VAN WAGNER ALSO SAYS -
This year’s Danville Heritage
Festival is not meant to take the place of Danville’s longtime and very popular
Iron Heritage Festival. Rather, I’m organizing volunteers, hoping to
preserve a desire for celebration that has become a July tradition in our
town. It’s my hope that the festival will serve as a focal point of other
community celebrations, open houses, class reunions, block parties this week, July 20,
21, and 22.
It’s a grassroots effort, and I
welcome your participation. If you'd like to offer musical, historical,
or other presentations, please reach out to me at vanwags@yahoo.com and
explore the schedule pages above.
The initial focus will be in the Hess Field
recreation venues along Route 54 in Danville, but if we reach a point where the
Hess Field schedules become filled to capacity, please consider exploring other
local venues. Churches and social organizations that have the facilities
may well consider opening their doors to help host heritage activities over the
July 20-22 weekend. In addition to the events taking place at Hess Field, the Thomas
Beaver Free Library and other locations will have excellent speakers as well.
If you do plan an event and would like it added to the listings above
and on our website, I invite you to send the event’s details to me via the
contact information on our website at http://www.vanwagnermusic.com/danvilleheritage.html.
Danville and its surrounding area
truly enjoy an amazing history. The knowledge and talent of local historians,
musicians, and other performers is unparalleled. The community has shown
that we want to celebrate this heritage. So I encourage you to
please mark your calendar and be a part of this exciting new chapter as we all
celebrate the Danville area’s amazing story. This weekend,
Danville is where you belong!
After speaking with local historian Sis Hause, I want to embrace
health and wellness as much as possible, along with our heritage
celebration. With the Geisinger Health System one of our community’s most
important institutions, I can’t imagine a more fitting theme. The bicycle
path around Hess Field is the oldest rail-trail in the United States. I
encourage people to consider walking or biking to Hess Field for the
festival. We want to organize health and fitness events. There are plans
to organize a skateboarding and scootering event, a 5K run and walking event,
tennis and quoits tournaments – and MORE!
– as part of the festival. Embrace this chance to promote health and
wellness while celebrating our heritage.