Variety of activities planned for National Road Festival
The 31st annual National Road Festival will once again offer festivalgoers and participants a chance to celebrate the past, when pioneers traveled the area on their way westward to new homes and dreams. “This is an opportunity for people to live the past, revisit their roots and figure out how our ancestors survived,” said Dwayne Welling of Addison, Somerset County, coordinator of the National Road Festival Committee. “They get an opportunity to portray someone from another time.’
Indeed, festival-goers will see their share of costumed re-enactors who portray everything from pioneers to Civil War soldiers to vintage baseball players. The festival runs from Thursday through Sunday, with most of the events taking place on Saturday and Sunday.
Celebrating “The Road that Built the Nation,’ the festival honors The National Road as America’s first federal highway. Constructed in the early 19th century, The National Road stretched across six states on present-day Route 40, from Cumberland, Md., to Vandalia, Ill.
Communities and landmarks that exist along the 90 miles of the National Road in Somerset, Fayette and Washington counties in Pennsylvania celebrate the festival. They range from Addison in Somerset County in the east to Claysville in Washington County in the west.
The festival concentrates on the road’s pioneer past, with wagon trains and events that depict 19th century lifestyle, but it also traces the evolution of the road as it came to be used for business and pleasure through the advent of the automobile.
Some popular attractions that depict the changes include vintage 1860 baseball in Addison and Hopwood, as well as Civil War re-enactors at Nemacolin Castle in Brownsville, car shows in Addison and Uniontown and a few antique cars at Nemacolin Castle.
A central part in all of the festivities is the wagon train. The National Road Festival actually has two: The National Pike Wagon Train Association will travel west, beginning its journey Thursday morning from Grantsville, Md. The wagon train will trek across Somerset and Fayette counties to Mount St. Macrina, where it will disperse Sunday morning. Doc Sherry is wagon master.
Meanwhile, the Wagoniers Wagon Train will journey east across Washington County from Claysville to Malden, traveling Friday through Sunday. J.D. Ritenour is wagon master.
Here is a sampling of what the 31st annual National Road Festival has to offer:
Addison: The wagon train arrives Thursday afternoon with an encampment program at 7 p.m. From Thursday to Sunday, the Petersburg Toll House and Old Petersburg Addison Historical Society Museum will be open. An old tools display in the borough building is one of the most popular exhibits. The community holds a covered dish dinner and cookout in Community Park on Friday night, as well as a presentation of the Citizen of the Year Award. Saturday’s schedule includes a children’s spelling bee and children’s games, farm tractor show and a firemen’s parade. A veterans memorial service will be held Saturday at noon, and a church service with the Steel City Quartet and blessing of the animals will be held Sunday. On Saturday and Sunday, festival-goers will enjoy the vintage 1860s baseball game, the play “The War Comes Home,” presented by the Seldom Scene players.
Fort Necessity/Mount Washington Tavern in Farmington: Costumed interpreters, interpretative talks and period music are available Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Hopwood: Historical lights and flag dedications take place Friday at 7 p.m. On Saturday, the 2004 Hopwood Village Project Queen will be crowned, the wagon train will arrive at 1 p.m., and a fishing derby will be held at Hutchinson Recreation Park at 3 p.m. The Abner Doubleday’s doubleheader will be held at Hutchinson Recreation Park’s main field at 1 p.m., with the Laurel Highlands jazz band providing entertainment.
Uniontown will host a car show at 1 p.m. Saturday, with trophies, dash plaques, Chinese auction, raffles, trivia and games. The wagon train arrives with a special ceremony at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. An interdenominational worship service with the wagon train will take place Sunday at 8 a.m. at Mount St. Macrina, with tours of the former Thompson estate (now Mount St. Macrina Retreat Center) on Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m.
Searights Tollhouse in Menallen Township: Tours will be available, and the Treasures of the Pike sale will take place Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Local blacksmith Mike Avera will demonstrate with authentic tools Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday, folk art painter Joseph Brant will be on site from 1 to 5 p.m., while Sylvia Sleighter will play early-American tunes on the dulcimer from 3 to 5 p.m. Tollhouse cookies will be available.
Brownsville: The Flatiron Building will be open Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. The Frank L. Melega Art Museum will feature Dr. Wm. Hunt Marsteller as this year’s “Artist of the Pike.” Music will be performed at the Flatiron Building and at the Wharf in the evening.
Nemacolin Castle will be open Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Candlelight ghost tours will be offered Friday and Saturday from 6 to 10 p.m. Civil War re-enactors will appear Saturday and Sunday. Native American demonstrations, including storytelling, are offered Sunday.
Scenery Hill offers music, Revolutionary War re-enactments, a working forge and a dance recital. A fireworks display is scheduled for Saturday at 9:30 p.m.
Thistlecrest Farms near Washington will offer antiques, crafts, collectibles, a flea market and food. Harold Stitzinger will be there with old wagons, buggies and sleighs.
Washington will offer historic tours of the city Saturday and Sunday, beginning at 1:30 p.m. The tours include the Washington and Jefferson College campus, B&O railroad station, the Washington County Courthouse, Bradford House and the LeMoyne House. The Washington County Historical Society sponsors the tour.
Claysville will host a pet show, exotic animal show, magician, music, vendors and food on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. The festival begins with the Miss Pike, Little Miss Pike and Little Mr. Pike Pageant.