Some slog for Hartslog
Organizers hard at work for annual Alexandria festivalBy Cori Bolger, cbolger@altoonamirror.com
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Fact Box
IF YOU GO
What: 33rd annual Hartslog Day fall festival
Where: Main Street and Hartslog Street, Alexandria
When: 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Arts and crafts booths open and the parade starts at 9 a.m. Live entertainment is scheduled throughout the day.
Cost: Free
Info: 669-4455 or 669-4751
ALEXANDRIA - The Hartslog Day sign is posted along Route 22, numbers are painted on Main Street and residents are cleaning their yards in preparation for their town's big day Saturday.
With the brisk feeling of fall also comes the buzz of Hartslog Day, a one-day festival in Alexandria each year.
Organizers estimate that 17,000 patrons will converge on the small town to browse arts and crafts, eat homemade treats and mill around Main Street.
Don Litzenberger, long-time chairman of the event, said he expects to see many Huntingdon County natives return for the event.
''It's mainly a fall festival,'' he said. ''The trees are so pretty this time of year.''
The festival began in 1975 as a homecoming celebration to promote the sale of a local history book and raise funds for the Hartslog Heritage Museum. It has become the largest and longest-running event of its kind in the county.
Litzenberger, an 88-year-old Alexandria native and museum volunteer, said the event hasn't changed much in the past 30 years. He now runs the information booth with his wife, Margie.
''I tried to retire once, but they needed to more help, so I came back,'' he said with a laugh.
The work that goes into Hartslog Day is exhausting for its many volunteers, but it's a labor of love for those who raise money for the fire company, ambulance, churches, booster club, sports teams or the main benefactor, the museum.
''It takes the workers to do the job and they're all good workers,'' Litzenberger said. ''It's nerve-wracking thinking about, 'Now, is it going to rain?' or 'Is it going to be down in the 30s?' But we've been very fortunate with nice weather.''
A team of volunteers on the arts and crafts committee hand-selected more than 175 exhibitors from hundreds of applicants from around the northeast. Some are local and make art as a hobby; others sell their work on a regional festival ''circuit'' and offer high-end work.
This year's 35 new vendors possess originality, creativity and marketability, said Rachelle Hopsicker, committee chairwoman.
''These new folks are concentrated on jewelry, woodwork or a specific type of pottery and that's what's different this year,'' she said.
The museum, on the second floor of the Alexandria Memorial Public Library, will be open for Hartslog Day and features an exhibit on Old Home Week in 1907.
Juniata Valley Elementary School teacher Kristin Joivell will host a children's activity area that includes story time, cookie decorating, yo-yo tricks by Duane Carroll the Yo-Yo Man and a petting zoo.
Food options include the annual pancake breakfast at the Methodist Church, a chicken barbecue by the Juniata Valley Lions and sausages by the Christ Reformed Church.
Entertainment will include Dan & Galla, Juniata Valley Band, Strings of Faith, Juniata Valley Select Chorus, Anita Rosenborough with Regina Miller, Ron Shawver & The Dively Family, and Music, Music, Music.
Free shuttle service will run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. from the parking lots at Juniata Valley schools and Mead Westvaco Corp. to Alexandria.
The traditional Pumpkin Pole raising takes place in front of the library at 7:30 a.m., and the annual parade leaves the Woolverton Mansion about 9 a.m. to make its way down Main Street.
''We just think it's a nice affair,'' Litzenberger said.
