May 30, 2012
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia’s champion old-time fiddle, bluegrass banjo and mandolin players competed for top honors on May 26, 2012, and old-time banjo, lap dulcimer and flat pick guitar players and liars on May 27, 2012, during the West Virginia Division of Culture and History’s 36th annual Vandalia Gathering. There also were competitions for best homemade pound cake and cupcake.
he winners were:
Youth Old-Time Fiddle (age 15 and under
1st place - Walter King, Elkins
2nd place - Lydia Hager, Kenna
3rd place - Jarred Carter, St. Albans
Old-Time Fiddle (age 59 and under)
1st place - Ray Cossin, Mount Alto
2nd place - Darrell Murray, Charleston
3rd place - Tessa Dillon, St. Albans
4th place - Rebecca McClung, Parkersburg
5th place - Walter King, Elkins
Senior Old-Time Fiddle (age 60 and over)
1st place - Gerry Milnes, Elkins
2nd place - Terry Vaughan, Cross Lanes
3rd place - Jim Mullins, St. Albans
4th place - Jerry Lewis, Nettie
5th place - John Morris, Ivydale
Mandolin (all ages)
1st place - Brandon Shuping, Madison
2nd place - David Watson, West Union
3rd place - Dan Kessinger, St. Marys
4th place - Isaac Putnam, Looneyville
5th place - Dustin Frame, Gassaway
Bluegrass Banjo (all ages)
1st place - Andrew Kidd, Hurricane
2nd place - Brandon Shuping, Madison
3rd place - Blaine Johnson, Beaver
4th place - Doug Cossin, Mt. Alto
5th place - Logan Browning, Summersville
Lap Dulcimer (all ages)
1st place - Hunter Walker, Beckley
2nd place - Will Manahan, Elkview
3rd place - David O’Dell, Glenville
4th place - Timmy Gillenwater, Griffithsville
5th place - Martha Turley, Ona
Old-Time Banjo (59 and under)
1st place - David O’Dell, Glenville
2nd place - Pete Kosky, Charleston
3rd place - Chad Ashworth, St. Albans
4th place - Logan Hoy, Belle
5th place - Nevada Tribble, Elkins
Senior Old-Time Banjo (age 60 and over)
1st place - Jay Lockman, Green Bank
2nd place - Jim Mullins, St. Albans
3rd place - John Morris, Ivydale
4th place - Ken Sheller, Elkins
5th place - Steve Harrison, St. Albans
Youth Flat Pick Guitar (age 15 and under)
1st place - Bryant Underwood, Charleston
2nd place - Isaac Putnam, Looneyville
3rd place - Logan Jones, Charleston
Flat Pick Guitar (all ages)
1st place - Dan Kessinger, St. Marys
2nd place - Adam Hager, Kenna
3rd place - Matt Lindsey, Dunbar
4th place - Richard Adkins, Cross Lanes
5th place - Rick Hall, Princeton
Liars Contest
Biggest Liar (1st place and Goldenseal magazine’s Golden Shovel award) - Pete Kosky, Charleston
Bigger Liar (2nd place) - David Webb, Burlington
Big Liar (3rd place) - Gary Buchanan, Creston
Youth (age 15 and under, and Goldenseal magazine’s Golden Shovel award) - Noah Lepp, Charleston
Pound Cake (all ages)
1st place - Ella Hoffman, Charleston
2nd place - Judy Grigoraci, Charleston
3rd place - Mary Adams, Walker
Cupcakes (all ages)
1st place - Cassandra Atkins, Charleston
2nd place - Judy Grigoraci, Charleston
3rd place - Janet Sheldon, St. Albans
Youth (age 15 and under, $25) - Michael Pauley, Pinch
The annual Vandalia Gathering is a free celebration of the traditional arts, music, dance, stories, crafts and foods of West Virginia. The Culture Center and State Capitol Complex grounds play host to this expanding family-style gathering each year on Memorial Day weekend. The unique blending of ethnic and cultural heritage combines an atmosphere as comfortable as a family reunion with the excitement of a state fair. The statewide folk festival, named for the proposed 14th colony, pays tribute to the state’s ethnic heritage through a variety of exhibitions and programs.
The Liars Contest regularly draws standing-room-only crowds. Goldenseal, the magazine of West Virginia traditional life, hosts the event and publishes the winning stories each year. The lies must be short stories – humorous, dramatic, supernatural, etc. – of two to five minutes in length.
Vandalia Gathering is a program of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. For more information, contact Caryn Gresham, deputy commissioner and communications manager for the Division, at (304) 558-0220.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts with Kay Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary. The Division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the Division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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