickets may be bought from current parents, the West Branch School or at the fair.
The fair has been a fundraiser for most of the school’s 36 years.
“When we lived in Newberry, we walked down the street and took our oldest children to the Fair,” Gail Landers said.
The Landers family has also become somewhat a tradition at the school, sending each of their five children to West Branch for more than 20 years.
Music has always been a big part of the West Branch School fair.
Members of the Uptown Music Collective perform indoors during the event, and the local nonprofit music collective also donates sound equipment for the day.
Local bands Infinite Bliss (rock), Lux Bridge (Celtic), The Back Pages (classic rock and folk) and Cletus Mergitroid (eclectic), round out the band lineup. Solo performers Bruce W. Derr, Mallory Scoppa, and Emily Hulslander also will perform outdoors.
Earl Pickens has enjoyed success as an “up and coming” performer in the region, and is certainly a name to watch out for. “Can I Turn On The Radio” is a minor hit local, and has been featured on radio stations in the region. The video, featuring Earl’s New York to Lewisburg unicycle ride, has been viewed more than 15,000 times on Youtube.com.
His remake of his own cover of “I’ve Been Everywhere (in Pennsylvania),” titled, “Obama Everywhere” garnered 23,000 hits on Youtube.com in one week.
Don’t expect a political message at the fair, however. Just flat out fun rock and roll that will have you swingin’.
For more information visit
www.westbranchschool.org or 323-5498.
