Oct 12, 2012 6 min read

…It looks like the autumn season is shaping up to be a busy one. I was recently informed of several different autumn events that are happening around the county over the next couple of weeks, so I thought I’d share the info with you readers.

First, I want to remind folks that the 41st annual Harvest Festival will be held Friday and Saturday, Oct. 13 and 14, at the museum from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. The event will once again feature a wide array of crafts and live entertainment, food and snacks, history encampments and war skirmishes, and historical demonstrations and exhibits.

We hope that the Harvest Festival is well attended this weekend, as it serves as one of the museum’s biggest fundraisers for the year. All of the proceeds raised from the festival and the museum’s other fundraising events are used to pay for the museum’s operating expenses. For more info about the festival, contact the Greene County Historical Society and Museum at 724-627-3204. And, be sure to check out our front page story this week for a preview about the Harvest Festival.

I was also informed that the Mason-Dixon Line 244th Anniversary Hike will be held Oct. 14 at the Mason-Dixon Historical Park, off Buckeye Road, near Route 7 and Core, W.Va. Participants are asked to gather by 10:45 a.m. in the parking lot at the red barn at the park for a presentation by Doug Wood of Nitro, W.Va., which will begin at 11 a.m. Pete Zapadka, founder of the Website exploretheline.com, will lead the hike and talk. For more info, call Zapadka at 412-657-5638, or e-mail jeremiah@exploretheline.com.

I also want to inform readers that the Izaak Walton League, Harry Enstrom Chapter of Greene County, is holding the annual “Kids’ and Ladies’ Day of Fishing” Fall Trout Stocking at Ten-Mile Creek on Oct. 16 at the Old Chartiers Mine in Clarksville. The kids’ fishing will be held from 10 a.m. to noon. Following this, a free hot dog barbecue will be held, including drinks and snacks for the kids. Prizes will be given to each child participant, along with special awards for contest winners in each age group. The ladies’ fishing will be from 1 to 3 p.m. There will be contests and prizes for the ladies too, including first-, second- and third-place trout catches. This event is sponsored by the Izaak Walton League of America’s Harry Enstrom Chapter of Greene County and the Greene County commissioners. For more info, call Ken Dufalla at 724-377-0901 or Ozie’s Sport Shop at 724-592-5009.

I was also told that the 32nd annual Keystone Autumn Klassic will be held Oct. 20 at Woodside Farm in Waynesburg. This annual shorthorn cattle show and sale features exhibitors from all over the mid-Atlantic region. The day begins at 12:30 p.m. For more info, call Bradley at 724-627-7240, e-mail bradleyshirley@windstream.net or visit www.woodsideshorthorns.com.

Here’s an upcoming Halloween event: The fifth annual Spooktacular, which is hosted by Waynesburg Borough and the Waynesburg Area Chamber of Commerce, will be held on the courthouse steps on Oct. 31. The contest is open to employees of businesses located within the borough and all members of the Chamber. For more info, call the Waynesburg Area Chamber of Commerce at 724-627-5926, or visit www.waynesburgchamber.com.

Finally, I was told that Cornerstone Bible Ministry will hold its annual Fall Festival at the camp in Jefferson on Oct. 20 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be activities for all ages. Crafts, vendors, food, apple butter making, scarecrow making, hayrides, special music giveaways and more. For more info, call Judy at 724-966-9157.

Whether it’s history, fishing, cattle shows, festivals or Halloween fun, there will be plenty of events to partake in over the next few weeks. So let’s all take some time to enjoy the fall weather and get out of the house and attend some autumn and outdoor activities, before Mother Nature unleashes her winter rage on us…

…Okay, here’s something fun: The First Presbyterian Church of Waynesburg is once again having its annual mystery dinner theater. This year’s production, titled “The Last Pirate of the Carribean,” will be held at the church on Saturday, Oct. 20, at 6:15 p.m. Tickets are $25 in advance and at the door, which includes a full tasty meal. Proceeds will go to youth and adult mission trips in 2012, including trips to the Dominican Republic, and the New York Flood Project and Pittsburgh Project. For more info or for tickets, call the church office at 724-627-6006.

I have had the distinct pleasure of performing in these church productions over the years, but it was with much sadness and regret that — due to a hectic schedule and other unforeseen circumstances — I was unable to partake in this year’s play. Nevertheless, I am happy for the group that they are continuing this wonderful tradition and I want to help promote the event, because it is for a really good cause. So I plan to be in attendance and I hope others will come out and support it as well.

I am confident that the play will be terrific, especially since I know many of the gifted and talented actors who are performing in it…and I know the play will once again be under the excellent direction of Kathie Bortz, so I’m sure it will be a “can’t-miss.”

Looking back at the many plays I have been involved in, it just dawned on me that I have enjoyed each and every one of them…but I find it amusing that Kathie has always cast me as some rather unwholesome or shady characters. Over the years I have portrayed Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus; a nerdy and whiny pastor who meets a grisly demise; an unscrupulous business tycoon who nearly drowns; and an unlikable mobster villain.

You know, the more I think about it, the more I think I’m starting to get a complex…