Sixth annual School Day set during Leaf Peeper’s Festival
DAVIS — Tucker County Chamber of Commerce will once again sponsor a field trip so children can visit exhibits during the 29th annual Leaf Peeper’s Festival in Davis.
This year, Tucker County students in grades kindergarten through eight will spend the day Friday watching live demonstrations of heritage arts, such as paper marbling, glass blowing, woodcarving and horseshoeing. They also will learn about music, stream restoration techniques and habits of wild animals.
Additionally, the students will visit exhibits relating to the history of trains and the Appalachian coal miner. They also will learn how to play several authentic pioneer games, and a petting zoo will also be on hand for the animal lovers in the crowd.
“This year we are welcoming back some familiar faces to our list of presenters, as well as some new exhibits. We are excited about having John D. Bielik, a nationally renowned itinerant artisan, instructor and historic trades interpreter, with us to demonstrate paper marbling for the students,” said Kim Bennett, event coordinator. “We are truly honored that his schedule will allow him to attend the Leaf Peeper’s Festival this year.”
Bielik has performed his historically inspired demonstrations at Historic Deerfield, Massachusetts, the Harvest Celebration at Dollywood, Tennessee, the Boone Home in Missouri, the Lincoln Log Cabin historic site in Illinois, Shelburne Museum in Vermont, the New York State Fair in Syracuse and many other venues throughout Minnesota, Nebraska, Virginia and West Virginia. Bielik’s paper and products are featured in the shops at Colonial Williamsburg and other retail venues. He is published in Early American Life Magazine and has been selected for inclusion onto the Directory of Traditional American Crafts, according to information from a news release.
Bielik will have some of his creations available for purchase and will have on-site demonstrations on Saturday.
Also participating in Friday’s School Day presentations this year are three local organizations — Canaan Valley Institute, ArtSpring and the Friends of the 500th from the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge.
Canaan Valley Institute representatives will help students explore the world of benthic macroinvertebrates — the juvenile insects that live under rocks in streams. After looking at living macroinvertebrate samples, CVI representatives will teach the students about their role in the aquatic food web through a fun, energetic game.
ArtSpring contributing artist Erika May, known to her friends and fans as E.May, along with Cory Chase and Corey Bonasso, will provide the students with musical adventures through interactive, high-energy group improv sessions that explore music through melody, harmony and rhythm. The artists will show collaboration using songwriting and language and be lyrically expressive with dance and movement. E.May is billed as “one of the most multi-talented artists you will ever come across” by grassrootsy.com.
“We are honored that she, along with Mr. Chase and Mr. Bonasso, will be offering her musical talents and insights to the students this year during the School Day presentations,” Bennett said.
Also returning to School Day is the popular Animal Olympics presented by the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge “Friends of the 500th” volunteer
organization.
“This is a fun way the refuge volunteers teach children about wild animals and their traits and characteristics,” Bennett said. “The volunteers conduct short, timed races featuring the children mimicking wild animals, i.e., ‘flapping’ their wings and walking on all fours. Andi Dalton and her crew of volunteers do an absolutely amazing job with this. They deserve lots of praise for their efforts.”
A new addition to the School Day presentations this year will be horseshoeing demonstrations by Bennie Bender, of Springs, Pennsylvania, who is Amish and will answer any questions students may have about the Amish way of life.
Returning presenters include the very popular Chip Turner of Appalachian Glass in Weston, who has been performing live glass blowing demonstrations for the children since School Day first started in 2012.
“Chip is very interesting and entertaining and the children really enjoy visiting his exhibit,” Bennett said.
Also returning is favorite Dean Hardman, also of Weston, with his Broken H Traveling Train exhibit, along with his great personality and wealth of thought-provoking information about trains and the history of trains, local artisan “Sacco” Carter demonstrating the art of wood carving with a chain saw and retired educators Fred “Powerhouse” Powers and his wife, Sharon Powers, of Bluefield.
“Fred Powers provides an enlightening living history presentation of the Appalachian coal miner, Sharon Powers teaches authentic Pioneer Games and Sacco Carter is an amazing chain saw wood sculptor,” Bennett said.
“School Day at Leaf Peeper’s is a community outreach project of the Tucker County Chamber of Commerce, which we feel is extremely beneficial for the children” said Roxanne Tuesing, chamber president. “We are excited to host this event each year and are very thankful for all of the talented individuals who participate and make the field trip possible.”
Jessica Waldo, executive director for the chamber, said School Day is truly a cooperative effort between Tucker County Schools, the Chamber of Commerce and members of the local community.
“It is quite a task to organize and finance the transport of nearly 400 of the county’s school children to visit the festival, but our board of directors believes that this field trip is a worthwhile endeavor,” Waldo said.
“It takes a lot of effort to put the exhibits together for School Day and for the benefit of the festival, in general. The Chamber Board believes that the economic impact of the Leaf Peeper’s Festival is vital to the area and the Chamber works tirelessly to support the interests of the local business community on a daily basis,” Waldo continued. “Also, while visitors are in town for the festival, we encourage them to explore the town of Davis and the many things it has to offer. Within walking distance from the festival area are several shops, wonderful eateries and brew pubs. We also ask them to explore Tucker County in its entirety, including Canaan Valley, Dolly Sods, Thomas and Parsons.”
Some of the sponsors who have made the event possible include Mettiki Coal Co., Friends of the 500th, ArtSpring, Canaan Valley Institute, The Alpine Lodge and Sawmill Restaurant, Sarah Schwartz, Land of Canaan Vacation Resort, Mountain Trail Rides, Ben’s Old Loom Barn and Bill and Karen Peterson/Leftbank Properties.
More information about the Leaf Peeper’s Festival is available online at http://canaanvalley.org/leaf-peepers-festival.html.