Juniata Valley Music

I can hear music, the soundtrack of a lifetime

LEWISTOWN — Being involved with the Juniata Valley magazine for the first time elicited several thoughts, including what a monumental task it would be. Spearheaded by our publisher, Ruth Eddy, music was selected as the theme, and when the staff assembled to contribute ideas, a rush of memories and ideas

filtered through my mind. Music. I have always liked music. I have enjoyed listening to good music at every stage in life. Through the years, exposure to new and different sounds expanded the catalog. I

have my favorites. Having three older siblings playing records in 1964, it was easy to become a Beatles fan. Ed Sullivan. Beatlemania. That’s where it began for me. The music still takes me there. The beauty of song is it transports you to a specific time and place in your life. It rolls back time to a fiveyear-old boy just home from kindergarten, listening intently to a 45 rpm single called “Love Me Do.” Music provides the

score for memories of childhood summers, high school, Christmas, family, friends and everything in between.

The artists and musical styles that contributed through the years are endless. From Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Sam Cooke, Carl Perkins and Bill Haley in the infancy of rock and roll to the British Invasion of the 1960s, the songs dominating radio airplay or heard on a small portable record player in the

living room influenced my life. There were the Beach Boys, Motown with the Supremes, the Temptations, Smokey and the Miracles and the Four Tops. As I grew, so did the music and my appreciation. Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Dave Mason, the Moody Blues, the Bee Gees, Fleetwood Mac, the Who, Supertramp, ELO, Steely Dan and dozens of others made their mark. Exposure to music had no bounds. I listened, and

if it was good, I liked it. Pop, rock, disco, country, bluegrass, jazz, easy listening and the big bands all found their way into my headphones, and still do. Depending on the mood, I can easily listen to the Rolling Stones before switching to Glenn Miller or Frank Sinatra. Give me some Johnny Cash and then some Elton John. The range from classics and hall-offamers to obscure one-hit

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Table of Contents

I can hear music, the soundtrack of a lifetime...................................1

Barbershop quartets provide unique blend of vocal talents............3

Gift of music passed down from teachers to students.....................6

Big Tree Festival set to make return to community.........................8

American Legion Sweethearts marched for several decades..........9

“The Blue Juniata” popularized the Juniata Valley.........................12

Goose Day music a part of Juniata Valley heritage.........................15

PHHS marching band: ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’...........................17

On the airwaves in the Juniata Valley...............................................21

Start your day with the Merf Morning Show....................................21

Mifflin-Juniata Concert Association continues

decades-long tradition.........................................................................23

Creation Festival provides first concert experience.......................24

The first Pennsylvania Scout Band, 1911 – 1916............................26

Many talented musicians have roots in the Juniata Valley...........34

Some teachers need ‘3 Months Off’..................................................36

The Logan Guards, a Juniata Valley tradition.................................42

From Mingo mascot to center stage.................................................46

Lewistown musician played with several popular local bands.....49

Jordan Center continues hosting music’s biggest names..............52

The path to a musical career worth the struggles for Willie Markley................................................................................54

Music spreads the Word at Milroy CMA Church...........................58

Musicians share their memories of entertaining PSU fans............59

Belleville native’s musical ability takes her to stage.......................60

Concert memories...............................................................................62

The beauty of song is it transports you to a specific time and place in your life. It rolls back time to a five-year-old boy just home from kindergarten, listening intently to a 45 rpm single called “Love Me Do.”

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wonders creates a never-ending search for information about the song and the artist. Creedence Clearwater Revival, Patsy Cline, the Dave Clark Five, John Denver, Three Dog Night, Herman’s Hermits, the Shirelles. Something for every feeling and emotion.

The excitement of a live concert presented a double thrill. First, the music itself. Second, being in the presence of legendary performers. Paul McCartney, Dylan, the Kinks, America and Harry Chapin provided memories I will keep forever.

Working in radio for many years provided the opportunity to reach people and play music that hopefully brought joy into their lives. It was a pleasure and I enjoyed it.

Music is everywhere. Television, movies, parades and football games would not be the same without it. The atmosphere of college football games would be

ON THE COVER

diminished without the marching bands and fight songs. I cannot imagine Independence Day without patriotic marches.

Rocky Balboa’s training and fight scenes would be less inspiring without the music of Bill Conti. As a youngster, watching weekly pro football highlights would not have been the same without the great NFL Films music of Sam Spence.

The Juniata Valley is no stranger to music. Very good music. Hundreds of talented musicians, singers and performers have graced our schools, churches, auditoriums, concert stages and other venues throughout our history. Sadly, many have passed on, but their stories remain. The torch has been passed to younger generations to create musical moments and memories. Music. It is interwoven into the pages of our history. Throughout this publication are the stories of many talented and interesting people who brought music into our lives.

Top, from left, Willie Markley, the Chief Logan High School Marching Band, the Mifflin County High School Marching Band.

Middle, from left, Chris Woodward, the Juniata County Marching Band.

Bottom, from left, Halle Mitchell, Siglerville Band family, Dave Landis.

Barbershop quartets provide unique blend of vocal talents

LEWISTOWN—The barbershop quartet is an art form with its roots firmly planted in the soil of American culture.

Over a century ago, when many Americans had access to few luxuries, people would gather at their local barber shop for companionship and entertainment. These gatherings, which involved swapping news from town or singing four-part harmony, were cherished community moments that would leave everlasting memo-

ries.

Today, barbershop quartets still bring joy and nostalgia to audiences worldwide. From college campuses to historic landmarks and everywhere in between, groups of singers come together to share the timeless sound of close harmony singing — a style that has earned itself the nickname “America’s music.”

Longtime local radio personality Jeff Stevens knows all too well the work required to perform in a barbershop quartet. He was in one during his high school years at Chief Logan. Stevens

was a baritone in a group that sang at many school functions

“I got involved with it in junior high. I was in the choir and my choir teacher said, ‘why don’t you sing in the barbershop quartet? We need a baritone,’ Stevens said.

“I did it for a couple of years. I didn’t do it for a long time. I did what I had time for. I played basketball and baseball, and I worked a part-time job for 30 hours a week. I had little time, so eventually, it faded away.”

Close harmony singing, also known as foursquare singing, is a highly complex art form. Every

barbershop quartet consists of four members with different vocal parts: lead, tenor, baritone, and bass. The lead sings the melody while the other three harmonize with him in perfect pitch. It takes incredible dedication to learn and execute all these parts without missing a beat — which makes it much more impressive when accomplished.

“It was challenging at times. There was a lot of practice and hard work, but it was fun too. I like good harmony. It was interesting and enjoyable,” Stevens said. “It was much more involved

than the choir. In choir, you have maybe 15 guys singing tenor, baritone, or bass, and if you screw up a little bit, nobody notices. You’re on your own if you’re singing the baritone part or the tenor in a barbershop quartet. If you miss your part, everyone is thrown off. A little bit of pressure, for sure.”

The songs performed by barbershop quartets span generations and styles. These groups are often praised for their wide repertoire of tunes, ranging from classic jazz standards to modern pop hits. Even if you’re unfamiliar with the genre,

there’s something special about hearing a song done in beautiful close harmony that can move you in ways unlike any other.

You can find the festive sound of barbershop quartets at concerts, festivals, and other music events. During these performances, audiences are treated to professionally arranged songs, unique arrangements, and medleys that showcase each group’s impressive vocal prowess.

Hard work, lots of practice time, and having a know, like, and trust

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feeling for your fellow singers is a major part of a quartet’s success.

“You got to know the guys you sing with. You learn their tendencies when they would start or finish a line. Just from the practice, you got the timing down,” Strevens said. “You had to work on your part alone and then blend in with them, and when three other guys are singing different notes, it’s more challenging.”

Stevens has some advice for anyone wanting to join a barbershop quartet: get ready for intense practice and make sure you get along with your fellow bandmates.

“Practice a lot and work with three other guys you enjoy working with. Three guys you know well and you get along with. Do that, and it’s going to be great. You’re going to have a good time. But be prepared to invest a little practice time,” Stevens said.

The art of a barber-

shop quartet is a living tradition passed down through generations, and it’s not going anywhere soon. Numerous organizations are dedicated to preserving the genre and cultivating its growth — with new groups popping up daily. The result? More people are enjoying America’s music and learning how to join the culture themselves.

So next time you hear a barbershop quartet in your community, take a moment to appreciate all the hard work they put into their craft — who

knows, maybe you’ll even want to try it yourself.

No matter what, one thing is certain: barbershop quartets will continue to bring joy and nostalgia to audiences around the world for years to come. Their unique sound, passionate performances, and infectious energy are something that can be appreciated by people of all ages and backgrounds. Barbershop quartets represent an important part of American music history.

Gift of music passed down from teachers to students

Music is a beautiful part of life. Throughout history music has had impacts on societies, in some ways even more powerfully than were realized at the time.

Music brings topics of racism, war, love, and peace to the forefronts of people’s minds in ways that politicians and preachers can’t.

Jimi Hendrix once said, “When the power of

love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.”

Music has the ability to unite people that may have thought they had nothing in common and to awaken people to new ideas or show them the painful injustices of humanity.

Music helps us process emotions, celebrate the joys and express the pain of loss.

“Music is life itself,” in the words of Louis Armstrong. “What would this

world be without good music? No matter what kind it is.”

According to Wikipedia it was during the Industrial Revolution of the 1800’s that the first experiments with sound recording began.

Like everything else in the Industrial Revolution, recorded music forever changed how we can experience music. Music could be part of our everyday lives in our homes from the vinyl records to the current digital era.

It was during the mid1800’s that the importance of music education in schools began to be addressed.

Although the system is not perfect and still needs much improvement, according to findings from a review by the Arts Education Data Project 92% of students in the U.S public schools now have access to music education.

Three local music teachers share from their personal experiences

what being a music educator means to them.

Lori (Reed) Thomas is a music teacher at Indian Valley Elementary Center and Strodes Mills Elementary.

“I think my favorite part of teaching is when my students have worked so hard, and everything comes together at a performance,” she said. “They get so excited, and they are proud of themselves.”

Music teachers get to

share the value that music brings to children as an important part of their education and development.

“Getting involved in music is more than just learning to sing or play an instrument,” Thomas said. “Children feel like they really belong somewhere when they perform in a group. They seem to really accept everyone no matter what their differences are.”

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She believes that music brings people together and builds their self-confidence.

“Research has shown that music supports our physical, mental and emotional health,” Thomas said. “It can reduce anxiety, improve our mood, enhance productivity and concentration, and it can even help us sleep better. Studies also show that music can benefit a child’s overall cognitive development. Those students who study music are more successful on standardized tests and are likely to achieve better grades in school.”

“There are natural connections to math, science, reading and writing,” Thomas added. “Children learn in many different ways and music incorporates all the different subject areas. It is a great way to learn and the best part is that they get to have fun while doing it.”

Thomas is in her 33rd year of teaching but said that music has been a part of her life since she was a child, and she still enjoys performing in groups within the local community. Her closest friends are people she met while performing in different ensembles.

“I want to give my students the chance to learn about music,” she said. “How to sing and play instruments hoping that

in the end, I can instill a lifelong love of music.”

As for Thomas, her favorite music can’t be pinned down to one artist or style.

“I like many different styles of music,” she said. “What I listen to depends on my mood or the social situation.”

Kathleen Becker is a music educator at Mifflin County Middle School working with sixth graders. She teaches choir and general music classes. Becker has been teaching for 19 years.

“I love to see the look of accomplishment in students’ eyes when they create music and suddenly recognize it as something beautiful,” Becker said. “And the look of understanding when they’ve had a chance to connect in a new way with a piece. Music has made my life wonderful and sharing that with others is very important to me.”

Becker said she believes there are many benefits that come to children through music education.

“Kids learn to make connections through music,” she said. “With other people, with their own feelings, with the past, with other subjects. They learn to work together, to set and reach goals, to express themselves, to be confident, and so much more. For some students, music keeps them engaged in school when nothing else does. Music is part of being hu-

man.”

When asked to name her favorite musician, Becker chose her husband, Adam. As for what music means to her personally, she does not hesitate.

“The reason I feel so passionately about teaching music is that all my life, music has been the best way to create and find space for myself,” she said. “When I could share music with others, it gave me a sense of belonging and confidence that I didn’t always find elsewhere. I’ve been making music in one form or another for almost my whole life either by myself or with family and friends, and I can’t imagine who I would be without it.”

“Where words fail, music speaks.”

Arthur F. Belfiore is Director of Bands for Mifflin County Junior High and High School.

“Other than my parents, the person who had the biggest influence on me in my life was my high school band director,” Belfiore said. “A band is a group of individuals working towards a common goal.”

At times the kids may not always like the music chosen for their performances, but he asks them to treat it the same as music they do like.

After each performance Belfiore and the students listen to the

performance and critique and analyze to see what they can improve upon next time.

Teaching the children acceptance and kindness towards everyone is a very important part of Belfiore’s teaching style.

He tells the kids, “Wherever you work, unless you work for yourself by yourself, you will end up working with people who don’t get along with you, but you have to

work with them towards a common goal.”

According to Belfiore, not all schools are as supportive of music programs as the schools he has taught in here in Mifflin County.

“We have administrative support, school board support,” he said. “We have great parent and community support and that is unusual. I have worked in five different states and six different

high schools and I have never had the situation anywhere else that I have here in Mifflin County.

Whatever emotion the students are feeling, music gives them the opportunity to express themselves. The band or choir room is a safe place for our students to go. A lot of times they walk into the room and they are angry, and at the end of

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class they have changed. Music has a way of changing people.”

Each year, the graduating students are asked what band has meant to them.

“A common theme that has run through the comments made is that band is family,” Belfiore said.

Belfiore’s favorite music?

“Music from the late sixties,” he said. “I love the Beatles. I own everything they have ever recorded. I love Chicago and my favorite song is, ‘Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?’ I love jazz and I love Steely Dan.”

After teaching for forty-two years Belfiore said he doesn’t feel like his career as a music teacher is a job.

“I knew in ninth grade I wanted to be a music teacher, so I have been doing what I have always wanted to do,” he said.

“I always tell my juniors and seniors that if you can get a job doing something you are passionate about, it will never feel like work.”

It sounds like Bob Dylan.

“What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.”

If every school has caring teachers like these for students’ well-being and love of music, it seems at least one thing is going ok in the world.

“The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.” — B.B.

Big Tree Festival set to make return

MIFFLINTOWN — After a five year absence, the Big Tree Music and Arts Festival is making its long-awaited return to the people of Juniata County on Saturday, June 10 at the Port Royal Lions Club park.

“I can’t even express how thrilled I am,” Director at-large Jon Mertz said.

“We’ve been dying to get back to a big festival because that’s what people know about it. I think

COVID was part of what derailed us. It has taken us five years to get back on our feet but it is going to be good.”

Since 2009, the Big Tree Music and Art Foundation has been providing local artists and musicians an opportunity to showcase their talents to others.

According to Mertz, the goal is to continue the tradition started by Nick and Katie Hohol, who hosted the first three festivals in their backyard.

It was originally named Big Tree Family and Friends which was an invitation-only festival. It

simply grew from there. From where it began to where it is now, Mertz is proud of what they have been able to accomplish through the years.

Mertz hopes they will continue to give artists and musicians, regardless of genre, a great experience expressing themselves through their art and or music.

“It has at least tripled in size over the years,” Mertz said. “I think the last time we had somewhere in the neighborhood of 700 people. Where the first one was maybe 50 people. We just wanted to continue

what we’ve been doing from the very beginning, which is promoting and encouraging local artists and musicians.”

To those hoping to showcase their artwork or music, or to simply enjoy the festivities, Mertz and the other members of the Big Tree Music and Art Foundation encourage you to be inspired through the power of the arts.

Mertz simplifies this with a simple phrase, “Be the tree.”

For more information, check out Big Tree Music and Art Foundation on Facebook.

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American Legion Sweethearts marched for several decades

LEWISTOWN – Va-

nessa Wolfkill and Lisa Baitsell will always be American Legion Sweethearts.

The sisters joined the Drum and Bugle Corps from American Legion Post No. 9 from Lewistown in 1968 when they were age 11 and 10.

“I loved music and I loved to play the base

drum,” said Wolfkill, now age 66 and living in Burnham.

“She probably drug me along,” said the 65-yearold Baitsell, a Lewistown resident. “I didn’t like to do any of that kind of stuff, but I did.

The group consisting of all girls from roughly elementary school age up through junior high formed a drum and brass organization, which was part of the American Legion Band.

After all, being a Sweetheart was the “In” thing to do, the sisters agreed. “There were probably over 100 girls in it at different times,” Baitsell added. “It was the only thing in the community to do at times.”

The Sweethearts were led by a majorette, followed by two members who carried their banner and 12 to 16 snare drummers, Baitsell said. There were four tenor drummers, then three timpa-

ni drummers, two bass drummers, two cymbalists and a bunch of buglers and flag bearers brought up the rear.

“When we started out, we used the same instruments that our mother had used,” Baitsell recalled. “They were very old.”

Baitsell played both tenor and timpani drums, while Wolfkill was a bass drummer. Their mom, Barbara, had also been a Sweetheart.

“Boy, I miss beating that drum,” Wolfkill said.

The Sweethearts loved to have their photos taken. They lined up looking all prim and proper in their matching uniforms – blouses, dresses, shoes, scarves and caps. They stood at attention yet not so stiffly that they couldn’t manage a friendly smile for the cameras.

A 1949 photo taken in front of the Lewistown Municipal Building was taken by Stanley H.

Stonz. One of the participants in the photo was his daughter, D. Ruth (Shontz) Notestine, a 1955 graduate of Lewistown High School.

Notestine, who passed away in 2019, was certainly a respected community member as a teacher at Seventh Ward and Buchanan elementary schools and a member and past president of the

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Mifflin County Garden Club. She also initiated and was the visionary of the Victory Park Restoration Project.

The sisters said they marched in more than 100 parades while a part of the Sweethearts. “We were fundraising a lot,” Baitsell said. “When we went to the Cherry Blossom Festival, of course, we spent time in Washington, D.C. We had a lot

of fun.”

The Sweethearts had fundraisers often – for uniforms, drums and trips. They mostly rode on coach busses.

One of their popular fundraisers was “Dime on a Line,” Baitsell noted. Someone from the band would place a long piece of tape on the sidewalk. The Sweethearts stood behind the tape, encouraging passersby to “put a coin on the tape,” she added.

There were old traditions, such as Sweethearts eating salt tablets

and lemon slices before a parade during hot summer days.

Sadly, the sisters recall, the Sweethearts started to fade when their bugle instructor and director got into an argument and the bugle director took all of the equipment. It came to an end when the Sweethearts director Mike Troutman passed away in the late 1970s.

“That was kind of the end of it,” Wolfkill said.

The Sweethearts so much time together they banded together as friends. “If we weren’t

friends before that, they became our friends,” Baitsell added. “We’re still in touch with some of them today.”

The Sweethearts are gone but not forgotten. The Mifflin County Historical Society’s Coleman House Museum holds some drums and portions of a child’s uniform.

You can find the Sweethearts Facebook page, which was created for alumni members “for sharing pictures, old stories and memories,” the page description reads.

“The Blue Juniata” popularized the Juniata Valley

(Originally on WIEZ Radio, “History is Our Story”Jan. 7, 2015)

The Juniata River’s course through the Lewistown Narrows is the setting for this ballad written by Mrs. Marion Dix Sullivan around 1841. It was one of the most fashionable parlor melodies of the 19th Century. Often reprinted, the song was mentioned by Mark Twain in his Au-

tobiography, and by Laura Ingles Wilder in Little House on the Prairie and became part of many collections of US folk music in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Not much is known about Marion Dix Sullivan’s early life. A family genealogy indicates she was born in Boscawen, New Hampshire in 1802, the daughter of Timothy Dix and Abigail Wilkins and was the sister of Civil War general John Adams Dix, later governor of New York. Fort Dix, New

Jersey is named for him. In 1825, Marion married John Whiting Sullivan, Esq. of Boston and had one son, John Henry, who died of drowning in 1858. Mrs. Sullivan died in 1860, just as her song about the blue Juniata became extremely popular.

So how did this particular song come to be written?

The lyrics tell of bright Alfarata, an American Indian girl, as she sings the praises of her love, an Indian warrior, while she

travels along the Juniata River.

It seems inspiration struck Mrs. Sullivan on a delightfully slow journey through the valley of the Juniata. Sometime after the completion of the Pennsylvania Canal to Lewistown in 1829, Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan traveled through the Juniata Valley on a packet boat. This was the easy-going mode of travel from that earlier age, when a canal boat’s top speed maxed out at 5 miles per hour. Easy enough for a pas-

senger to climb top-side, witness the grandeur of slowly passing mountains, the rippling of the parallel Juniata River and be entertained by the boat captain’s tales of American Indians, their lore.

Historian J. Martin Stroup wrote about the song’s origin in the 1940s, stating, “With all due respect to more modern forms of transportation, it seems doubtful whether a passenger being rushed through the Juniata Valley by train or automobile

or even one flying over the valley, would have the opportunity to enjoy the ‘blue’ of the river, or the time to contemplate on the Indian legends which may have been the basis for the song of bright Alfarata.”

Mrs. Sullivan wrote a wide range of ballads and sacred music for both guitar and the piano forte. Most of her work was published in the 1840s and 1850s.

Mrs. Sullivan herself,

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“The Blue Juniata” sheet music. commented in “Juniata Ballads,” a collection of original ballads, intended for the use of schools, and particularly adapted to the wants of “little singers,” as she wrote in the Author’s Preface. She explained the origins

of the lyrics and melody, writing: “ ‘The Blue Juniata’ was a wave of memory, bearing to my mind the beautiful river, with its voices, its color, and its wild surroundings.”

The song became a favorite of soldiers on both sides in the Civil War. Gen. George E. Pickett mentioned it in a letter to his wife in 1864, when

he listed it, along with “Sweet and Low” and “Nellie Gray” as songs a Confederate band had played outside his field headquarters. The history of the 102nd Illinois Regiment notes that the men sang the “Blue Juniata” when their train started up the Juniata River at

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Just off 655 on Waynesburg Rd.

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Duncannon on their way home at the end of the Civil War. They recalled having sung it during the hard fought Union campaign through Georgia.

In The Civil War in Song and Story by Frank Moore, published in 1889, is recorded another story of Mrs. Sullivan’s famous tune. Sitting before his tent in the glow of a campfire one evening, US General William T. Sherman let his cigar go out to listen to a melody that a distant band was play-

ing, the musicians ceased at last. General Sherman turned to one of his officers: Send an orderly to ask that band to play that tune again.” A little while passed, and the band received the word. The tune was “The Blue Juniata”, with exquisite variations, the band played it again, even more beautifully than before. Again it ceased and then, off to the right of the General’s tent, nearly a quarter mile away, the voices of some soldiers took up the song. The band, and still another band, played a low accompaniment. Camp after camp began singing

the music of “The Blue Juniata” as it became, for a few minutes, the oratorio of half an army.

Our own Maj. Gen. Frank Ross McCoy, born in Lewistown in 1874, whose illustrious career as a soldier and statesman carried him to far places, loved the song, as it reminded him of his beloved Juniata Valley. He found people in many parts of the world who could recite the “Blue Juniata” poem, remembering it, as he did, from the McGuffey Readers of their grammar school days.

When Gen. McCoy

was military aide to President Theodore Roosevelt, Mrs. Roosevelt sent him a print of the headwaters of the Juniata, accompanied by a letter in which she quoted from the poem, she, too, had learned from a McGuffey reader. This print is in the Frank Ross McCoy Memorial Collection in the Mifflin County Historical Society museum.

Who was Alfarata?

Little is known about the authenticity of the American Indian girl Sullivan called Alfarata. It is known that the former J. M. Yeager Milling Com-

pany of Yeagertown used her fictional image, printed in red, on the company’s popular Alfarata flour sacks, incorporating elements in the design from the lines, “Strong and true my arrows are in my painted quiver, Swift goes my light canoe down the rapid River.”

In 1962, Historian Stroup wrote in the Lewistown Sentinel under the headline “The Blue Juniata Popular Hit Song Across America Century Ago” posed the question, “Who was Alfarata?” The local historian answered his own query.

“There are many traditions,” Stroup explained, “but it is most likely that the name created by Mrs. Sullivan was simply to rhyme with Juniata. The name has never appeared in any standard work on Indian history,” Stroup explained.

So the next time you travel through the Lewistown Narrows, recall an earlier time, when canal boats traveled leisurely between the towering mountains, and enjoy the location that is the setting of Mrs. Sullivan’s hit song, ‘The Blue Juniata.”

Goose Day music a part of Juniata Valley heritage

Have you ever noticed that major holidays have songs attached to them? Christmas has carols, Easter has hymns, Valentine’s Day has love songs, patriotic holidays have marches and, of course, The Star-Spangled Banner. Even our locally grown holiday, Goose Day, has two songs written just for the celebration.

“The Goose Day Shuffle”

The first song was written in 2014 by Dave Landis, who was happy to use his recording studio to promote the annual event. Choosing the style for “The Goose Day Shuffle” was the initial hurdle, as there are many music styles to choose from.

“The song’s chorus features a shuffle type of rhythm, and so the Goose Day Shuffle seemed like

a reasonable working title,” Landis explained. “And it eventually stuck as the official name.”

The Goose Day Shuffle was written from the perspective of someone who was driving through our area and stopped into a local cafe for a cup of coffee.

“I had a list of local references I wanted to use, but I also wanted to work in some of the Goose Day Lore and history,” Landis said. “Finding ways to rhyme Kishacoquillas

and the word equinox inside a narrative about eating goose was a creative challenge.”

Landis had a group of studio musicians he regularly used for recording sessions, so finding capable musicians to help record his song was very easy.

“We have so many fine musicians within a 30-mile radius, I could have assembled this band twenty times over,” Landis said.

The final mix includ-

ed Nathaniel Mowery as lead vocalist, with Dave Barron, Mark Baylor, Phil Loewen and Landis contributing the backing tracks.

“Celebrate Goose Day”

The second original Goose Day song was composed four years later by Lewistown native, Shawn Mowery. Mowery, born and raised in Lewistown, frequently returns to record in West

Market Studio with studio owner Landis. The two have played music together for decades and after hearing the Goose Day Shuffle, Mowery composed his own original song in the style of 1960’s “sunshine pop music” and called it “Celebrate Goose Day.”

“As a kid in Lewistown, Goose Day was a special event each year,” Mowery said. “I was also a radio junkie and See Goose / Page 16

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a sucker for a snazzy jingle, finding myself singing along with many of them. When writing ‘Celebrate Goose Day,’ I was looking for that 60’s groove. A little jangle-pop/singalong song that makes us feel good about our local holiday.”

Mowery’s song was recorded in Landis’ studio and features the 2018 River Valley Idol winner Halle Mitchell as lead vocalist. Mowery played the guitar and added background vocals. Additional musicians were Barron on bass, Landis on drums and Baylor on keyboard. Rich Stomackin added the soulful whine of his harmonica to the mix. Both composers agree that they’d love to hear different versions of their songs and encourage musicians to mix it up.

“I encourage other musicians to take the melody

and lyrics and use them to create a new version of ‘The Goose Day Shuffle,’” Landis said. “A country version would be fun.”

“A mashup of the two would be great,” Mowery added. “I don’t know how they’d blend the two songs into one but I’m sure imagination and creativity could get it done.”

Both songs can be heard on YouTube. Baylor created videos for each song using photos from local Goose Day celebrations as well as images he found on the internet. Local radio stations are reminded annually to include these songs on their playlists in September and the Juniata River Valley Visitors Bureau promotes them regularly on the “Goose Day in the Juniata River Valley” Facebook page.

PHHS marching band: ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’

LEWISTOWN—

Marching bands have long been a staple of American culture, entertaining audiences at football games, parades, and other events with their high-energy performances and synchronized marching routines.

But the role of these bands goes far beyond providing entertainment. For many students, participating in a marching band can be a life-changing experience that helps them develop discipline, teamwork, and a sense of community.

No one knows this better than Doug Wilburne and Cindy Patterson VanGavree. They were members of the Penn Highlands Marching Band. Wilburne was president of the band and a trumpet player in 197071. VanGavree’s instrument of choice was the clarinet. She was in the

band all three years of the program’s existence. From 1970 to 1973, the Cougar marching band dazzled audiences with precision, grace, and musical dexterity. So much so they are still remembered some 50 years later.

“It was Camelot. Because we came together at a time we weren’t supposed to be. We only lasted for three years, we were great, and then it went away,” Van Gavree said. “But we still have the memories of those times in our hearts. No one can ever take that away from us. Even though we didn’t have a brick-and-mortar building, we knew it was real. It was so good.”

The driving force behind the band was a then 25-year-old musical director, the late Michael Wasilko. He brought discipline, a titanic work ethic, and belief in all the abilities of the 90 or so musicians under

his charge. Wasilko demanded perfection in every practice and performance.

“We were fortunate enough to get a band director who was, first, a visionary. Second, a disciplinarian, and finally, a very skilled music director. He had visions for the band of excellence that none of us had ever experienced at that level,” Wilburne said. “Frankly, the first several weeks with Michael Wasilko were quite shocking. We were all taken aback. We weren’t prepared for that. He taught us some lessons, and we all bought into it. The first of which is hard work is what’s necessary to get improvement.”

“He told us we could do it. He told us we were special, and we believed him,” Van Gavree added. “We worked for it and were so proud and happy with the results.”

Not only was ability a critical factor in the

band’s success, so were their discipline and physical training. Wasilko insisted that all 118 members be in top shape, mentally and physically.

“When we got outside, there was even more physicality needed, and he made us run laps. For some, it was no big deal, but for others, this

was quite strenuous for them,” Wilburne said. “He had us running laps and doing calisthenics.

See PHHS/ Page 18

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Continued from Page 17

I experienced the same thing after high school when I played for the (Penn State) Blue Band. You had to be in shape to march and play for six hours during a game.”

The merger of the schools did not go over well in the community, and with no single building for the students, a lack of unity followed. Not with the band, though.

According to Van Gavree, this friction strengthened the group.

“The tension about the merger is what made us so special. When we came together, we had no idea we would be this awesome thing. We represented the best that it can be,” she said. “We didn’t care about any of that. We just wanted to play our instruments. We fell in love with our band director and wanted to be the best we could be.”

The coming out party for the band occurred in a parade in downtown Lewistown. Wasilko had an arrangement of, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ for them to play.

It was that song, on that day, that stole the attention of the crowd and made them take notice. This was unlike anything they had ever heard.

“It was quite an impressive arrangement and at the end of the song, there’s a trumpet solo. It really grabbed the crowd by the ears and said, ‘hey, this is something new and quite wonderful you’ve never heard in a high school band before,’” Wilburne said. “There was a lot of opposition to the Penn Highlands concept. At first, the crowd booed.

We started playing, and it blew them away. We were very proud of that. I think the band was the first indication that everything about the consolidation wasn’t all bad.”

The band played all over the state and country in competitions and parades, including Three Rivers Stadium in 1971, at the same time the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Orioles in Baltimore for the World Series.

Penn Highlands achieved a major accolade in the same year when they were awarded the Henry Mendelssohn

trophy for their performance at Mardi Gras in New Orleans. To recognize this honor, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives issued an official Resolution of the Commonwealth to commend them.

“We went to Mardi Gras twice. The first in 1971 and again in 1973. The first time we went, the Superdome was being built,” VanGavree said. “When I watch the Blue Band at the Rose Bowl or any of these bands, I can feel it. I can feel what they are feeling. I can feel the thrill of

marching down Kravitz Street being cheered in the Mardi Gras.”

The influence and heritage of Penn Highlands remain. Mifflin County High School, under the direction of Art Belfiore, has won numerous awards and competitions. Wasilko was a major influence on Belfiore and his teaching philosophies.

Time may be a relentless force, but its effects can also be strangely comforting. No matter how much time has

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Continued from Page 18

passed, VanGavree finds solace in the familiar sounds of the incredible music her bandmates created during those carefree high school days.

Remembering the magical moments of being part of something beautiful. A legacy that will last for generations. A special moment in time. The magic of the Penn Highlands High School Marching Band.

“In 11th grade, we were reading Great Ex-

pectations in English class. If you remember, time stopped for Miss Havisham. I remember thinking the Penn Highlands Band would go away and we would be frozen in time, too,” VanGavree said. “And I thought that when I was old, if I went to Mitchell

Field on a crisp fall night and sat very still, I would hear the drums echo-

ing through the years. Now 50-plus years have passed, and I am sure

if I go there and tilt my head just right, I will hear those drums again.”

MJRSC—THE CARE NETWORK PROVIDES OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOCIALIZATION, EDUCATION, AND EXERCISE TO LOCAL SENIORS.

In affiliation with the Area Agency on Aging, we support four Senior Centers in Mifflin and Juniata Counties.

Make a Connection with a Senior Center in Your Community!

Lewistown Center: 717-242-1036

Monday – Friday, 8:30am - 2:00 pm

Milroy Center: 717-667-2547

Monday – Friday, 8:30am - 2:00 pm

Four Seasons Center (Mifflintown): 717-436-6847

Monday – Friday, 8:30am - 2:00 pm

McAlisterville Center: 717-463-3588

Monday – Friday, 8:30am - 2:00 pm

On the airwaves in the Juniata Valley

LEWISTOWN — Music has always been at the core of entertainment for residents of the Juniata Valley. Live concerts, parades and other happenings have highlighted holidays and special celebrations throughout the area’s history.

Local radio added a new chapter with a daily presentation of music along with news and other information. WMRF in Lewistown began broadcasting in 1941, becoming Mifflin County’s first radio station. Before the decade was over, the number of stations increased to two when WKVA signed-on in December, 1949. WJUN in Juniata County hit the airwaves in September, 1955. In 1985, WIEZ was born, separating from the WMRF simulcast. WCHX went on the air in 1987, followed by WVNW (Star Country) and WIBF (Bigfoot Country). In 2017, WIEZ became WLUI (Big Lewie). WRYV and WJRC are recent additions.

The local stations metamorphosed through the years as technology and society changed.

Musicians performing live on the air gave way

to pre-recorded digital content and satellite feeds of today. The transitions were sometimes subtle, but when formats changed, listeners were forced to tune in elsewhere for their favorite music.

Programming would sometimes vary from music. On WKVA, listeners heard Robert L. Wilson’s “Sound Editorials” concerning important local topics and residents had a chance to voice their own opinions during “Let’s Talk It Over.”

WIEZ offered commentator Paul Harvey and conservative talk radio featuring Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck. The station’s local programming included Tradio and the Radio Auction.

As time passed and the number of local stations grew, program variety expanded. Listeners could tune in to religious programming or choose music from several formats, including top 40, easy listening, classic rock, country, oldies and adult contemporary. Local news, sports, weather and live sporting events were broadcast as well.

For more than 80 years, local radio has added to the musical landscape of the Juniata Valley.

Start your day with the Merf Morning Show

LEWISTOWN — The show begins at 5 a.m. each weekday. Area residents tune in for a daily dose of news, music, entertainment and an array of local guests and information. Rocco Pallotto has been behind the microphone as host of the Merf Morning Show for more than 20 years. He has witnessed many changes in the world, our community and radio in general, including recent technology and the ever-present social media.

“I started with records,” Pallotto said. “Moved on to CDs and then everything became digital.”

Today, the Merf format

Honey

is Hot AC (adult contemporary). It has evolved through the years along with the on-air personalities and the technology itself. Much has changed since WMRF signed on for the first time in 1941. Those changes include a move across Monument Square in Lewistown years ago to the current building on E. Market St. Pallotto’s radio career began as a student at Lock Haven University. He was working full-time in radio by late summer in 1987. The Asbury Park, NJ native found himself at WLAK in Huntingdon in January, 1995 when Frank Troiani purchased the station. Pallotto and wife Melissa eventually moved to Lewistown and

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his career moved from nights to afternoons to mornings, where he has become a local fixture.

Merf has won several Lewistown Sentinel Readers’ Choice awards as the area’s favorite radio station. Pallotto has been at the forefront along with local on-air personalities Aly Reichenbach, Matt Witzel and Mark McKay.

After more than three decades on the air, Pallotto still enjoys his work. The changes that many resist have helped him maintain an interest.

“The number of music genres that have had their run,” he said. “Hair bands, grunge, alternative, hip-hop. All the changes are what keeps this job exciting. I’m always looking to learn. I’ve never grown weary of new music. I love the new stuff as much as the music of my youth. Music excites me. It energizes me. It’s the biggest part of my day, both in and out of the office.”

There was one day years ago when the music stopped and a nation listened in shock.

“9-11,” he said. “Reporting on what we knew as it happened was one thing. Navigating the days after was incredibly difficult.”

Eventually the nation healed. Normalcy was the tonic and listening to mornings with Pallotto was normal. His natural ability has a way of making things right and making people smile.

“My goal has always been to make my show, and the station, about the listeners,” he said. “I want to put you in a good mood. I want you to know what’s happening locally. I want to share the successes of our area and, when necessary, talk about our problems. I want to be the one you turn to when there’s something you need info about. I want you to feel like you know me. I want you to feel like you’re missing out if you’re not listening in.”

His knowledge of music and artists is part professional habit and part

love of the art. As you would expect, the list of favorites is lengthy.

“My Mount Rushmore of solo artists is Rick Springfield, Matt Nathanson, John Waite and Danny Wilde,” Pallotto said. “As for bands, AC/DC, Collective Soul, Matchbox 20 and INXS. Add Patty Smythe, Pat Benatar and Kelly Clarkson, too. The list is pretty long.”

The list will become longer before all is said and done. Pallotto shows no signs of slowing down. Not when there is another show to do. Especially a show and a job he cherishes. What is special about it?

“Being on the air is the obvious answer but I love it all,” he said. “Everything about radio still excites me all these years later. I still seek out ways to learn and improve on a daily basis. I want our station to be the best it can be.”

Mission accomplished.

Juniata Valley Music History

Mifflin-Juniata Concert Association continues decades-long tradition

LEWISTOWN — Residents of the Juniata Valley have been treated to many famous and highly-regarded musical acts since the 1950s thanks to a group of local volunteers. The Mifflin-Juniata Concert Association has provided a variety of musical styles and performances for close to 70 years.

Barbara Nielsen has been with the association since 1964, serving 20 years as president before turning the reins over to current president Nora Torquato. Nielsen now handles publicity.

“We get about 800 to 1,000 people per concert,” Nielsen said.

So far, the 2022-2023 season has included the Atlantic City Boys, the Everly Set, and Sail On!, a Beach Boys tribute. All concerts are held at Mifflin County High School.

“Turnouts have been great,” Nielsen said. “Especially Sail On! The high school is a great venue.”

In recent times, most concerts have included performers who emulate a famous group or musical style.

“Nowadays, the acts are more like the Atlantic City Boys, the Everly set, and Sail On!” Nielsen said.

The Atlantic City Boys appeared in September 2022. The act featured

hits from the 1950s and 1960s in a style similar to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The Everly Set appeared in October with the hits of the Everly Brothers. In November, the concert association presented Sail On! The show was a Beach Boys tribute with many of the group’s biggest hits from the 1960s.

Three more concerts are scheduled during the current season. Seraph Brass will appear March 4, Nicolas Dromard and Desiree Davar are scheduled for March 23 and the final show features Ilya Yakushev and Thomas Mesa on April 25.

Nielsen is happy the concert association is still going strong.

“Many similar organizations have quit because they don’t have people to help to keep it going,” she said. “We have a board of around 20 people.”

She is also thankful for the many volunteers and benefactors who make the concert season a reality.

“We have many huge supporters,” Nielsen said. “Without them, we could not do it. Matt Moore does all our tech work. He is wonderful. He has been a big help to us.”

Nielsen is proud of the fact that the concert association is able to provide quality entertainment for the community at an affordable cost.

“The $50 yearly membership fee covers all six concerts,” she said. “It

costs $7,000 to $13,000 to bring in performers, plus costs to rent instruments and high-tech microphones. There are other costs, too.”

Nielsen acknowledg-

es her group has tried to give something in return.

“The association has bought many things for the high school,” she said. “In 1984, we bought a used nine-foot Baldwin

concert piano. We keep it in excellent condition.

It is tuned at least twice annually. A concert piano is a requirement for many of the performers that come in. Some acts

today bring recorded digital music.”

On concert night, it all falls into place for the former piano player who See Tradition / Page 24

Creation Festival provides first concert experience

First Concert Ever!

Music is such a beautiful piece of art. I have truly enjoyed it my entire life. I dare say that it is one of the greatest gifts that God has ever given us. It can make us feel happy, sad and loved. Music has helped me get through many of life’s challenges and I thank the good Lord above for it every day .

Yet, I had never in my life gone to a concert. I have enjoyed all kinds of different music; country, rock, hip-hop, jazz, op-

era, etc, but I still never went to a concert. For multiple reasons, I just never had the opportunity to go. That was until I was assigned to cover a day of the Creation Festival back in the summer of 2022. It was the first time in two years that the event was taking place due to the pandemic.

I was excited to see what it was going to be like. Again, I was told that I could only pick one day of the festival to cover for the paper. So I was going through the lineup and I realized that one of my favorite bands, RED, was going to be one of the big headliners for the

opening day of the event. It was a pretty easy decision to make.

Now, I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t nervous. One, I still want to do a good job for the Sentinel, not only writing the article, but taking photos of the festival as well. Two, I am so awkward around so many people and believe me, there were a ton of people there.

When I arrived at the festival on its opening day, I was in complete awe of the whole thing. I couldn’t believe how massive it was. Cars parked everywhere, people had arrived in RVs so they could stay for the whole week. I did feel a little nervous because of it, but the people were extremely friendly and showed me around for photo ideas.

There was so much going on besides the music. There was plenty of food, trucks and other fun events going on prior to the performances.

I also got to meet with some amazing people

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who looked to spread the love of Jesus Christ with some of their talents and abilities. Whether it was a clothing business or people trying to help those less fortunate around the world. There were even several independent musicians trying to showcase their music.

There was also a paintball area and a beautiful walkway through the woods. The area just felt so peaceful.

Last but certainly not least, I headed to the main stage and got ready to hear the music. It did not disappoint. Especially when RED hit the stage, I was standing in the front row. I felt like my eyes were going to pop out of my head. I couldn’t believe I was actually witnessing one of my favorite bands live! I looked around and saw how packed it was at the festival. Everyone was just having a blast.

I am truly grateful to God for giving me that ex-

perience. I truly enjoyed it. I am thankful I was able to cover the festival on its opening day and I thank The Sentinel for the opportunity, especially Erin, who suggested I cover the event. I really hope to go to some other concerts someday. I encourage anyone who loves music, regardless of the genre, if you have a chance to go out and have fun listening to what you love, do it!

I would really like to go back someday to Creation or other concerts. But I am forever grateful for being able to witness such an amazing event.

minored in Music at Brown University. Nielsen enjoys the concerts as much as she did in 1964 and she knows it has had an impact on the entire region.

“I think it has exposed the community to all types of music,” she said. “In the beginning we had more classical music. Things have changed. We have such a wide variety of music now.”

To contact the Mifflin-Juniata Concert Association, call (717) 248-5732 or email mjconcert@comcast. net. To learn more or to donate, visit https:// mjconcerts.org/.

Well, if your hands start to clappin’ and your fingers start to poppin’

And your feet start to movin’ around

And if you start to swing and sway when a band starts a-play a real cool ‘n way out sound

And if you get the can’t help it’s and you can’t sit down, you feel like you gotta move around

“A Shot of Rhythm and Blues” (Terry Thompson)

The first Pennsylvania Scout Band, 1911 – 1916

“The first Boy Scout Band in America was in Troop 4 in the Juniata Valley Council,…” Paul Harvey, May 8, 1960.

In 1910, as Boy Scouting started taking root in America, it did not take long for several local men to see the advantages of the movement. One of these men was William P. Woods of Lewistown. His interest with youth had gone back many years. So Woods and others worked through the summer and fall of 1910 finalizing plans to form several Boy Scout troops in Lewistown. On October 4, 1910, The Boy Scouts of America granted Woods a charter for Troop #4, whose sponsor would be the Men’s Baraca class of the Lewistown Presbyterian Church.

Troop 4 had only been organized for a couple of months when the idea of sponsoring a band must have come up. The details of how this came to be are long forgotten, but the band was lead and organized by a local musician, Frederick William “Billy” Kieferle. (pronounced “Keyfur-lee”). The band was linked to Troop 4 for its entire existence, from 1911 through 1916. Although sponsored by the troop, not all of its members were from Troop 4 , and not all Scouts from

Troop 4 ranked among the musicians. During its short existence, its role in building public awareness of Scouting and of the troop throughout the Northeast was well known. The band does hold a distinction, in that it is recognized as the very first Boy Scout Band in the United States.

From an item found in the Sentinel dated May 31st, it is stated that the band was organized nine weeks earlier, which would place the beginning around the end of March of 1911, however, there is evidence that its beginning may be even earlier. An item announcing a troop meeting, published on February 1st, asked the members of the band to bring their instru-

ments to Kieferle’s Music Store for practice after the meeting. The article strongly implies that the band was already active, at least for practices. This is at least two months before the generally accepted date of its founding. Most of the Scouts had their own instruments, but some may have been provided by Kieferle himself.

The band’s first public appearance was in the 1911 Lewistown Memorial Day parade. The Sentinel reported: “The band of Boy Scouts attracted much attention from the crowds of spectators along the streets and the youthful musicians were frequently applauded for their excellent music and good appearance.

The band is the first Boy Scout Band in Pennsylvania. The band was organized nine weeks ago, and under the able and patient leadership of F. W. Kieferle has made rapid progress. In the afternoon the Boy Scout Band was at Newport and participated in the parade and Memorial Dray exercises.”

In the beginning, the band consisted of twenty-two members, and was initially known as the “First Scout Band of Lewistown.” The troop archives includes a picture of the 1991 appearance, showing they wore the standard Scout uniforms for the time. The band’s Bass Drum is visible, and is unlettered, but sometime later, it was labeled:

“First Pennsylvania Scout Band, Lewistown, Pa.,” which became the official name of the band.

The fall 1911 season started out with a trip to Harrisburg, sponsored by the Harrisburg Telegraph newspaper. A special car was arranged for with the Pennsylvania Railroad. The band gave a fine performance at Reservoir Park. The troop archives has a program flyer from this concert, and the back cover contains the lyrics to what became the band’s theme song, “Billy

Kieferle’s Band.” While the tune is not identified, it is obviously written to Irving Berlin’s first hit song, “Alexander’s Ragtime Band.” This song was the number 1 song for 10 weeks in 1911, and it would be natural for the time to parody popular songs. Even though it is not listed in the program schedule, a newspaper article states it was performed, to much attention. The first verse and chorus are:

See Scout / Page 28

JUNIATA

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Oh! my name is “Billy” Kieferle,

And I’m leader of the band.

Altho’ we’re few in number;

We’re the best in all the land

And of course, I am conductor

And we very often play

Before the great musicians

That you hear of every day

Cho. - - Oh! the drums go bang!

And the cymbals clang!

The horns do blaze away!

Oh Heck, he pumps the old bazoo ?

While I the pipes do play:

Oh! Swain and Dipple they toot the flute

The music is something grand,

A credit to old Lewistown

Is the Boy Scout Band.

.Tra la la la! la la, la la, la la la la, la la la la, etc.

Over the winter, the band would play local concerts, and sometimes take short trips to play in nearby towns and cities.

In February 1912, the band was invited to Baltimore to play at a reception for the founder of the Scouting Movement, Sir Robert S.S. Baden-Powell. Unfortunately it is not known if this event took place.

When summer arrived, the band went on tour, playing in Elmira, NY, Niagara Falls, Jamestown,

Buffalo, Lake Chautauqua, and even in Canada. By early August, Scoutmaster Woods felt they were away long enough, and sent word for them to return after their Chautauqua engagement. The band returned home with great fanfare. The trip was long, and the boys were hungry, yet they marched through town, playing for the crowds who came to greet them. The boys enjoyed the trip, with one saying that he “would not have missed it for the world.”

Engagement requests were already coming in for the following year. The year ended with an engagement in Altoona in October, when they performed in the commemoration of the Semi-Centennial Loyal War Governors’ Conference.

Marching in the Woodrow Wilson Inaugural Parade - 1913

In January of 1913, the band received word that was invited to march in the first inaugural parade for President Woodrow Wilson in March. Within a month, Woods announced that he was taking all the Scouts in the county, and more funds were needed. In order to go, the Scouts had to earn at least the rank of Second Class. The band would lead the College section of the parade, for Wilson was the first college graduate to reach the White House.

To raise the funds for

this trip, local businessmen made contributions to a fund that sent the Scouts to Washington. The band also helped to raise funds with a concert, dancing, and a cake walk during the second anniversary party, held in the Market Hall. Tickets were 25 cents, and each Scout was also asked to make a contribution of $2.00 for the trip.

Unfortunately, little information can be found on how the band performed during the parade. Many of the details for this article originate in period newspaper items, preserved on microfilm at the Sentinel and the Mifflin County Historical Society. There is a gap in the Sentinel microfilms of this time, and a check of the two weekly papers, the Democrat & Sentinel (sister paper to the Sentinel) and the Lewistown Gazette, revealed nothing. In May, Woods and the troop received a pleasant surprise, when they were informed that one of his Scouts would receive a Carnegie Medal for Bravery from the Woman Suffrage Committee, for performing a “Good Turn” while at the parade.

The Band Becomes Even More Popular

In July of 1913, the band left for their summer engagements, performing in Tyrone and Philipsburg over the 4th of July. From there, they went on to perform at the centennial celebration

of Commodore Perry’s victory over the British on Lake Erie. They were the only band performing in the celebration and parade. Not one of the local bands marched in the parade, as there was a musicians strike in Erie at the time . An angry mob of strike sympathizers threw stones at the Scouts, but they kept their heads high and the music playing, winning high compliments from the townspeople.

From Erie, the band travelled to Pittsburgh and spent a week in the steel city as guests of the Joseph Horne’s Depart-

ment Store. They played several concerts and visited the home of Heinz 57 Varieties. From there, they went to Uniontown. C. C. Madom, the Scout commissioner in Uniontown, sent a letter expressing his pleasure of the recent parade through his town stating, “The people of Uniontown were very much pleased with the band. . .impressed by the manly way in which they conducted themselves . . . it spoke well of their training.”

During the winters, the band played local venues, especially the annu-

al anniversary banquet, usually held in the Market Hall on 3rd Street.

As the 1914 summer approached, the band played at the seasonal opening of Burnham Park, an old amusement park located on Old Park Road between Burnham and Vira.

That summer, their trip started by playing at the commencement week activities at State College, and then at Princeton. The band then travelled to New York City. However, this time, their summer would be cut

See Scout / Page 29

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Continued from Page 28

short. One of the boys was sent home sick, and told stories of working hard, having to stay in a dank and dark lower deck of the boat they were performing on, and having poor food. The band was performing on one of the steamers for the Hudson River Navigation Company. The parents of the boys were concerned, and Woods sent several telegrams to Kieferle, but none was responded to. So at the parents insistence, Woods travelled

to New York City, and while initial reports says he met with the band, he in fact did not catch up with them. However, it was determined that the telegrams had not reached the band until was at West Point. Kieferle wired back that the boys were fine, and asking if the boys could stay. The parents gave them permission to finish their current engagement, but then they had to come home. After reaching home, the band and the steamer company denied that they were mistreated. Seems the boy may have exaggerated the

conditions for unknown reasons.

The band travelled again during the summers of 1915 and 16, to great acclaim, but their popularity was starting to work on the players, and especially their leader. The band was in great demand, and could not play most of the offers they received. But, as fall of 1916 approached, Kieferle found that the work and time involved became so great that he found it necessary to dissolve the band. Most of the players joined other bands in the area. The band, who did so much

to bring notoriety not only to the Boy Scouts of America, but to Lewistown as well, was history.

Rebirth?

In 1930, Kieferle suggested that the band be reorganized, and some moves were made to bring it back. Evidently, this attempt was unsuccessful. Within a couple years, Kieferle had organized the Central Pennsylvania Student Band, drawn from musi-

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cians from several local counties. One of their performances was at the dedication of the new Lewistown Municipal Building on 3rd Street. In what could have been a ghost of the past, the band used the same base drum from the old Scout Band, still lettered as it had been when the band was active those many years ago. Many years later in a final tribute to the First Pennsylvania Scout Band, the bass drum head and drumstick were donated to the Mifflin County Historical Society by Stetson Kieferle, an original band member and son of the leader.

The Man Behind The Baton

Frederick William Kieferle, known as F. W., “Kief,” or “Billy,” was a musician of note in the Lewistown area. He was born in Middletown in 1872, and spent most of his life in Lewistown, where he operated a music store from 1898 to 1937. He started most of the local school bands in Mifflin, Huntingdon, and Juniata counties, and rented instruments to local kids out of the trunk of his car. He organized several local youth bands in addition to the Boy Scout Band. He died in 1958 due to injuries sustained in an auto accident some time before.

Juniata Valley Music History

Juniata Valley Music History

Many talented musicians have roots in the Juniata Valley

MICHELLE FETTER

Special to The Sentinel

LEWISTOWN —

Over the decades, music has grown strong roots in the Juniata River Valley. Many locals can note someone who is involved within the continuously expanding music scene that enriches the area. Even the young musicians in the area are making impacts in the community. In 2022, the Mifflin County Huskies Marching Band won a third Tournament of Bands title and finished second at the Atlantic Coast Championships. I’ve been wondering if our area is ready for, and would be supportive of, a hall of fame for our region’s musicians. The music tradition is so strong here, I think it’s worthy of a home where we can acknowledge and pay respect to our musical predecessors.

Dave Landis, a long-time resident of Lewistown, has observed and contributed to the profound music scene of the Juniata River Valley. Since childhood, it was evident that Dave’s passion for music would be heard by the beat of his drums.

“I picked up air drumming in second

or third grade, but my first snare drum and sticks were purchased for drum lessons in fifth grade from Kaufman’s music store,” Landis said.

He recalled his mother informing him that he began asking her for drums at the age of five.

Dave’s first drum solo was on Buchanan Elementary School’s stage where he made lifelong musical friends. As a teenager, Dave continued to perform as a drummer in a rock band. For the band’s first gig, Dave and the band guitarist would call their friends on the phone and stream the audio of their live concert directly to their friends’ home landline. Soon afterwards, they were playing three piece rock at the Elysium and The Odyssey, both underage hangouts where musicians and bands would get their starts.

“I’m a product of the music educators of Mifflin County and my music loving parents,” Landis said.

“They recognized my interests and encouraged me to learn to play the drums. I had some success in high school at state and all-eastern music festivals and had exposure to really fine musicians and direc-

tors and challenging music.”

A graduate of Lewistown High School Class of 1979, Dave recalled the Friday night dances after football and basketball games where local bands would play for a couple hours.

“I watched Dale Wilburne, Gregg Hughes, Jim Ruble, Joe Eisenhart, Joe Rocco, Eric Sheerer just to name a few

drummers,” he said. Many well-known local musicians were essential in Dave’s continued growth in his own musical endeavors as a drummer. Dave’s neighbor, Gus Haake, coached him on how to play Rock Drums. Jazz drummer Dick McCartney would invite Dave to sit in with bands while he was performing. McCartney was also involved

in a local radio program that featured jazz and swing music. Dave and Dianne Klein, Skip Leeper and Jim Ressler, local jazz band leaders, introduced Dave to various genres of jazz.

Currently, Dave pursues his excitement for the drums by performing with The Big Band Sound, which is current -

ly in its fifth year of performing big band swing and contemporary jazz arrangements. In addition to his involvement with The Big Band Sound, Dave also performs with a 9-piece band that plays pop, rock, and funk tunes named Adult Swim as well as a

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five-piece jazz combo, The No Filter Jazz Band, with performances based in the Huntingdon and Bellefonte areas. Every Summer, Dave routinely gets out his drum sticks to perform with a 50’s style doowop band that backs up local gospel band, Common Ground. In addition to his performance as a drummer in a variety of local bands, Dave’s enthusiasm for recording music led him to start his own personal recording studio. In his

sophomore year of high school, he was recording music on a reel to reel tape recorder that he purchased at a flea market. In 2013, West Market Studio evolved from Dave’s home-based workplace. Now the studio has all the features of a modern multitrack recording studio.

“West Market Studio was started to meet and work with other musicians of all genres,” Landis said. “And, along the way I’d get to document songs that are important to the artists who want them recorded, and I’d get to share that

positive experience with them.”

After the pandemic, the studio was shut down and has been primarily functioning as a rehearsal studio. However, West Market Studios is available to book for remote recordings. Currently the studio services remote recording capabilities to many high school bands and choir concerts ensembles. Very few musicians who have networked with Dave for music recordings were concerned with their recordings generating commercial success. Instead of focusing on the

possibility of generating fame, many of the artists utilized the studio’s capabilities and Dave’s recording expertise to preserve their art.

“They were there to leave a legacy for loved ones or to try something they’ve always wanted to do,” he said.

During the pandemic, Dave took the time spent social distancing to embark on a crafty musical endeavor in his woodwork shop at his home. For the last three years, Dave has spent his time building vintage style Fender Telecaster electric guitars. The wood

LOST CREEK SHOE SHOP

Dave uses to craft the guitars are sourced from local sawmills. “I call them Landcasters and I have built six for some guitar playing friends.” Clearly, Dave is a man of many artistic talents and continues to find ways to express his passion for music.

Some teachers need ‘3 Months Off’

REEDSVILLE — Summertime. School is out. The kids love it. Teachers, too. Three months off. It has a nice ring to it. What do you do with all that time? You form a rock band and call it … ‘3 Months Off.’

The story reads like a script for a TV pilot, but it actually happened. The band, ‘3 Months Off,’ or as they are known in some circles, 3MO, has been together since 2006 when the band formed to play at an Indian Valley High School event.

“Duane Rhodes got us together to practice for a pep rally,” band member Tom Shearer said. “We knew three songs.”

The original lineup for the pep rally included Shearer (Technology Education) on bass guitar, Rhodes (English) on drums, Tim Reeder

(Art) on lead guitar, Keith Mernin (Career Link) on rhythm guitar, Sherry Morgan (Chorus) on keyboards, Dianne Shearer (Special Education) on backing vocals and for two of the pep rallies, Drew Carey (Social Studies) on rhythm guitar.

“All original members were teachers,” Shearer said. “We needed a name and my wife, Dianne, came up with ‘3 Months Off,’ which teachers get of course.”

Despite the limited repertoire, the response from the student body after the first pep rally lit a fire and the band continued.

“The kids loved it,” Shearer said. “We learned more songs, then started playing private gigs and local venues. We now know over 150 songs.”

The road to the local stage was not a direct route for Shearer. He had musical influences

as a youngster, but loved sports as well. He played football, basketball and baseball at Lewistown Area High School before his days as a defensive lineman at Millersville University. He began teaching at West Perry before moving on to Southern Huntingdon, Lewistown Middle School, Indian Valley and Mifflin County High School. He taught Metal Shop until 2006 before switching to Wood Shop. He retired in 2021. His resume also includes many years as a high school football coach.

His playing days long since over, Shearer went back to music.

“My biggest influences were all the classic rock bands of the 60’s and 70’s,” he said. “I played some guitar in high school, but not real well. I didn’t play anything again till I picked up a bass in 2006 for the pep rally. I never had time in the 80”s and 90’s to play any instrument because of teaching, coaching, and raising five kids. No

regrets at all. We entered the band gig game later than most. We always try to make it fun. We aren’t professionals. We like playing songs we like. We have improved a lot over the years.”

The band has improved. And changed. Personnel moves are common in the music world. And for a time 3MO employed several different drummers.

“We have had several very good drummers over the years,” Shearer said. “Joe Rocco of Friction, Jeff Rocco, Bobby Sterrett of Swamp Root, Clip McCombie and Farley Hill to name a few.”

The list of temporary performers has not been limited to drummers.

“We have always had other musicians play along with us on occasion,” Shearer said. “John Xanthopoulos, Chris Ruble, Billy Zeigler, Stan Orndorf, Craig Matthews, John Hazel and Jimmy Gross to name a few.”

Seventeen years after the first pep rally, 3MO

has come a long way, and the lineup is a bit more settled.

“Jim Ruble is our permanent drummer and sound technician,”

Shearer said. “Jim is an excellent drummer who has played in several local bands since the 60’s.”

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The rest of the current group includes both Shearers, Reeder, Mernin and Karen Ruble on flute.

“We play classic rock and blues, mostly from the 60’s, 70’s and some 80’s,” Shearer said. “Rolling Stones, Beatles, Tom Petty, Eric Clapton to name a few.”

The band has played at many local venues, including weddings and private parties, but has also performed in Clearfield, State College, Pittsburgh and Jersey Shore.

“The most famous place we played was a wedding for my daughter Stephanie’s sister-in-law at Heinz field,” Shearer said. “Also, another wedding at the Duquesne Club in Pittsburgh. And we opened for Firehouse in 2017 at the Granville firehouse. That was exciting.”

What’s next for the band? Maybe a few months off?

“We have no plans of stopping,” Shearer said. Pay attention, class.

Juniata Valley Music History

Juniata Valley Music History

The Logan Guards, a Juniata Valley tradition

LEWISTOWN – To the rhythmic tapping of their drums, the Logan Guards march in unison the same way their predecessors did more than a century ago.

Today’s Drum and Bugle Corps, which is based in Lewistown, is a group of talented musicians that perform to crowds not a volunteer militia company heading off to fight in battle.

“I liked the name because it hits a lot of buttons for locals,” said Cole Cullen of Reedsville, who marched for Indian Valley High School’s band and the Penn State Blue Band and is one of the Logan Guards’ founders. “It is a name that is specific to our area. It elicits area pride. It screams Mifflin County. I knew very little about the group (Logan Guards militia) before we decided to do this.”

In the winter 2019, there was an idea kicked around that Lewistown could (and should) have a drum and bugle corps. Conversations continued before a board of directors was formed a year later.

After months of meetings and thanks to the tireless work of the board, the Logan Guards were created in March 2021 in the style of drum and bugle corps, meaning they

consist of only brass and percussion instruments.

“I missed playing in a drum line,” said Ric Erhard of Lewistown, another one of the Logan Guards’ founders. “I wanted to start playing again, and I had thrown it around in my head for a year or two.”

Erhard joined the Reading Buccaneers, based in Berks County, but the travel time to practice and perform just made being in the group impossible. He and Cullen actually marched together with the Buccaneers during the summer of 1996.

“Reading is an awful long way from here,” Erhard added. “I don’t have the same level of fitness as I did back then. I knew I couldn’t walk up and start playing again.”

Erhard hard marched with Cullen in high school and the two men came up with the idea of forming the Logan Guards when their paths crossed. They assembled a small group and got the ball rolling.

Besides getting the equipment and finding practice space, Erhard knew the name of the group had to be perfect.

“There’s a lot of rich history here in Mifflin County,” Erhard said. “It’s all over the place. The railroad is unique and industrial. The ties to the Civil War are unique here.

On April 17, 2021, their first note was played as

the first rehearsals took place at the Lumina Center in Lewistown. At first, the Logan Guards were a percussion-only ensemble. They performed in Belleville, Lewistown, Reedsville and Patton, located in Cambria County.

Their premier came at the Belleville Mennonite School benefit auction where they entertained the crowd.

While entertaining, a cavernous high school gymnasium didn’t offer the greatest acoustics.

“It was the first opportunity we had, so we took it,” Cullen said. “People seemed to enjoy it. We invited kids up on the stage to play, taught them something quick and they loved it.

“It was exciting and nerve-wracking to do since it was the first one,” he added. “It’s difficult to find a venue for us since we’re made to perform on a football field or in a parade.”

Cullen said the Logan Guards are also still in an educational phase, explaining to audiences their brand of music. “We are percussion with some marching instruments,” he said. “We are different than drums in a rock band.”

When the weather improved, the Logan Guards began to rehearse outside along the banks of the Juniata River at Victory Park. It provided the perfect backdrop, considering it housed

the memorial for Mifflin County’s fallen soldiers.

The Logan Guards’ second performance came at the Mifflin County Historical Society’s 100th anniversary celebration in downtown Lewistown. It was a special moment for local historians like Forest Fisher, officer and board member of the Mifflin County Historical Society.

“To the generations of local citizens who participated and served in the Logan Guards in 1861, the experience was indelibly marked in their recollections of the Civil War,” Fisher said. “As one generation gave way to the next, the memory of the Logan Guards and

their part in history was passed along,” he added.

“Rekindled in 1961 at the centennial anniversary, and again at the 150th anniversary in 2011.”

They also traveled to Cambria County to participate in a parade and concert sponsored by the Small Drum Corps Association in Patton.

The Logan Guard’s inaugural season ended with two performances at the Mifflin County Youth Fair in early August.

This past summer, the Logan Guards expanded to include the addition of brass instruments. From day one, the intent has always been to create a drum and bugle corps.

Their first year was

percussion-only since most of the founding members were drummers. Enough horn players were recruited in 2022 to start a horn line.

“Adding horns gives us the ability to add melody,” Cullen said. “The audience that enjoys watching a drum line is smaller than the audience that watches drum and horn lines together. It opens us up to a much broader audience.

“It feels like there’s a melody,” he added of the bugles. “It’s more enjoyable. More so, then drummers playing percussion music.”

Getting members has

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been challenging for the Logan Guards. Despite their efforts on social media, word-of-mouth advertising and members inviting musicians they know have been their most effective way of increasing their numbers.

Ideally, organizers would like to have 15 to 20 drummers and another 15 to 20 brass players. “I envisioned having more people involved than we do,” Erhard said. “But I’m very happy with where we are at. People enjoyed themselves. It’s been a great learning experience so far and getting together with other musicians is always fun.”

With increased numbers and experience, the group would ultimately like to participate in Drum Corps Associates, one of the oldest drum corps performance circuits in the country. “It’s the big leagues of drum corps,” Erhard said.

For the time, the beat

goes on.

“People who join us become part of a big family,” Erhard said. “There’s not anything in our area like this for people to do after high school.”

ORIGINAL LOGAN GUARDS

The original Logan Guards militia were also from Lewistown, and one of the Civil War’s first defenders. They were one of five militia companies from the Keystone State to answer former President of the United States Abraham Lincoln’s call for volunteers in April 1861.

They were formed just prior to the Civil War as five young men of the town – R.W. Patton, Frank Sterrett, J. Ard Matthews, William Weber and Jacob Hamaker – organized meetings to establish the company and the unit took shape in the spring 1858.

Well-trained and drilled in the military methods of the day, the Logan Guards became a

fixture at events across Mifflin County. During a ceremony in September 1859, the ladies of Lewistown presented the men with an impressive silk flag, bearing the image of Logan, a noted American Indian, and the company’s namesake.

The motto, “Heroic Actions Win Immortality” was emblazoned on the front.

Following the surrender of Fort Sumter, S.C., in April 1861, Lincoln summoned 75,000 volunteers to protect Washington D.C. On April 16, 1861, a telegram arrived at Lewistown Junction from Gov. Andrew Gregg Curtin requesting troops to defend the Union.

Logan Guards Cmdr. John Selheimer replied, “We are coming,” and assembled 92 men on April 16, 1861 on Market Street in front of what is now the Coleman House and marched to the railroad station. The train was three hours late, pushing their arrival in Harrisburg into the early hours of April 17.

Four other companies joined the Logan Guard at Harrisburg, where the troops were sworn into 90 of federal service. Now numbering more than 500 soldiers, they journeyed together, collectively known to posterity as the First Defenders.

The troops faced a menacing, pro-Southern mob intent on stopping their progress as they made a perilous march to the Capital. Lincoln greeted each man personally, thanking them for their prompt response to the impending crisis.

Cullen admits he didn’t know much about the Logan Guards’ history before helping to found the musical ensemble.

MARKER REMAINS ON MARKET STREET

A marker on the side of the old Masonic Building, 2 Market St., Lewistown, serves as a constant reminder of the Logan Guards’ importance in

Mifflin County history.

The image depicts a mural by the late artist, Dwight Kirkland, showing Lincoln and members of the company. The marker is located just across the street from the location where the Logan Guards mustered before setting off for the nation’s capital in 1861.

“We wanted to anchor any group to the community, and it just so happened, I was thinking along those lines,” he added. “Logan Guards would be a great name to go with.”

Erhard said the name conjures up and image of the militia mustered in the square in Lewistown and marching to the train station, led by the drums and fifes.

MARCHING MEMBERSHIP

All members must be at least age 18 unless the prospective member’s parent belongs to the organization. Each playing member must buy a T-shirt to wear at perfor-

mances. There are also annual dues of $50.

Dues cover the organization’s bills, including insurance which is not cheap. The Logan Guards are also saving money to purchase instruments. They own percussion equipment, but do not own any horns.

They rehearse most Saturdays throughout the late spring and summer months. Their season begins in the late spring and runs through early August. Since many members are in college, the season ends in time for those folks to go back to school.

“We’re proud to have the Logan Guard Drum and Bugle Corps today,” Fisher added. “Their presence and presentations open the conversation with a new generation about the significance of the Logan Guards of 1861, their place among the First Defenders of the Civil War and Mifflin County’s connections to U.S. history.

For more information about the Logan Guards, visit www.theloganguards.com.

Juniata Valley Music History

From Mingo mascot to center stage

gwilliams@lewistownsentinel.com

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – In an industry where first impressions are everything, Mark E. Bush discovered he didn’t stand out in the crowd.

When he became Marke Bush, well that’s a different story.

“My agent was Liz Marks, out of Richmond, Va., and she asked me if I had a nickname,” Bush recalled. “She told me it was supposed to be shorter than the real thing.”

Marks combined his first name and middle initial to form, “Marke,” and the rest is history.

“That was it, it just took off,” Bush joked of the name, pronounced “Marky.”

It was also a tongueand-cheek nickname given to him by a great aunt during his childhood after the Al Jolson classic, “My Little Margie.” “‘My Little Marke’ kind of stuck,” he said.

Bush wasn’t too fond of the Marke name at first. “Then Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch band came out and I broke through the wall,” he explained.

Bush, who grew up in Burnham and graduated from Chief Logan High School in 1979, was determined to make it big in the entertainment in-

dustry.

“I had so many great ambitions,” Bush recalled. I didn’t take high school seriously.”

In the “Legend,” his high school yearbook, Bush won “Best” awards in four different categories: “Best Dancer,” “Class Clown,” “Class Extrovert” and “Most Active.” He also was the Chief Logan Mingo mascot.

“Yeah, they said I was one of the greatest mascots in Chief Logan history,” Bush boasts, his claims unverified. “For two years, I had that title. I still bleed green.”

He danced around athletic events barefoot, wearing a headdress, war paint and leggings and carrying a spirit stick.

“I never rode a horse, but I did wear the long headgear, and no shirt on in the winter,” Bush said, comparing himself to past Mingo mascots who pictured mounted on a horse. “And loving every minute of it. Team spirit back then was so infectious.”

Bush described his childhood as a “great upbringing,” he said. Carl Stewart, his uncle, was like a mentor. “That’s where I started to get my talent,” he said.

Bush deejayed for seven or eight years, going into local bars and setting up his table filled with equipment against the wall. “The Bierhaus was

the first big show that I did,” he recalled.

Bush knew if he wanted to hit the big time, he was going to have to find stages bigger than Mifflin County as well as an act to help him stand out.

“I came up with using a corner stage then I had my turntables playing from a cable in the ceiling,” said Bush, who also incorporated props, such as mannequins and lights. “I had so much fun throughout those years.”

Bush decided to move to Richmond, Va., and saw his career skyrocket. “I basically worked 28 years without any time off,” he said. “I had no months to spare.”

He worked as the entertainment director for Spirit Cruise Line’s paddlewheel ships. From Seattle to New York and the Hudson Valley to Baltimore, Bush sailed on 13 ships in 13 different cities.

“When karaoke came out, it was the biggest blessing for me,” Bush said. “I just cut and pasted the music (of different artists) with outfits and wigs and did singing impressions. I took my singing impression ability and learned 120-minute shows.”

With an extraordinary singing talent and a few breaks, Bush has become a phenomenal, critically acclaimed impressionist. He has been dazzling audiences with his cast of

many characters since 1988.

He has performed at Harrah’s Casino in Las Vegas, toured with Bob Hope’s USO Show and has been seen on Star Search. His extraordinary singing talent brings audiences to their feet in showrooms and theaters across the country.

“One of the singing waiters came up and said the guy in back wants to see you,” Bush recalled of receiving his invite to join the USO Tour. “It was Ernie Gomez from the United States Department of Defense.

“He asked if I would do a USO show and I said, ‘Yeah, that would be something really special,’” he added.

During that time, Bush performed on NATO bases in front of crowds of 4,500 to 5,000, and other times there were less than two dozen at the next base. “I was so thankful I got to do that,” he said. “I was a wonderful, good time.”

Once the tour ended, Bush returned to his deejaying. He took his show to Las Vegas in 2007, working with Lucille Star at Star Productions.

“I ended up meeting her and she said I could put you on stage on the strip,” Bush said. He never imagined performing on the same stage as Sammy Davis Jr. at the See Mingo / Page 47

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Barbary Coast in Vegas.

“I had a karaoke band, and it took off like a rocket,” he said.

His performances –highlighted by more than 100 voices – will be ones in which listeners will never forget.

The list of entertainers that he impersonates is like a Hollywood Walk of Fame: Louis Armstrong, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Barry Gibb, Billy Joel, Elton John, Janis Joplin, Willie

Nelson, Wayne Newton, Jack Nicholson, Luciano Pavarotti, Elvis Presley, Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, Richard Nixon and many more.

When Bush was just starting out, his ambition was to join the Beach Boys. He was fortunate to do so. “I joined them on stage not only once but twice,” he said. He said at Mike Love’s brother’s estate in tropical Kona, Hawaii. “They were there, too,” he added.

Bush feels fortunate enough to have lasted as long as he has in a diffi-

cult industry.

“Here we are years later in St. Pete,” Bush said.

“I do all venues and I still entertain. It’s so wonderful being out there and making people laugh. It’s fun to turn into that one person, a one-man act. You are just it.

“You take that mic stand in front of us,” he added. “Whatever it takes. If it’s not in my original key, I’m not going to sing it. I go up to do Roy Orbison or down to Johnny Cash – five octaves. It’s a lot of fun. I watch a lot of them on

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TV to learn their tricks. Watching the entertainers is how Bush learns each of their idiosyncrasies. “I have to learn all the voices and how they talk,” he explained. “It’s the only way to learn the impressions. Tony Bennett has his hands going all the time. It’s all about making things believable

and making it fun. The world’s my stage and I have an opportunity to still stand on it.”

When will he stop?

His career just “keeps going on and on,” Bush said. “The only time it’s going to stop is when I’ll close my eyes, and I don’t get up the next day.”

His impressions have stood the test of time.

“That’s the characters that I do,” Bush said.

“I might open with Elvis then Tom Jones. A younger person in the audience will come up to me and say, ‘I don’t know who you were doing, but it was so fun.”

Through all his success, Bush has never forgotten his roots.

“If it wasn’t for my hometown friends, I would never have gotten to be the person I am today,” he said.

Juniata Valley Music History

Lewistown musician played with several popular local bands

tlaub@lewistownsentinel.com

LEWISTOWN — Pat Naylor played to the crowds and heard the applause.

Local residents who enjoyed and danced to the music of some of the area’s best-known and popular bands have heard Naylor’s handiwork.

Joker’s Wild. Fantasy. Crossover. Blackwater. Swamp Root. The names speak for themselves. At the forefront of each was

Naylor and his signature sound.

“He began playing guitar at the age of 15 at Woodlawn and Terrace playgrounds,” his daughter, Tracy Grimm, said. “He joined a band right out of college when he started playing the bass guitar.”

Like many young, aspiring musicians of the time, Naylor was influenced by big-name bands and performers. Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Little River Band, the Eagles and Restless Heart

helped shape his music career.

“He always enjoyed singing and entertaining,” Grimm, said.

Naylor is self-taught on guitar and bass and during his formative years at Lewistown High School, he and his bandmates began playing proms and school dances. After graduation in 1964, he moved on to Shepherd College (now Shepherd University) in West Virginia.

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Upon his return to Mifflin County, the venues became local fire companies along with clubs, wineries, fairs, music festivals and eventually Hersheypark. Career highlights also include opening for Garth Brooks and many other artists.

Today, Naylor is in retirement from music, but his impact on the community has been felt by many. He has been very supportive of those who have given to their country and their hometown.

When Naylor would sing “God Bless the USA,” he had two people hold a large American flag. He then invited all active military along with veterans, police and emergency personnel to join him onstage. Members of the audience were encouraged to shake their hands and thank them for their service.

Naylor resides in Lewistown today with his wife, Beverly. He has two children, son Patrick Naylor Jr. and daughter Tracy.

He no longer performs, but the crowds are still cheering.

Jordan Center continues hosting music’s biggest names

The Sentinel UNIVERSITY PARK — Paul McCartney? Check. Metallica? Check. Garth Brooks? Elton John? Drake? Yep, yep and yep. Make a list of musical luminaries and there’s a good chance they’ve played at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center, just up U.S. Highway 322 from the Juniata Valley. The impact of the Bryce Jordan Center is undeniable. In an informal poll of nine Sentinel employees (including the writer of this article), eight have seen at least one concert at the venue. Over 16 million guests have attended basketball games, THON, circuses and of course, concerts, since the Jordan Center’s opening in January 1996. Penn State’s THON fundraising dancing event, which takes place every February at the BJC, has raised over $131 million dollars to support families and kids impacted by childhood cancer. While many people think of the dancers who stay on their feet for nearly two days, music is an integral part of the THON experience for anyone who attends. Local cover bands keep the crowd and dancers moving, and surprise national acts like Andy Grammer and the Joe Jonas-fronted band DNCE have graced the THON stage.

Kate Bean, the Jordan

Center’s Director of Marketing and Public Relations, hasn’t been with the venue for all of its 27 years, but she’s seen her share of huge acts come through the BJC. She started as a marketing strategies specialist 11 years ago, before eventually being promoted to the director position.

One of the most memorable on-sale experiences for Bean was when country music superstar Garth Brooks made his return to Penn State in 2015. “I heard the stories of his first visit here in the Nineties, and what that on-sale was like,” she said. According to Bean, Brooks tour management will put one show on sale, and once that concert gets to near sell-out status, they will then schedule another show for a different day or sometimes even the same day at a different time. For Bean, it was the most exciting scheduling experience she was ever involved with, as she remembers being on the phone with the agent and artist to decide on each new show that would be added to the engagement at the BJC.

In 2015, Brooks ended up playing six BJC shows including multiple concerts on the same day. Bean recalls not only the excitement for the shows, but how professional and friendly the performer and his management team were. “He and his

team are just an absolute pleasure to work with. They treat everyone with such respect and kindness. They are the ultimate professionals and just down-to-earth…it was really cool having him in the building,” says Bean.

2015 was a landmark year for the BJC, with the six-show run by Garth Brooks, as well as an appearance by a Beatle, when Sir Paul McCartney played an October show at the venue. “To have a Beatle at the Bryce Jordan Center, at Penn State, that was just epic,” says Bean. She struggled to pick other major shows simply because there have been so many at the venue. A look at the history of the BJC will show a wide variety of musical acts and genres, including country, metal, rap and boy bands. Due to the pandemic, a few concerts ended up being canceled, most notably Chris Stapleton and Justin Bieber. But as restrictions have eased, the venue has a full plate of country, rock and Christian music touring acts for 2023. The Bruce Springsteen show sold out very quickly, and other major artists like Carrie Underwood and Journey have a huge following.

What is a concert day like for the marketing and public relations team at the BJC? Monitoring social media feeds and answering any questions

from the public are usually the first part of the concert day for Bean and her staff. “From a fan standpoint, we want to make sure everyone is very informed when they get here, so that they can have the best experience possible.” From the artist standpoint, Bean works with the artist’s manager to see that everything goes smoothly backstage. She jokes that her show day personality is like a ninja, quietly going in and out of different areas of the building. But like a ninja, things are best when no one knows she has even been there. The goal is that both fans and the tour alike walk away happy at the end of the night.

Bean also oversees media coverage, including when the tours allow photography. There are often very specific policies from the artist and their management for which songs or parts of the concert may be shot by credentialed photographers. When it comes to massive production, the Cirque du Soleil shows have some of the most rigging and trucks that end up coming to the BJC for setup, according to Bean. But the show that amazes her the most from a total production standpoint is Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which Bean has seen several times. “The lighting, the

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pyro, all of the different instruments and performances, singing…it is a full-on experience. They have lifts, and people coming out of the air, and all of a sudden, you have another stage coming out of the ground,” says Bean. “They get to reinvent the show each year. It’s like, what can we do that’s cool this year? I know, let’s light the stage on fire,” laughs Bean in recalling the spectacle of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra show.

One of the things that Bean always tries to re-

member is that everyone on a tour, including the artist, are a human being and they are away from home. In speaking of the touring artists, she says, “These people are on the road all the time, and they haven’t seen their family, they haven’t seen their friends, they really don’t have a lot of time to themselves, and people are always asking something of them.” With that in mind, Bean says, “For us, it’s always trying to make them feel comfortable, feel at home, and give them some peace and sanity, with all the insanity of a show.”

Like any venue, adaption and improvements

are vital to continued success. One recent change is that guests at concerts, and any non-athletic event, can purchase alcohol at the BJC. Bean also noted that in the future there will be more fan-focused experiences coming to the Bryce Jordan Center. “There are plans in the works to make the fan experience better,” she says. And at the end of any concert, once the last guitar chord fades, the final encore has played and the lights go up, memories of the amazing performances are what will keep bringing music fans back to the Bryce Jordan Center.

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The path to a musical career worth the struggles for Willie Markley

– Willie Markley thought he had it all, living the rock ’n roll lifestyle in 2005.

He wrote and produced songs and performed in a band. Then the demons caught up with the 36-year-old Thompsontown songwriter-guitarist. Through his trials and tribulations, Markley always found his way back to music. Today, he plays bass guitar for the band HOKO, which just signed a national recording contract.

“The hardest part for me is looking people in the eye and telling them you’re a songwriter,” Markley said. “Because it feels like people don’t respect that,” he added. “Even though I support myself with what I do, it’s hard to acknowledge myself and tell myself, ‘You have value.’”

Markley admits cracking into the music industry has been a tough gig to say the least.

“I haven’t written any number ones yet,” he joked. “I’ve had close friends who have written number ones. I have worked with bands that have taken me to Paris and across the U.S. and have fans everywhere.”

Markley is appreciative of the opportunities to fuel what has become a modest solo career.

“It started as a claim to my identity and quickly turned into a way to survive,” he added. “In that it was my identity, now I can’t think of life outside of songwriting. I check out and in for months at a time. I binge for months at a time. At 36, it’s who I am, and it’s going to be me at 76. There’s never a dull moment. I look forward to every next song the same way every person looks forward to every next day.”

Markley grew up in a house that had musical influences. His father played the guitar as a hobby but was more artistic, teaching patients at the psychiatry clinic where he worked how to make pottery. He also liked to make duck carvings out of wood.

A young Markley got most of his musical influence from his mother, who had an extensive record collection that consisted of about 4,000 vinyl albums. “She had a huge fondness for music,” Markley said. “From B.B. King to old classic rock.”

In elementary school, Markley took up playing the drums. He didn’t take it very seriously at first.

“I did it just to pass the time,” he recalled. “It didn’t develop into a real interest until I was 13 or 14. That’s when I kind of thought of music as a thing, a sound. I really loved the “Rocky” soundtrack.

“I wasn’t passionate about it until I started to create it,” he added. “Once I started to create it, I went wild. It was the first thing that I ever felt passionate about. It was a difficult time in my life.”

Growing up, Markley never felt like he fit in. He admits he often hung out with the wrong crowd. “I was a pretty big troublemaker back then,” he said. “I got in with the wrong crowd from time to time. I was figuring out who I was, but I’ve come a long way.”

Markley remembers seeing Juniata County native Matthew Dressler perform in concert. “I saw him perform at May Day and saw other people’s reactions and acceptance of him,” he said. “It’s what I deeply longed for. When I look back at it, I think it was probably just another Hail Mary attempt to be comfortable in my own skin.”

Regardless of what it was, Markley knew his future included music in some capacity. “I was really into drums,” he said.

“My parents got me a drum set for Christmas. I was hellbent on being a drummer. After about a year of banging around on that, my father said, ‘The kid needs a different instrument!’

“I don’t know if he was tired of hearing me or I was not very good on drums,” he added. “He insisted he get me a guitar.”

Neither father nor son

knew the first thing about guitars. After trying to tune in, the guitar sat untouched in a closet for six months.

His mother didn’t want the instrument to go to waste, so she signed her son up to take lessons from the late Lani Halpin, a musician-songwriter who originally played in the band, Starfires. He started Perry County Music on the New Bloomfield Square, where he gave guitar lessons to about 30 students.

“He was the sweetest old man you’d ever meet in your life,” Markley said of Halpin who died in 2004.

“Within six months (of taking lessons), I was hooked,” he added. “With the guitar, I found ways I could express myself that I could never have considered. Lani moved me to his last lesson (of the day). Instead of half hour lessons, he gave me twohour lessons.”

He is very grateful to his parents and Halpin for their guidance. “They were shining lights as to where I ended up,” Markley said.

Musically, he credits Halpin as having the biggest influence on his career. “I started with Lani at (age) 15,” he said. “There were a lot of drives (to his shop in New Bloomfield). My Mom would ride along as I only had my learner’s permit

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at the time. I took lessons for two years.”

Music also gave him solace. It was a constant in a world of chaos. His parents separated during his senior year of high school. Unfazed, Markley decided to enroll at Harrisburg Community College to earn a music business degree. He dropped out after two or three weeks because of prerequisites. “I was so sick and tired of this course and that course,” Markley said. “I had just spent the last 13 years learning about things I didn’t give a crap about.”

Markley ended up taking private study courses at HACC and private

lessons from the faculty, which included a recording course. “The vocal and piano training for me changed my life,” he added.

He lived in Swatara Township in Harrisburg at the time with several other artists in a house where there was one strict rule, “no music newer than 1970 could be played.”

“We had a vinyl player inside, so we were always playing records,” Markley said. “I was writing songs like crazy, like three to four a week. It was one of the most prolific times in my life for sure.”

Living with our musicians wasn’t easy. Markley admittedly wrote some of his best work in the bathroom. It was the only quiet sanctuary he could find.

“Their melodies were influencing mine,” Markley said. “I just said to myself, ‘This is the space you got, you have to make it work.’ I had to figure out a way to get away even if it meant closing the door (in the bathroom) and turning on the fan.

“It was a great phase in my life,” he added. “It led up to other things.” But the big break he had hoped for never came.

In college, Markley had also met another aspiring musician, Nathaniel Hohol. The two men hit it off despite coming from very different upbringings.

He also connected with Lucas Watson of Lewistown, who Markley described as “very business oriented and musically passionate” who was “quasi managing us

at the time.”

Watson would advise Markley and Hohol what gigs would be best for them and find backup talent for them when they performed on stage.

Markley and Hohol were still green in the business and easily influenced. “I think I turned out to be too much of a handful for him,” Markley said. “I was a lot. He tried to continue to push me through, but I was left to my own devices.”

The two recorded their own music in Central Pennsylvania and played in a band, Click Clack Boom, which toured local bars.

Tired of sleeping on sofas, Markley moved to York in 2009, again to live with other artists.

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Frustrated with what he described as “really no clue what to do,” Markley moved back to Juniata County and was hired by Village Acres Farm in Mifflintown as an organic farmer.

“Those were five years with very little music connection,” he said. “I had very few gigs, very little pay and grueling hours. But it was one of the best jobs I’ve ever had, which is why I stuck around for so long.”

Markley, local musician Jon Mertz, who is his “musical hero,” and a former girlfriend formed a band, along with “who-

ever else would play,” and toured.

“We did that for a couple of years,” he said.

Right around that time, Hohol, who was now living in New York, had contacted Markley about performing with his new band, HOKO, as a bass player. The band had just signed a recording contract with Universal Records.

“I owe Nathaniel a lot for sticking with me,” Markley said. “He asked if I would be interested in playing bass and writing with him. We had barely talked for seven years. We sent a handful of text messages.

“Humbly, he thought of me, and I obliged,” he added. “I’m not in the

actual band, but I started working with him and taking regular trips to New York to tour.”

Their plans were derailed by the pandemic, but now they are touring once again. The band has played in the Hamptons, gone to festivals like the annual Lollapalooza in Chicago, BottleRock Music Fest in Napa Valley, Calif., Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Del. and Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn.

Now that HOKO has signed with Red Light Management, which manages artists including Dave Matthews Band, Luke Bryan, Alabama Shakes, Chris Stapleton, Odesza and Phish, Mar-

kley hopes his career has finally turned the corner. “They believe in us. Hopefully, now we’re going to be with the big boys.”

Through it all, Markley doesn’t have any regrets about the career path where music has taken him.

“It’s been every bit as wild an experience as I thought it’d be,” Markley said of his years as a songwriter.

Today, he records in the Myers Hill Studio, a recording studio he built on the farm where he grew up. When he’s not writing, he’s trying to help other budding local musicians find their way in a community with limited art resources.

Juniata Valley Music History

Juniata Valley Music History

Music spreads the Word at Milroy CMA Church

MILROY — Music

soothes the soul. Music that spreads the Word of God saves the soul. At the Milroy Christian and Missionary Alliance Church, the music serves both purposes.

Pastor J.R. Hughes and his wife, Jamee sing to their congregation with a spirit summoned from the joy of rebirth. Pastor Hughes himself knows the struggles of someone down and out. Originally from Nazareth, PA, he was living in Illinois, homeless and in search of food, when he found

comfort at a local church. He spoke with the pastor and eventually turned his life around.

“I felt the call of the Lord on my life years ago,” Hughes said. “A calling to teach and reach the lost with the hope of the Gospel that I had found. Coming from a difficult upbringing I knew there were many people out there who were like I was, lost, hurting, broken, alone. Jesus is the answer to the question that every man, woman and child instinctively asks. What is the purpose of life?”

Today, Hughes uses music to return the favor of a pastor in Illinois. Along with Jamee,

he reaches others in song. He will celebrate eight years at the Milroy church in August, armed with a sermon, a piano and a guitar.

Hughes is humble when he discusses his chord work, giving most of the duo’s credit to his wife. He has been playing for about 10 years while Jamee has 25 years of musical experience.

“Jamee has been a lifelong singer in choirs, chorales, different worship bands and solo,” he said. “I am a middling at best guitarist who gives it his all.”

Spreading the Gospel through song might be greeted with mixed emotions by some but Pas-

tor Hughes reverses the thought.

“The congregation is appreciative of having live music each Sunday,” he said. “They know that many churches can only have pre-recorded music, and enjoy the freedom that live music gives in Worship.”

How does music help? The concept is simple, relying on an age-old belief.

“Nearly everyone enjoys music,” Hughes said. “Some may prefer different styles, but music is like a universal language. Whereas some may be reticent to hear the Word preached, most would be fine with hearing it sung.”

For now, the congre-

Juniata Valley Music History

gation enjoys the husband and wife team, but the future could see the addition of other family members. Children John Robert III, Camilla and Celeste are waiting in the wings.

The message cannot be separated from the delivery. It is the Gospel in song. The popularity of the musical worship service at the Milroy Christian and Missionary Alliance Church is rooted in the Word of God. A catchy tune can be helpful, too.

“Did you ever get a song stuck in your head?” Hughes asked. “Some chorus that you just can’t stop repeating? The appeal of singing the Gospel

is that it is something that we’ll remember and repeat over and over, even when we can’t remember a verse we’ve been memorizing for weeks.”

Music is one of the many gifts God has provided. Even He enjoys a catchy tune.

Musicians share their memories of entertaining PSU fans

(This article was originally published in The Sentinel on Oct. 29, 2022)

LEWISTOWN — Bill Huff summed up his father Bob’s experience at Penn State football games as a good ol’ musical time.

The late Bob Huff was an original member of the legendary Tailgate Troubadours, who roamed the Beaver Stadium parking lots serenading fans with traditional Penn State songs for three decades.

“My dad had a lot of pride being involved with the troubadours,” Bill recalled. “He enjoyed it and looked forward to it and was glad to be a part of it.”

With ukuleles in hand, Bob and friends George Birse, Dave Knox, Joe Martin and Bill Torchia strummed their way through years of wins, losses and lots of memories.

“Dad and Joe Martin were the ukulele guys,” Bill said of the group’s run from 1962 to the 1990s. “A lot of them had roots from being in barbershop quartets.”

Now grown, 68-yearold Bill can still hear the harmonies of the troubadours when he reminisces.

“It was a crazy time,” he said. “Students loved

these guys. They dressed in their blue blazers, white shirts, Penn State ties and khaki pants. Each had an interesting hat on.

“They just strolled the tailgates and played their music,” he added. “Anybody tailgating wanted to come to the tailgate and play.”

Fans loved the group going around to their tailgates and getting Happy Valley fans fired up with their tunes. The Troubadours became part of the game-day tradition just like the Nittany Lion mascot and the cheerleaders.

They traveled all over to football games to serenade Penn State fans cheering in foreign stands. The fun part, however, was serenading the people who weren’t Penn State fans.

In 1986, the group performed in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for University of Alabama administrators, including the school’s president, himself a ukulele player, who joined in and performed with the group.

Over the years, they also had many interesting experiences, helping game-day vendors sell their wares by ad-libbing a song promoting the game programs, pennants or balloons they were selling to fans as they passed by.

“The guys would go around and surround the person and start singing,”

Bill said. “They would make-up words and help them sell programs or whatever they had. It was just one of those things that they did.”

For years, “The Paterno Song” could be heard on radio morning shows during the legendary head coach’s tenure. It was written and produced by the Troubadours.

While many of the Troubadours’ songs are oldies like “Ain’t She Sweet” and “Dear Ol’ Girl,” these mischievous musicians created a few of their own.

“In those days, everybody knew who they were,” Bill said.

The Troubadours actually got their start not at Penn State but at a gas fuel convention in the Poconos. Martin, a former district manager of Lewistown Gas Co., was sitting in his hotel room strumming a ukulele. Bill Torchia, past president of Yost Heating and Cooling Inc. of Harrisburg, walked by and invited himself in.

A few months after the convention, Martin was transferred into Torchia’s sales territory and the two started seeing each other for after hours song sessions.

Martin joined a barbershop group, picked up a tenor, base singer and then a baritone. All of them except Torchia, who lived in Hershey, were from Lewistown.

Torchia, a Nittany Lion fan, took the Troubadours on tour — to Penn State football games.

The parking lots surrounding Beaver Stadium became their stage, football revelers were their audience.

After a couple of years of singing together, the group started going to football games together. Outside Beaver Stadium, they traveled around to various tailgates to spread their Penn State pride.

They also gained notoriety on national football broadcasts. They serenaded long-time ABC college football commentator Keith Jackson. Jackson contacted the Troubadours about performing live on camera leading into a commercial.

“He’d contact Joe Martin beforehand and arrange to meet with those guys. I was in on one of them,” Bill recalled. “I think I have that footage on an 8-track from way back.”

Penn State broadcaster Fran Fisher, the “Voice of Penn State Football,” also joined them on occasion.

“Fran would come out and sing with them,” he added. “He was a very good singer.”

In the late 1980’s, when the Nittany Lions played Notre Dame, the Tailgate Troubadours sang on national television as the network

asked them to sing “The Paterno Song.”

In addition to their performances at football games, they also entertained at weddings and parties as well as for civic organizations and senior citizens.

As popular as the Troubadours became, they never charged for performances and donated any proceeds to Penn State athletics.

After his dad passed, Bill was asked to follow in his father’s footsteps but he declined. Eventually, the Troubadours faded off into the clear blue and white skies.

“At the point when my father died, they asked me to fill in for him,” Bill said. “I never thought I could be that person.”

Both tenors, Bill relished the handful of times he got to sing along with his father and the rest of the group.

“I haven’t been to a

Penn State game for a while,” Bill added. “People still reach out to me and occasionally ask me about the Tailgate Troubadours. I have some very fond memories. Older people still remember them.” www.lewistownsentinel.com

Belleville native’s musical ability takes her to stage

(This article was originally published in The Sentinel on Sept. 17, 2022)

“Music is the universal language of mankind.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

LEWISTOWN — Barriers of language and culture often appear when traveling thousands of miles across oceans and continents. For Lisa Griffith, the ‘universal language of mankind’ defined by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow helped pave the way from her hometown to a European opera house and beyond.

Griffith, a Belleville native and a 1975 graduate of Kishacoquillas High School, has used the gift of song from an early age to forge an impressive career. She estimates the age of 5 when the adventure began.

“They had me do a solo in church,” Griffith

said recently. It wasn’t until a few years later that a career in music became a serious consideration.

“I started taking voice lessons at 17 and realized that is what I would like to do. My goal was to become a Broadway music singer.”

Griffith studied music at Indiana University of Pennsylvania after a brief initial detour.

“I decided I wanted to do something with music,” she said. “I actually started out in psychology, but I was drawn to the music department. So I decided to combine the two.”

She graduated from IUP in 1979 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts. From there it was on to the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Griffith earned a Master of Music degree in 1981 and an Artist’s Diploma in Opera in 1983.

There was still a big decision for Griffith before appearing on the worldwide stage.

“My voice teacher at

Indiana wanted me to sing classical music,” she said. “But there was a teacher at Cincinnati who encouraged me to go to Europe. I took her advice and got a job in Wiesbaden.”

Griffith knows she made the right choice. It sent her nearly 3,900 miles from Mifflin County to western Europe and a performance in the German Opera on the Rhine in Düsseldorf, where she has performed since 1991. Her performances as a coloratura soprano have been highly acclaimed by critics in major German opera houses. A coloratura soprano possesses a high range to the second C above middle C and higher. Griffith has also given concerts throughout the world.

But, world travel has not dimmed her view of Mifflin County.

“I live in a small village in Germany called Oestrich-Winkel, but I come to Pennsylvania about three times a year,” she said. “I bought a small

house in Lewistown. It’s my home away from home. The older I get, the more homesick I get.”

From music on the world stage to the vineyards of her adopted home of Oestrich-Winkel, Griffith has enough to keep herself busy. She still manages time for her love of animals.

“I am very interested in animals, especially cats,” she said. “When I come home to Pennsylvania, I am always taking care of stray cats. When I retire, I will probably do something to care for animals.”