The Twelfth Annual Berkshire Blueberry and Book Festival will join the rest of America in celebrating our nation\u2019s 250th anniversary. Several features of the festival will focus on our nation\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
The Berkshire Blueberry and Book Festival will be held Saturday, July 18, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in and around the Berkshire Free Library, Community Hall, and Fire Station, all at the corner of Route 38 and Jewett Hill Road in Berkshire, six miles north of Newark Valley and 15 miles north of Owego via Route 38. If you\u2019re coming from the Triple Cities, take Route 38B west to 38. If you\u2019re coming from Ithaca, use Route 79 east to Richford and then 38 south to Berkshire.<\/p>\n
For the first time this year, the festival will feature two historic impersonators. George Cummings of Binghamton, known for an amazing accumulation of antiques and artifacts, will present as a Revolutionary War soldier in full regalia, along with an array of period-related artifacts for festival goers to view and learn about.<\/p>\n
Then wandering about the festival grounds will be Reverend James Chaplin Beecher, a.k.a. Doug Weeks, who presently lives in the Owego home once owned by Beecher after the Civil War. Talk to him and find out what this fascinating historic figure was doing before, during, and after the Civil War. Beecher, by the way, was Harriet Beecher Stowe\u2019s younger brother. <\/p>\n
Also related to the anniversary celebration will be the Purple Lightning Band, performing at 11 a.m. They will be doing a variety of music, which will include patriotic songs. Because the group is a marching band, they will be doing formations as they play in the area in front of the fire station. The band hails from Candor and is directed by Wendee Buchman Peake. <\/p>\n
Right after Purple Lightning, the local Sisters of the Quilt group will present their 53rd Quilt of Valor to Vietnam veteran Glenn Hartman, who served in the Marines from 1967 through 1969. Hartman is a Berkshire resident. The National Quilts of Valor Foundation formed in 2003 and has awarded over 400,000 quilts to American veterans across the nation. <\/p>\n
Berkshire historian Penny Magnus will have the museum open that day. It is located on the second floor of the library. There are three items of particular interest: There\u2019s a display outlining \u201cBusinesses That Help to Shape Berkshire,\u201d primarily businesses that existed prior to 1920.<\/p>\n
Also on display is a \u201cSignature Quilt\u201d created in 1932 by members of the Berkshire Methodist Church, containing 408 signatures embroidered by Calvin Wright.<\/p>\n
Then, one of the newest additions to the museum is a 26\u201d x 26\u201d wreath created in 1906 by Berkshire resident Jennie Roat and made entirely of chicken feathers. One hundred free copies of Tioga County, New York, Celebrates Americans 250 will also be available to interested festival-goers. Both the Richford and Newark Valley Historical Societies will also be present at the festival.<\/p>\n
Finally, just for fun, history fans at the festival can try their hand at a ten-question American history quiz. A prize will be awarded to one participant, chosen randomly, who answers all the questions correctly.<\/p>\n
The festival provides funding for the Berkshire Free Library, which serves both Berkshire and Richford. Besides the program advertisers, the festival is sponsored by the Town of Berkshire, the Town of Richford, Visions Federal Credit Union, NBT, and Matt Kistner of Edward Jones.<\/p>\n
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