65th Springs Folk Fest gave 'soulful connection' to yesteryear
SPRINGS ― "I believe we find a soulful connection with ourselves when we look at yesteryear," said Sheri Sechler of Grantsville, Maryland, who was strolling the woods trail at this year's 65th Springs Folk Fest on Friday with her husband, Scott.
Sechler reasoned that when the older generation is gone it's almost impossible to learn about how things were once done. That's why the folk fest is so important. Because it serves as a reminder of the lifestyles of the past.
"When I see all the talents here from the demonstrations to the vendors with creative crafts to the unique foods, it just amazes me," she said. "We believe it pulls us back to our roots."
One activity at the festival that brought crowds who wanted to learn more about their agricultural roots was the husker shredder demonstration.
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Brad Hay, Mike Ringler, Bill Gartner, Reuben Tice and Don Betler were volunteering in this area with each man having a different job to do in order to get the corn husked and everything bagged. The 1918 McCormick Deering husker shredder has the ability to husk corn, deposit it on the ground, and then shred the husks into a mulch used for cow bedding.
Hay, who has been volunteering in this area for the past 35 years, said that one farmer owned this equipment and another owned a thrasher and another owned the binder. All shared their pieces of equipment among the farms.
Ann Jones, a weaver on the woods trail who also demonstrates at Spruce Forest in Grantsville, Maryland, described the folk fest as "romantic."
"It's romantic here with the leaves and music serving as a backdrop," she said. "There are not many festivals with a setting like this and these festivals are starting to disappear. So it is important to keep it going. It brings people closer to their roots and times past."
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Becky Shoemaker, festival chairwoman for two years and a volunteer in the information booth for 40 years, said the weekend turned out to be steady and successful in many ways.
"It could have been a washout judging from some of the weather forecasts. We had some light drizzle and colder temperatures over the weekend but things went well," she said. "There were at least seven bus tours on Friday morning and things were steady all weekend."
Shoemaker said the Springs Folk Fest is an event based on heritage and community with many learning experiences for the whole family along with great music, entertainment and food.
"Alta Schrock put the wheels in motion 65 years ago but all the volunteers for the past 65 years kept it going from there," she said. "There are a lot of people who built this festival into what it is today and they deserve credit for their hard work and commitment."
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: 65th Springs Folk Fest gave 'soulful connection' to yesteryear
