Published: August 22, 2008 12:23 pm            

Only scrip accepted for food; help sought for cleanup

BY RUTH RICE

RRICE@TRIBDEM.COM

While Johnstown FolkFest is all about music, the accompanying food can hit the right note.

Shelley Johansson, marketing director of Johnstown Area Heritage Association, which sponsors FolkFest, said her personal favorite is South Carolina Barbecue, which offers ribs, smoked turkey, barbecue sandwiches, yams and collard greens.

“There will be plenty of festival foods, so you can eat your way down the midway,” Johansson said.

From the sweetness of funnel cakes, roasted almonds, kettle corn and chocolate-covered strawberries to the spice of Asian food, crabcakes, gyros, pierogi, pagach and haluski, the food lineup for FolkFest has it all.

In addition to outside vendors, the Community Kitchen will open its doors, offering homegrown fare.

For the past three years, free booth space has been offered to any area church or nonprofit to sell food and beverages during FolkFest.

This year’s locals are Beulah United Methodist Church with pigs in the blanket, haluski and pierogi; Ferndale Hockey Club, hot dogs, hamburgers, stromboli and nachos and cheese; Memorial Baptist Church, gob cake; and St. John Gualbert Cathedral, pulled pork sandwiches.

A new entry in the kitchen is Fountain of Life Fellowship, which will offer 22 flavors of fudge.

Another new entry is St. John’s Orthodox Church and St. Sophia’s Orthodox School, which will share a booth for their offering of pagach, or Ukrainian potato bread.

Those who wish to purchase any of the delectable treats will trade in their dollars for scrip, the official FolkFest currency.

Booths throughout Festival Park will allow visitors to make the exchange.

Scrip is used because it allows JAHA to take a commission from the proceeds, which helps to pay for the free, three-day music festival.

“Costs associated with FolkFest total about $300,000,” Johansson said.

Spic and span

Cleaning up after FolkFest is a massive undertaking that requires plenty of help.

Volunteers for cleanup and other positions come from the corporate sponsors of FolkFest, community groups, JAHA members and individuals.

“They come back year after year, and they’re excited to be there,” Johansson said. “Some take one shift, and some come all weekend. You don’t have to sign up in advance, just show up at the command center.”

Not all cleanups wait until the Monday morning following FolkFest.

Johansson said the toughest time to get volunteers is Sunday morning when there is a need to clean up the remnants of a fun-filled Saturday.

“The festival ends late Saturday, and we need volunteers to reset everything for the next day,” Johannson said.

By 2 p.m. on Labor Day, all traces of FolkFest are removed for another year.

“We need to restore the areas that are public property so they’re ready for business,” Johannson said.

The mountain of trash will be hauled away by Waste Management, one of FolkFest’s corporate sponsors.

        

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