Homegrown Happy Valley

Check out our Flickr slide show of the Central PA Festival of the Arts and People’s Choice Festival for 2009. If you have more photos of either festival (especially the musicians), upload them to our Flickr group.

WREATHS AND FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS

What do you get when a keen interest in gardening and flowers goes wild? Greensleeves Dried Flowers.

Mary Stanley, owner of Greensleeves, a small, family-run operation located just outside of Bloomsburg, Pa.,  always romanticized the work of florists. “All those flowers!” she says, “And the fragrance, so delightful.” But Stanley managed to top her dream of working in a flower shop by owning it, too.

Stanley, who is at the People’s Choice Festival this weekend, starts her wreaths and flower arrangements with seedlings in her greenhouse, which she then transplants into her gardens. The flowers are harvested when they reach the right stage of development and then hung to dry in her 150-year old barn. The flowers dry quickly in the heat and dark, thereby retaining their color and form.

Pipes–The Nittany Highland Pipe Band

One of the only pipe and drum bands in Central Pennsylvania hits the stage on Old Main Lawn today (Thursday) at 4:30. The Nittany Highland Pipe Band, which has been an area fixture since the 70s, draws a lot of its players from Centre County. If you can’t make it, check out the band’s weekly practice Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to noon at the United Methodist Church in Pleasant Gap. And if you always wondered how you’d look in a kilt, the band is actually recruiting (no prior musical experience is needed–the band will teach you for free!)

Throughout the week, Homegrown Happy Valley will be profiling some of the local artists from the festivals. The artists below can be seen at The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts in downtown State College.  We’ll be including artists from the People’s Choice Festival of Pennsylvania Arts and Crafts later in the week.

Painting

It’s that time of year again in Central Pennsylvania for reuniting with family and friends, hiding from the stifling heat, and renewing our love and commitment to art and the people who produce it.

This year 45 locals will display their creations at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.  And that doesn’t include the musical and theatrical performances by Happy Valley denizens. Meanwhile, in Boalsburg, The People’s Choice Festival will celebrate its 17th year showcasing arts and crafts from artisans around Pennsylvania, including more than a dozen local artists in our own backyards.