I hope everyone had a nice long Fourth of July weekend!
I had a pretty busy weekend between holiday festivities, social outings and participating in the Westmoreland Arts & Heritage Festival last Friday. I had already planned to help out at the Westmoreland Heritage booth that evening, but decided at the last minute to try and sell some copies of Ligonier Valley Vignettes. I figured it would be a good learning experience and also allow me to practice interacting with people as a seller.
All in all the WAAHF was a really great experience and I’m glad I took a chance and participated in the festival. Dave came along to help man the booth I had from 11:00am until 3:00pm and I was grateful for his help greeting people, filling our cooler with cold drinks, and buying us some delicious kettle corn. Thankfully my booth was set up on the Heritage Trail, which was a shady, tree-lined path off of the main vendor area that wrapped around the lower lake at Twin Lakes Park in Greensburg, PA. It was really sunny and hot that day so I was glad to be in the shade. I think the heat chased quite a few people to the trail!
I sold a few books and got the chance to meet and talk to some folks who stopped by to check out my book, including a gentleman from Ligonier who told us about performing in a band as a ninth grader during the town’s bicentennial celebration in 1958. He remembered President Eisenhower’s visit to the town for the celebration! I also met Jessica Kadie-Barclay, the managing director of West Overton Village and Museums in Scottsdale, PA, who was hunkered down in a neighboring booth. We bonded over our mutual hate of creepy-crawly forest-dwelling bugs! Bleck! Dave and I decided we really want to check out the village and museums sometime this summer, especially the distillery!
After we cleaned up the booth for the evening’s author to take over, I walked around the festival for a little while before heading over to join some other folks at the Westmoreland Heritage booth located at the beginning of the Heritage Trail. Westmoreland Heritage works in conjunction with the Westmoreland County Historical Society and local cultural and historical organizations to promote heritage tourism throughout the county. I was glad to help them out.
Thank you to everyone who stopped by my booth to pick up a copy of Ligonier Valley Vignettes, check out my booth or chat! Thank you to my sister, Michele, for helping me get organized for the festival. Thank you to Dave for braving the heat and helping me set up and peddle my book during the whole block of time. Thank you to the rain for holding off. Thank you to WAAHF Dxecutive Director Adam Shaffer, for giving me the opportunity to come on board at the last minute. I am looking forward to participating again next year, which will be the festival’s 40th anniversary.
Here are a few more pictures from the 2013 Westmoreland Arts and Heritage Festival:
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