The Kutztown Folk Festival

All good things...

Last June we traveled to Kutztown for its annual folk festival.  We didn't realize it at the time, but due to "dwindling interest and increased costs" it apparently was the last Kutztown Folk Festival.  The very first one occurred back in 1950.

Looking through the photos from that trip was bittersweet, as we had planned to return again this summer.  Pennsylvania is a glorious state.  Its folk art and history have always been a comforting part of my life.  Seeing old, faded hex signs on massive, tired barns is as exciting today as it was the first time I spotted one as a child.  Summers are like the stuff of Ray Bradbury's short stories.  Falls are pure magic.  Our winter landscapes of layered browns and grays never cease to resemble something the Wyeths couldn't resist to paint.  I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

The Kutztown Folk Festival was a blast... a true celebration of Pennsylvania Dutch culture.  Rows of vendors and artists of every kind.  Music and dancing and interesting presentations under flapping tents that provided shade from the summer heat.  We listened to the history of hex signs and barn stars and learned how the PA Dutch preserved their food.  We saw replicas of an early Church and schoolhouse.  We bought some terrific coffee at one stand and spiked it at the recommendation of an old farmer doing the same to his coffee, as we all moved to the vendor next-door - a distillery selling some fantastic whiskey.  

That was the most memorable part.  Everyone there was kind and friendly and seemed really proud to share their heritage.

The highlight of the event was a very special "Country Kitchen" presentation of an authentic Pennsylvania Dutch meal (including the seven sweets and seven sours tradition).  In a mockup of a hundred-year-old kitchen with a wood burning cast iron stove from the 1920's, we sat around a table with six strangers as our host and chef prepared everything from scratch and educated us on the process and history.  Keep in mind this was a very hot and humid day in June and we're sitting around in this hot wooden kitchen, near a wood-burning stove.  Incredibly, I wouldn't have changed a thing.  Somehow it felt appropriate.  There was homemade iced tea made from apple mint leaves, and we drank tons of the wonderful stuff.  We got to know the other guests as we passed around plates of delicious food.  By the end of that amazing dinner, it felt like we were all friends.  

On a personal note, I'm not much of a praying man, but prior to eating dinner, the host had us all join hands and say a short prayer of thanksgiving.  It was really quite special, and I felt truly grateful for the opportunity to experience a meal in such a way, and with these super nice folks.  I felt gratitude for a lot of things.  

Below are some photos from that neat summer day.  I made sure to get some shots of the amazing food - that's Moravian chicken pie and the best apple dumpling pie you've ever had.

Hexeglaawe: The Kecksburg UFO Incident

Pennsylvania's Roswell

On the evening of December 9, 1965, a large, brilliant fireball was seen in at least six U.S. states and Ontario, Canada as it streaked over the Detroit, Michigan–Windsor, Ontario area. Reports of hot metal debris over Michigan and northern Ohio, grass fires, and sonic booms in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area were attributed to the fireball.  Some people in the village of Kecksburg, about 30 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, reported wisps of blue smoke, vibrations, and a "thump" and also that something from the sky had crashed in the woods. 

In 1990, Unsolved Mysteries aired an episode partially devoted to the incident. It suggested an extraterrestrial craft had crashed. It featured local residents who said they had found an object in the woods shaped like an acorn and about as large as a Volkswagen Beetle, bearing writing resembling Egyptian hieroglyphs.  They said it was subsequently removed in a secret military operation.  A prop from that show currently remains on display in Kecksburg.

We traveled there in September for a look at the area and to photograph the monument.  It seems locals still have their own theories about what really happened there on this date fifty-nine years ago today.

Click here to see the Unsolved Mysteries episode.

Monsterville, New Jersey

Merchantville, New Jersey, is known for such things as its Victorian homes and nature trails. However, in recent years, it's also become "Monsterville" every October, a tradition that is continuing this year.

The temporary name change is not a Halloween prank. Monsterville began in 2015 as a campaign from a group of residents led by Councilperson Anthony Perno to further promote its love for the celebration.

And an adopted ordinance made the moniker official.

We drove to Monsterville on Sunday night after dinner at a favorite pizza joint nearby.  It's similar to the Halloween heaven that is Lambertville, NJ, but it's much more spread out.  So you have to drive to these colorful hotspots that suddenly appear down a shadowy block.  Growing up in Merchantville during the Halloween season must be insane.  

Here are some photos Jenna snapped...

Text source.

Halloween III Screening With LIVE Music

Live music by Alan Howarth, that is.  At the Colonial Theater in Phoenixville.

Man, last night was quite the evening.  We had the amazing pleasure of watching Halloween III:  Season of the Witch on the big screen, as composer Alan Howarth augmented his and Carpenter's brilliant score, playing along on stage.  It was bliss.  

After the movie, he spoke about his insanely interesting life and then fielded questions from the crowd.  After that, he did a little guitar playing to cues he put together from his film scores.  It was ludicrous.  What a night.

Some photos below, with two short videos at the bottom.