Oct 14, 2005 7 min read

LIGONIER – Final preparations are being made in Ligonier for this year’s Fort Ligonier Days, which will be held today through Sunday. The three-day festivities feature a parade, musical entertainment, crafts, food booths, a 5K run/walk and battle re-enactments at Fort Ligonier, site of a French and Indian War battle commemorated by this community celebration. “Exploring Our Heritage” is the theme for this year’s festival.

The parade, which will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, will feature numerous colorful marching bands, Shriners’ units, floats, community marching units, TV personalities, historic groups, scouting groups, antique cars and Fort Allen Farm Equipment.

Joining the line-up of bands, floats, and marching units will be the Connellsville Falcon High School Band, the Berlin Fife and Drum and for the first time, the Edinboro University Marching Band.

Numerous other bands are in the parade line-up, including the Balmoral Highlands Pipe Band, Allegheny and District Pipe Band, Steel City Ambassadors Drum and Bugle Corps and area bands such as Greater Latrobe High School, Ligonier and Laurel Valley High Schools and Franklin Regional. The Polka Chudaks will be playing in the parade aboard the Jedzie Boat Float and will perform a concert after the parade.

Special guests among the marching units appearing in the parade include the members of the brightly costumed Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps of the 3rd U.S. Infantry. Among the other groups represented in the parade are the Civil Air Patrol, VFW Post 33 Honor Guard, Somerset County Military Family Support Group, a Marines’ Precision Team, the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution, and re-enactors including the Big Run Free Militia and Carpenters’ Battery.

A number of local personalities such as Miss Ligonier and her court will be honored guests in the parade along with TV personalities including Sally Wiggin from WTAE, Rick Earle and Steve Teeling from WPXI and Jim Burton from WJAC-TV. Also featured are a number of floats representing groups such as the Ligonier Valley Historical Society and Valley School.

The three days of musical entertainment will provide a variety of musical styles.

Friday’s musical performers will include the country duo, Gashouse at 12:30p.m.; Swing City performing the dance band music of the 1940s at 2:30p.m.; and DeAnna Dawn Denning performing country, rock, pop and blues at 4:30 p.m.

Saturday’s entertainment line-up will include Joey K. and the Polka Chudkas playing polka music at 1:30 p.m. (on West Main Street); Acoustic Shadow of the Blue & Gray performing Civil War-era tunes at 2 p.m.; Tony Janflone performing blues, rock, pop and jazz at 4 p.m.; and the Vogues playing the oldies hits of the 1950s and 1960s at 6:30 p.m.

Sunday’s entertainment will include Noel McLeary performing gospel music at 12:30 p.m.; Tom Watt playing Jimmy Buffet hits at 2 p.m.; the Delmont Area Concert Band performing in an old-fashioned band concert at 4 p.m.; and Shirley Benner at the keyboard playing a carillon concert at 5:30 p.m. from Calvary United Methodist Church.

The festival also will feature about 150 craft booths located at four craft areas located around Ligonier and linked by shuttle bus service. One change from last year is that a craft area has been relocated to Mellon Park (West Main Street) from the grounds of the Holy Trinity Church. Signs point the way to the sites where crafters offer numerous items including dried flowers, pottery, handcrafted clothing, artwork, fabric art, wooden craft items, jewelry, photography, watercolor prints and much more.

About three dozen food booths, sponsored by community groups, offer a variety of sandwiches, beverages, doughnuts, kettle corn and other goodies. The booths are located in the bandstand area.

Information about the festival is available at www.ligonier.com. Call the Ligonier Valley Chamber of Commerce at 724-238-4200.

Special activities for children are offered at Kids’ Korner, which is sponsored by Commercial Bank and Trust of Pennsylvania and is located at the corner of West Main and Fairfield streets. Crafts and special activities are planned for youngsters.

The roar of artillery will echo through the valley again when artillery demonstrations are held at Fort Ligonier on both Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m., followed by battle re-enactments planned both days at 2 and 4 p.m.

Fort Ligonier will also be hosting a special guest on Saturday, Oct. 15, when artist Robert Griffing will be on hand in the museum to sign posters of his latest painting, “The Wounding of General Braddock.” Prints to be signed are available at the Fort Ligonier Museum Store. (There is an admission charge for the fort.) Griffing is a painter of 18th century scenes depicting the life of the Eastern Woodland Indian.

Visitors to the fort will also be able to see the newest acquisitions, which were unveiled this spring and are the centerpieces of a new gallery devoted to George Washington. A handwritten, autobiographical 11-page recollection of Washington’s six dangerous years on the Pennsylvania frontier, called the “Remarks,” has become part of the permanent collection at Fort Ligonier as a result of a major gift from the Laurel Foundation and additional private support.

Joining the “Remarks” on display, after more than two centuries in private hands, are Washington’s “saddle” pistols which were purchased by the young Marquis de Lafayette and later given to Washington, who is believed to have carried the pistols at Valley Forge and during his presidency.

After Washington’s death, the pistols were presented to Gen. Andrew Jackson, who prized them throughout his presidency and bequeathed them back to the Lafayette family. The guns were purchased anonymously at auction in 2002 by the Richard King Mellon Foundation and unveiled in April at the Fort.

These new acquisitions underscore the critical role that Washington played in regional and U.S. history as Fort Ligonier takes part in the national commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the French and Indian War. A virtual tour of the fort is available at www.fortligonier.org

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For the second year, a Fort Day 5K Run/Walk will be held on Sunday, Oct. 16, and will begin and end at the Ligonier Valley Senior High School. There is a cost for registration. Funds will benefit Fort Ligonier Days.

A non-denominational faith service led by Rev. Rick Corbett will be held at 7:30 a.m. prior to the race, which will begin for runners at 8:30 a.m. and walkers 10 minutes later. Top three male and female participants will receive a trophy.

A kids’ (12 and under) One-Mile Fun Run begins at 8:15 a.m. Information and entry forms are available through the Ligonier Valley Chamber of Commerce.

The festival will get under way on Friday, Oct. 14, when the food booths and craftsmen’s fair open at 9 a.m. The Fort Ligonier museum will open at 10 a.m. Sidewalk sales begin that day at 10 a.m. Official opening ceremonies will take place at noon on Friday on the Diamond. Musical performances are scheduled throughout the afternoon on all three days of the festival.

On Saturday, Oct. 15, the food booths and craft booths again open at 9 a.m. The Fort Ligonier museum opens at 9 a.m. Ligonier merchants continue special sidewalk sales starting at 10 a.m. The parade, which winds down Main Street, follows at 11 a.m. Craft booths close at 6 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday, and 5 p.m. on Sunday.

On Sunday, Oct. 16, Fort Ligonier opens at 10 a.m. Booths open at noon. Musical performances conclude that day with a carillon concert at 5:30 p.m.

Free shuttle bus service will be provided all three days from Ligonier Valley High School. The shuttle will run from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Pets are strictly prohibited in the festival area.

The official festival program, published by “The Ligonier Echo,” will provide information and a map. The festival is always held the second full weekend of October and next year’s festival is scheduled for Oct. 13-15.

Information about the festival is available on-line by looking at the Ligonier home page at www.ligonier.com. For more information about the festivities, call the Ligonier Valley Chamber of Commerce at 724-238-4200.