June 2, 2016
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia’s champion old-time fiddle, bluegrass banjo and mandolin players, and pound cake and favorite family cookie bakers competed for top honors on Saturday, May 28, during the West Virginia Division of Culture and History’s 40th annual Vandalia Gathering. On Sunday, May 29, old-time banjo, lap dulcimer and flatpick guitar musicians, and liars vied for awards.
The winners were:
Youth Old-Time Fiddle (age 15 and under)
1st place – Ben Davis, Marlinton
2nd place – Hannah Snuffer, Beckley
3rd place – Liam Farley, Chapmanville
Old-Time Fiddle (age 59 and under)
1st place – Dan Kessinger, St. Marys
2nd place – Jesse Pearson, Huntington
3rd place – Bob Smakula, Elkins
4th place – Jenny Allinder, St. Albans
5th place – Cody Jordan, Point Pleasant
Senior Old-Time Fiddle (age 60 and over)
1st place – Greg Bentle, Huntington
2nd place – Gerry Milnes, Elkins
3rd place – John Morris, Ivydale
4th place – Terry Vaughan, Cross Lanes
5th place – Jim Mullins, St. Albans
Mandolin (all ages)
1st place – Karl Smakula, Elkins
2nd place - Joshua Brown, Summersville
3rd place – Jake Eddy, Parkersburg
4th place – Dan Kessinger, St. Marys
5th place – Silas Powell, Salem
Bluegrass Banjo (all ages)
1st place – Andrew Kidd, Morgantown
2nd place – Jake Eddy, Parkersburg
3rd place – Josh Lanham, Buckhannon
4th place – Levi Sanders, Fairview
5th place – Karl Smakula, Elkins
Lap Dulcimer (all ages)
1st place – Hunter Walker, Beckley
2nd place –Jesse Pearson, Huntington
3rd place – Patricia Westman, Beckley
4th place – David O’Dell, Glenville
5th place – Ezra Drumheller, Prosperity
Old-Time Banjo (59 and under)
1st place – David O’Dell, Glenville
2nd place – Hunter Walker, Beckley
3rd place – Nick Freeman, St. Albans
4th place – Ben Townsend, Romney
5th place – Cody Jordan, Point Pleasant
Senior Old-Time Banjo (age 60 and over)
1st place – Jim Mullins, St. Albans
2nd place – Paul Gartner, Yawkey
3rd place – John Morris, Ivydale
4th place – Warren Owings, Hamlin
Youth Flatpick Guitar (age 15 and under)
1st place – Silas Powell, Salem
Flatpick Guitar (all ages)
1st place – David Watson, Huntington
2nd place –Bryant Underwood, Charleston
3rd place – Matt Lindsey, Culloden
4th place – Joshua Brown, Summersville
5th place – Rick Hall, Princeton
Liars (all ages)
Biggest Liar (1st place and Goldenseal magazine’s Golden Shovel award) Jacob Hall, Charleston
Bigger Liar (2nd place) Ian Nolte, Huntington
Big Liar (3rd place) –Pete Kosky, Charleston
Youth (age 15 and under, and Goldenseal magazine’s Golden Shovel award) Claire Kosky, Charleston
Favorite Family Cookies (all ages)
1st place – Ella Hoffman, South Charleston
2nd place – Jennifer Foreman, Red House
3rd place – Toni McCullough, Bridgeport
Youth (age 15 and under) Victoria Scarberry, Charleston
Pound Cake (all ages)
1st place – Ella Hoffman, South Charleston
2nd place – Casey Pruitt, Charleston
3rd place – Bridget 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.
Vandalia Gathering is a program of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. For more information, contact Caryn Gresham, deputy commissioner and communications director 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.
- 30 -
