West Virginia’s champion old-time fiddle, bluegrass banjo, mandolin players competed for top honors on Saturday, May 27, during the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History’s 46th annual Vandalia Gathering. On Sunday, May 28, old-time banjo, lap dulcimer, flatpick guitar musicians and liars vied for awards.
Categories with area winners include:
Senior Old-Time Banjo (age 60 and over)
1st place – Jim Mullins, St. Albans
2nd place – Gerry Milnes, Elkins
3rd place – Paul Gartner, Yawkey
4th place – Kim Johnson, Dunbar
5th place – John Morris, Ivydale
Flatpick Guitar (all ages)
1st place – Jake Eddy, Parkersburg
2nd place – Jakob Thomas, Clendenin
3rd place – Robin Kessinger, St. Albans
4th place – Dan Kessinger, St. Marys
5th place – Isaac Butcher, Ripley
Liars (all ages)
Biggest Liar (1st place and Goldenseal magazine’s Golden Shovel award) – James Froemel, Maidsville
Bigger Liar (2nd place) – David Long, Keyser
Big Liar (3rd place) – Peyton Levi, Barboursville
Youth (age 15 and under, and Goldenseal magazine’s Golden Shovel award) – Zane Wilkinson, Ovapa
Other competition categories were Youth Old-Time Fiddle (age 15 and under), Old-Time Fiddle (age 59 and under), Senior Old-Time Fiddle (age 60 and over), Mandolin (all ages), Bluegrass Banjo (all ages), Lap Dulcimer (all ages), Old-Time Banjo (59 and under), and Youth Flatpick Guitar (age 15 and under).
The annual Vandalia Gathering is a free celebration of the traditional arts, music, dance, stories, crafts and foods of West Virginia. The Culture Center and State Capitol Complex grounds host this expanding family-style gathering each year on Memorial Day weekend. The unique blending of ethnic and cultural heritage combines an atmosphere as comfortable as a family reunion with the excitement of a state fair. The statewide folk festival, named for the proposed 14th colony, pays tribute to the state’s ethnic heritage through a variety of exhibitions and programs.
Vandalia Gathering is a program of the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History. For more information, contact Andrea Nelson, public information specialist for the department, at (304) 558-0220 or Andrea.E.Nelson@wv.gov.
