|
2008 IRON HERITAGE FESTIVAL
Tickets will be available June 1.
Tickets are limited for most events so please get your tickets early.
Plans are underway for the 2008 IHF. All the details are not worked out get but here is a sample to whet your appetite!
Sunday July 13. Bring your friends and family and watch the competitions between the local fire companies in Riverside, at the South Side Fire company. For 150 years fire fighters have engaged in competitions and games for not only personal but their fire company pride. Come and cheer on your ‘team’ as they play tug of war, find their way thru a smoke maze, participate in a bucket brigade and more. Chicken Bar-B-Q and refreshments will be available for purchase.
Wednesday, July 16, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 1pm join Sis Hause for a ‘Tour of Iron’ by bus. Visit the sites where it all began, the area of the original mills and furnaces. The bus leaves at 1pm behind Scott’s Lot off Mill Street ($)*.
The Event at Grove will take place on the beautiful grounds of what once was the Bennett Mansion and formerly St. Cyril’s Academy. ($)*. Enjoying a picnic on these grounds as you watch or participate in a three hole event is perfect on a summer evening. You can play golf the way great-grandma and grandpa did back in the 'old' days with a featherie golf ball and the old grassed drivers (classic golf clubs that are available for your use!) Join the fun by dressing in knickers and argyle socks, topped off with a ‘tam’ and have your photo taken or come as you are. Dressing in period clothes is not necessary and should not stop you from participating in the golf event, it is optional. Come and watch the golfers and enjoy these beautiful surroundings while enjoying a picnic on the grounds. Have you ever wondered what kind of equipment our local fire companies use? Bring your families to Mill St and visit the display of fire apparatus Wednesday evening from 6pm to 8pm.
On Wednesday and Thursday evening, the favorite ‘Cemetery Tour by Lantern Light’ ($)* starts at approx. 8:30pm. Tours will leave every 20 minutes so bring your flashlights, wear walking shoes and learn about those who helped bring our state and country into the industrial revolution.
Thursday, July 17, Thurs, At 7pm, led by the oldest members of each local fire company, the IHF parade marches through Danville. Two of the top fire company’s pipe bands from Philadelphia will march in the parade for the first time, this is a must see! Join in the fun. Have your friends, coworkers and family members dress up in period costumes; decorate a float focusing on the past. Applications will be available closer to the parade or email the IHF to have an application sent to you. After the parade, enjoy ‘Stanky and the Coal Miners’ in Cole’s parking lot. Stanky and his group are premiere polka musicians. Refreshments will be available for purchase.
July 20, Friday afternoon, Music at Canal Park starts at noon and it’s all planned around the children! Listen to Woody and other local musicians. Children can have knitting and embroidery lessons on Mill St. by Swisher’s Yarn Shop, just look for the rocking chairs. Try out a hot air tethered balloon behind the Danville Middle School ($)*. Friday evening join us at the Washers Fire Company Room on Railroad Street for an evening of fun and dance.($) *. Refreshments will be available during the dance, cash bar. Go on a mine hike at Sunnybrook Park with Larry Mordan and Van Wagner Friday, 8pm or Saturday 10am. ‘Pass the Peanuts’ the annual meeting of the Board of Directors of the Watchbox will be held with Rich Pawling presiding at Watchbox Park at the corner of Mill and Lower Mulberry Streets.
Saturday, July 19 Start the day by cheering on your favorite runners at the first 5k run. Starting at the DMS at 9am, the runners will travel on our Trail of History for prizes. Call the IHF office for applications or click here to download a .doc copy of the application to send to IHF. At 10am there is non-denominational Service of Joy at the Basilica located on the grounds of St. Cyril Academy. Join John Brady and friends in this exquisite building on magnificent grounds. Visit Franklin Furnace and listen as Gene Shipe, a direct descendant of Philip Maus describes the day to day operation of the furnace.
Artisans will be demonstrating the skills of the past, and the IHF furnace will be up and running, smelting iron ore with coal made during the charcoal burn. Artisans returning this year will include soap making, iron working, the making of Civil War Hats, rug hooking, pottery, broom making and more. A tea will be held in the magnificent solarium of the Bennett Mansion ($)*. The tea, served by the Grove Family maids will be a highlight of this year’s IHF. Enjoy the music, the history and just maybe the Grove family themselves will join their guests. Train rides will run throughout the day from the Middle School Station ($) to Bloomsburg or to Northumberland and back. Historic lectures abound!: hear the stories from Steelworkers Archive’s Inc. of Bethlehem Steel and see the memorabilia displayed, At the Artisan encampment learn the rituals and traditions of mourning the dead of the Civil War with the Gettys. Visit the Carriage House of Jacob Henry Cole, built in 1870. Go on a walking tour with Bob Brown and learn about Danville’s Historic area, West Market Street, along with the iron work on the homes there. In the Community ballroom you will find a display of period clothing and accessories, learn how to do tatting and needlework. Local Danville area restaurants will be offering their specialties when you are ready to eat, along with specialties of treats from the past, such as kettle corn, roasted peanuts and home made ice cream throughout the town. At6pm, 7pm and 8pm, join Larry Mordan, as Morgan a Welshman bartender at ‘Morgan’s Tavern’ ($)* at 303 Mill St; Join Morgan, the mill workers and other and enjoy the music and the discussion of the day. At 7pm at the DMS, 10 fiddlers($)* will showcase their talents and one will be the first winner of the IHFs Fiddlers Contest and what we hope will be an annual event, After a day full of fun get the lawn chairs out to watch the fireworks over the river with the family.
Iron Heritage Festival Quoits Tournament sponsored by the USQA will be held Saturday. Quoits, the predecessor of horseshoe pitching, dating back to ancient Greek Olympics was played by young and old alike, rich and poor. Tournaments went on at every picnic and get together. In Danville, tournaments were played in Montgomery Park at lunch time and in the evenings. The tournament will be played behind the tennis courts on the Danville Middle School lawn. Not only do the 'quoits pitchers' play for the prize money but for the prestige of being the best quoits pitcher in the country! Last year there were several local teams, one team even won a prize and participated in other USQA events, so get your teams together! For more information about the quoits tournament check out the website at www.quoits.info. Applications can be found at the IHF Company Store and also on USQA website.
Sunday, July 20 will close the festival with several programs being planned that include the NY Mutual Heritage baseball team back to take on a team of local baseball players ($) on Sunday afternoon at 2pm at the Hess Field. Refreshments will be available at the field. From 8am to 3pm come out to the fly in at the Danville-Riverside Airport, brought to you by the EAA Chapter #769. While there take a helicopter ride and check out the planes that are the pride of their owners. Finish up a fabulous week with our Hymn Sing. Bring your lawn chairs or blankets and sit beside the beautiful Susquehanna River in Montgomery Park and join Larry Mordan, Van Wagner and friends in the old favorite hymns and songs we all know and love.
Due to the circumstances beyond our control, stated events may be changed as time gets closer. The schedule of the schedule tab will take you to a printable time table to help you plan your day. Please visit the links of our wonderful sponsors; without them the IHF couldn’t bring you 90 plus events free. If you would like to help sponsor an event, check the sponsorship page on this site to learn the different levels of sponsorship. If you would like to make a donation to the IHF please send your donation to IHF, 316 Mill St. Danville, PA 17821.
*($) This is a paid event and a ticket is needed, Purchase your ticket at the IHF Company Store at 316 Mill St.
|
