HACC Lebanon Campus to host free annual PA German Heritage Fest
Feb. 20, 2009
LEBANON, PA – It isn’t every day that you get to find out what schnitz un gnepp* is or learn why Pennsylvania Germans are different from German Americans.
You’ll discover the answers to both – and more – at the 14th annual Pennsylvania German Heritage Festival 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, March 21, at the Lebanon Campus of HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College.
The free public celebration features food, art, crafts, music and history at the campus downtown at 735 Cumberland St. It attracts about 1,000 visitors annually from Central Pennsylvania, and as far away as Maryland, Virginia and even Germany.
Did you know that the Pennsylvania Germans arrived in the U.S. in the 18th century, while the German Americans came to our shores during the 19th century? And, according to Jim Dibert, director of the Pennsylvania German Studies Program at the Lebanon Campus, the two groups are distinctively different.
The Pennsyvlania Germans, he explains, were driven here by need due to many insufferable circumstances such as war, famine and economics. Certainly later, he added, it was the scarcity of land that made coming to America attractive. This is one reason there is a strong population in Pennsylvania, which at the time of their arrival was not heavily populated and afforded a way to preserve their heritage, dialect and customs.
“For those who are Pennsylvania German, they come (to the festival) to celebrate their heritage and to gain a deeper understanding of how they and their ancestors have made contributions to society,” Dibert says. “For those who are not of that group, they come to find out who they are and get a more authentic understanding of Pennsylvania German history and culture.”
Among the festivities:
9:30 a.m. – Director Francis Kline conducts the performance by the Der Nei Dolpehock Sanger Chor. The group perpetuates the traditions of the area’s early Pennsylvania Germans (also known as the Pennsylvania Dutch) and sing in the Pennsylvania German dialect. This group of older adults has performed each year since the festival’s inception.
10:15 a.m. – Patrick Donmoyer, a native of Lebanon, will present “Pennsylvania German Barn Stars: A Photographic Survey and Analysis.” You may not know that the German barn signs are not authentically called “hex signs.” Donmoyer minored in Pennsylvania German dialect and culture at Kutztown University.
11:00 a.m. – Keith Brintzenhoff will entertain and educate in “The Music, Dance and Instruments of the Pennsylvania Germans.” Brintzenhoff focuses on instruments generally thought to be associated with other groups. For example, the dulcimer actually is a Pennsylvania German creation. Great music, history and demonstrations are sure to please the crowd complete with audience participation.
Noon – A rare performance from the Brethren Heritage Singers, directed by Doris Faus. Harmonious singing in the traditional style of the Church of the Brethren, as well as pieces performed in English.
1 p.m. – Presentation: “Pennsylvania Germans in the French and Indian War.”
2 p.m. – Auction to benefit the festival conducted by auctioneer Luke Habecker. Attendees can bid on a wide variety of antique and newer items from fraktur to red clay pottery to books and more, thanks to donations from participating craftspeople.
3 p.m. – Die Schwadore Schalle (The Swatara Sounds) featuring boys and girls in costume performing traditional music and songs.
Food for sale is provided by Hitz’s Farm Market, Manheim, who has served the event since the festival inception. Offerings will include traditional German specialties, such as chicken pot pie, schnitz un gnepp* (apples and buttons, which is an entree of ham, raised dumplings and stewed apples) and shoofly pie. Crafts by artisans will include fraktur, scherenschnitte and Moravian stars. History, genealogy, language and literature resources will be available and several booths will be filled from area non-profit organizations that promote culture and history of the area.
This is a project of the Pennsylvania German Studies Program and supported by HACC, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Pennsylvania Humanities Council and the Community of Lebanon Association.
For more information, call or leave a message for Jim Dibert at 274-2297.
