ST. MARYS: One of the great things that has evolved out of
Bradford’s Italian festival has been a cooking class, with recipes
and techniques getting handed down to the younger
generations.[neWLine]
That’s the kind of thing that makes ethnic festivals so
meaningful. Not only do the crowds have a good time, but a piece of
local history and culture is preserved.[neWLine]
Our mind ran to such thoughts while paging through the
Pennsylvania magazine which included an article on the 39th annual
Goschenhoppen Festival in Montgomery County each
August.[neWLine]
Goschenhoppen is one of the oldest existing continuously
Pennsylvania German communities in America, and was settled in the
early 18th century. And that, of course, reminded us of another
community founded by German immigrants – St. Marys.[neWLine]
We have previously suggested that it would be great if St. Marys
were to have an authentic German festival and Goschenhoppen might
serve as a good model.[neWLine]
More than 1,000 costumed volunteers at the festival share the
secrets of their vanishing trades and arts and prepare food much
like their Pennsylvania German ancestors would have done, according
to the article.[neWLine]
There are seamstresses, spinners, basket makers, cigar makers,
dowsers, broom makers, candle makers, stone masons, furniture
craftsmen, paper makers, basket weavers, and quill pen
demonstrators.[neWLine]
Visitors stop to watch chair making, fishnet weaving,
gunsmithing, paper cutting, cornhusk-doll making, rug braiding,
fence post boring, blacksmithing, thatching and tin
smithing.[neWLine]
Girls herd flocks of geese, bands play German music, wagons
deliver milk cans of water, and ragmen visit women to purchased
discarded fabric and clothing. A woman rides by sitting sidesaddle
on a horse, and young boys use metal tongs to deliver ice
blocks.[neWLine]
German cuisine is another offering at the festival. In one
demonstration, visitors can observe the scrapple-making process
starting with the butchering of a live pig. From there, they cut
the meat off the bones, boil the scraps down and then cook it with
cornmeal to create scrapple.[neWLine]
Beverages include homemade root beer, peppermint water and
raspberry water made with fruit, water, sugar and vinegar. Pies are
filled with ground cherry or elderberry or raw pumpkin, sliced thin
like apples. There is also green tomato pie, and raisin
pie.[neWLine]
One thing the article didn’t mention was beer. And certainly, at
least in St. Marys, no festival would be complete without the
tapping of the beer keg and a generous sampling of the brew.
