May 30, 2013
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia’s champion old-time fiddle and banjo, bluegrass banjo, lap dulcimer, flatpick guitar and mandolin players competed for top honors on Saturday, May 25, 2013, during the West Virginia Division of Culture and History’s 37th annual Vandalia Gathering.
The winners were:
Youth Old-Time Fiddle (age 15 and under)
1st place - Walter King, Elkins
2nd place - Lydia Hager, Kenna
3rd place - Chloe Sergent, Milton
Old-Time Fiddle (age 59 and under)
1st place - Dan Kessinger, St. Marys
2nd place - Jason Chewning, Beverly
3rd place - Walter King, Elkins
4th place - Cody Jordan, Point Pleasant
5th place - Robbie Mann, Glenville
Senior Old-Time Fiddle (age 60 and over)
1st place - Elmer Rich, Morgantown
2nd place - Jim Mullins, St. Albans
3rd place - Terry Vaughan, Cross Lanes
4th place - John Morris, Ivydale
5th place - Richard Eddy, Maidsville
Mandolin (all ages)
1st place - David Watson Jr., West Union
2nd place - Dan Kessinger, St. Marys
3rd place - Karl Smakula, Montrose
4th place - Robin Kessinger, St. Albans
5th place - Ben Perdue, Morgantown
Bluegrass Banjo (all ages)
1st place - Logan Browning, St. Albans
2nd place - Marteka Lake, Hacker Valley
3rd place - Karl Smakula, Montrose
4th place - Robert Russell, Tallmansville
5th place - Blaine Johnson, Beaver
Lap Dulcimer (all ages)
1st place - Martha Turley, Ona
2nd place - Will Manahan, Elkview
3rd place - Ezra Drumheller, Prosperity
4th place - Ryan Davis, Beckley
5th place - Morgan Spradling, Beckley
Old-Time Banjo (59 and under)
1st place - Tim Bing, Huntington
2nd place - Logan Hoy, Belle
3rd place - Dennis Ott, Ronceverte
4th place - Chad Ashworth, St. Albans
5th place - James Blankenship, Sand Fork
Senior Old-Time Banjo (age 60 and over)
1st place - Jim Mullins, St. Albans
2nd place - Paul Gartner, Yawkey
3rd place - Ken Sheller, Elkins
4th place - John Morris, Ivydale
5th place - NA
Youth Flatpick Guitar (age 15 and under)
1st place - Bryant Underwood, Charleston
2nd place - Isaac Putnam, Looneyville
3rd place - Claire Walker, Charleston
Flatpick Guitar (all ages)
1st place - Adam Hager, Kenna
2nd place - Jamie Rhodes, Culloden
3rd place - Matt Lindsey, Dunbar
4th place - Doug Workman, St. Albans
5th place - Jarrod Saul, Sumerco
The Vandalia Gathering will be featured on Saturday, June 22, during the 150th birthday celebration at the state Capitol. Food and craft vendors will be plentiful on the capitol grounds. Concerts featuring some of the winners in mandolin, bluegrass and old-time banjo, flatpick guitar, lap dulcimer and old-time fiddle contests and gospel singing will take place throughout the day. Competitions will be held for the best pound cake, cupcake and maple cookie, as well as the annual Liars Contest. An outdoor dance stage will present heritage and ethnic dancing, traditional square dancing and flatfoot and clogging opportunities, with bands and callers on hand. The Old-Time-for-Young-’Uns area will provide a 4-H campfire experience for youth of all ages.
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.
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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