The 20th Appalachian String Band Music Festival at Camp Washington-Carver in Clifftop, Fayette County, wrapped up Sunday, Aug. 2. During the event, some of the nation’s finest string band musicians and old-time dancers won prizes in four old-time “traditional” contests—fiddle, banjo, string band and flat-foot dance—plus one “neo-traditional” string band contest. In addition, ribbons for best original song and best original tune were awarded in the neo-traditional band category.
More than 4,300 people attended the festival, which began Wednesday, July 29. Visitors from Maine to California and Washington State to Florida were in attendance as well as folks from as far away as Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Australia, France, England, Ireland and Japan, to name a few. The annual gathering features concerts, contests, crafts, dancing, family activities, workshops and master’s showcases. Next year’s festival will be held Aug. 4 - 8, 2010. Camp Washington-Carver is operated by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History.
The contest winners were:
Fiddle
1st place ($400) - Tatiana Hargreaves, Corvallis, Ore.
2nd place ($200) - Eric Merriol, New Haven, Conn.
3rd place ($150) - Emily Schaad, Rhinebeck, N.Y.
4th place ($100) - Stephanie Coleman, Brooklyn, N.Y.
5th place ($50) - Rafe Stefanini, Elkins Park, Pa.
Youth Fiddle - 15 years of age and under
1st place ($100) - Tatiana Hargreaves, Corvallis, Ore.
2nd place ($50) -Isaac Akers, Chapel Hill, N.C.
3rd place ($25) - Tessa Dillon, St. Albans, W.Va.
Senior Fiddle - 60 years of age and over
1st place ($200) - Lester McCumbers, Nicut, W.Va.
2nd place ($100) - Henry the Fiddler, Denver, Colo.
3rd place ($50) - Walt Koken, Avondale, Pa.
Banjo
1st place ($400) - Adam Hurt, Kernersville, N.C.
2nd place ($200) - Walt Koken, Avondale, Pa.
3rd place ($150) - Rick Good, Spring Valley, Ohio
4th place ($100) - Bob Smakula, Elkins, W.Va.
5th place ($50) - Nancy Sluys, Westfield, N.C.
Youth Banjo - 15 years of age and under
1st place ($100) - Jesse Reist, Lancaster, Pa.
2nd place ($50) - Brennen Ernst, Lucketts, Va.
3rd place ($25) - Jared Boyd, Laurel Fork, Va.
Senior Banjo - 60 years of age and over
1st place ($200) - Walt Koken, Avondale, Pa.
2nd place ($100) - Marvin Gaster, Sanford, N.C.
3rd place ($50) - Jimmy McCown, Hardy, Ky.
Traditional Band
1st place ($700) - The Bailers, Greenville, W.Va.
2nd place ($400) - The Yeah Buddies, Spring Valley, Ohio
3rd place ($300) - Orpheus Supertones, Avondale, Pa.
4th place ($200) - Uncle Henry’s Favorites, Free Union, Va.
5th place ($100) - The Tights, Ithaca, N.Y.
Neo-Traditional Band
1st place ($700) - Nora Jane Struthers and Her Band, Nashville, Tenn.
2nd place ($400) - The Boston Collective, Boston, Mass.
3rd place ($300) - The Old-Time Liberation Constituency, Lancaster, Pa.
4th place ($200) - Mando Mafia, Charlottesville, Va.
5th place ($100) - Green Willis, Mountain View, Ark.
Best Original Song
Nora Jane Struthers and Her Band, Nashville, Tenn.
Best Original Tune
Mando Mafia, Charlottesville, Va.
Old-Time Flat-Foot Dance - 15 years of age and under
1st place ($75) - Rebecca Molaro, Asheville, N.C.
2nd place ($50) - Lulu Furtado, Front Royal, Va.
3rd place ($25) - Samantha Thomason, Hellam, Pa.
Old-Time Flat-Foot Dance - 16 years of age through 40
1st place ($75) - Josephine Stewart, Charlottesville, Va.
2nd place ($50) -Ryan Clover-Owens, Ithaca, N.Y.
3rd place ($25) - Joel O’Brien, Nashville, Tenn.
Old-Time Flat-Foot Dance - 41 years of age through 59
1st place ($75) - Ira Bernstein, Asheville, N.C.
2nd place ($50) - Jay Bland, Kennesaw, Ga.
3rd place ($25) - Jane Henderson, Bloomington, Ind.
Old-Time Flat-Foot Dance - 60 years of age and older
1st place ($75) - Daniel Butner, Winston-Salem, N.C.
2nd place ($50) - Mary Butner, Winston-Salem, N.C.
3rd place ($25) - Carole Bendick, Winfield, Pa.
A beautiful retreat listed in the National Register of Historic Places and operated by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Camp Washington-Carver serves as the state’s mountain cultural arts center. The facility nurtures the cultural heritage embodied in the site since its dedication in 1942 as a 4-H and agricultural extension camp for West Virginia’s African Americans. The camp is located in Fayette County adjacent to Babcock State Park, just off Rt. 60 (Midland Trail) on Rt. 41.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. Its administrative offices are located at the Culture Center in the State Capitol Complex in Charleston, which also houses the state archives and state museum. The Culture Center is West Virginia’s official showcase for the arts. The agency also operates a network of museums and historic sites across the state. For more information about the Division’s programs, visit the web site at www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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