Indiana's Appalachian fest combines music, contests, remembrance of sacrifice, success

The Northern Appalachian Folk Festival will return to downtown Indiana Thursday through Saturday with live music, vendors, workshops, children’s activities and storytelling and fiddle contests.

On Saturday, there will be a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks and honoring two Indiana County residents who were killed with fellow members of the 14th Quartermaster unit in 1991, during Operation Desert Storm.

Organizers also will add six names to the festival’s Walk of Fame, which recognizes people in the region who notably made contributions in different areas of endeavor.

“Inscribed bricks are then placed into (Indiana’s) sidewalks, much like the Hollywood stars, so that we can remember the great individuals of our region for years to come,” said festival founder and director Jim Dougherty.

All activities are free and open for the public to attend.

The festival will kick off Thursday with a 6:30 p.m. screening of a documentary about the Civilian Conservation Corps camps. The film will be shown at the Philadelphia Street Playhouse, 725 Philadelphia St.

Part of the federal government’s New Deal efforts in the 1930s, the CCC employed more than 3 million young men nationwide to plant trees and make improvements at forests and parks. Some of the camps the crews established remain in use today by visitors at Laurel Hill Park in Somerset County.

Musicians will take over the main festival stage beginning Friday afternoon at Philadelphia and Sixth streets.

Somebody to Love is set to perform at 4 p.m. The local band offers a mixture of classic rock, pop, blues and country.

The Moore Brothers, singing everything from doo-wop to country, will begin their set at 6 p.m.

The music of the 1980s is the focus of the band 13 Stories, which will play at 8 p.m.

Walk of Fame inductees listed

Saturday’s Walk of Fame induction will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday, in front of Spaghetti Benders, 563 Philadelphia St. The inductees include:

• Sports — The late Carlton Haselrig, a Johnstown native, honored for his standout career as a wrestler and coach and his five-year stint as an offensive Steelers lineman, including a 1992 Pro Bowl nod;

• Environment — Gifford Pinchot, first head of the United States Forest Service and 28th governor of Pennsylvania;

• Arts — Ken Holliday, a multi-instrumentalist who headed the local band HIRAM & the Walkers;

• Human rights — John Brown, well-known abolitionist who operated a Crawford County tannery that was a stop on the Underground Railroad. He was hanged for treason after he led a violent seizure of the U.S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry, W.Va.;

• Education — Activist Mary G. Harris Jones, better known as Mother Jones, who was active in Pennsylvania organizing the United Mine Workers;

• Public health — Jonas Salk, virologist and researcher who developed one of the first successful polio vaccines at the University of Pittsburgh.

The 9/11 ceremony, set for 11 a.m. Saturday on the main stage, will include presentations to the families of Army Reserve specialists Beverly Clark of East Wheatfield Township and Christine Mayes of Rochester Mills, two of 13 members of Greensburg’s 14th Quartermaster unit who were killed when an Iraqi Scud missile struck their barracks in Saudi Arabia.

Fiddler Jimmy Herman and Gabe Allen will perform at noon Saturday on the main stage, followed by cloggers at 12:30 p.m. and a fiddle contest, at 1:30 p.m.

At an auxiliary stage, a storytelling contest is set for 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, followed by a performance of “Jack Tales from Appalachia,” by the Indiana Players theatrical organization.

Workshops on topics including the Underground Railroad, resilient communities and violin crafting will be held between 1 and 5 p.m. Saturday in the 500 block of Philadelphia Street, across from Spaghetti Benders..

Saturday’s band lineup on the main stage includes: Pure Gold, appearing at 4:30 p.m. as part of its final tour; The Peace Sign Band, 6:30 p.m.; Juke House Bombers, an Indiana blues band, 8:30 p.m.

Visit naffinc.org for more information about the festival and to register for the storytelling or fiddle contests.