Yeany and associates will also be giving various candy, cream and sugar making demonstrations throughout the day. See how maple sugar is made at the Allegheny Grille; watch them make maple cream at Divani Chocolate. Cool down with the ARCA members and watch how maple creamys are made, you will not be able to resist this frosty treat.

Foxburg Winterfest

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow, is the chant one hears as Foxburg prepares to host its first WinterFest, Saturday February 4th. A big event of the day will be the Sled Dog Fun Race at RiverStone Farm. The race will begin the day’s activities, with the gates at RiverStone opening at 9:30 AM.

Race events will begin at 10:30 AM with the presentation of various dog breeds, types of sleds, and explanation of the race, showing the race course layout and the rules. Demonstrations of the “mushing” equipment, dog team protocol, and mush commands will be included. Introduction of the Mushers will round out pre race activities.

At 11:00 AM the race kicks off with a solo Skijorning exhibition and proceeds the first teams push off for the main event, The Dog Sled Relay Race. The relay race is a new, one of a kind event in the tri-state area. At least eight teams will be divided into two relay teams. The Red and Blue teams will each send off one team at a time to race the two mile course. The teams will be competing in the hook up area as well as on the racecourse to place first after the four heats. Spectators are urged to cheer on the teams. Following the end of the race, medals will be presented to the mushers.

A sled dog weight pulling demonstration will follow the relay race and end the day’s dog activities. If snow conditions permit horse drawn sleigh and bobsled rides will be available for a charge during the afternoon. Coffee, tea and hot chocolate with pastries will be sold to warm the mush watchers. At the end of race activities spectators will be invited to head downtown for lunch and other Winterfest activities including meet the mushers at the Allegheny Grille and Foxburg Pizza. Foxburg Wine Cellars will be holding a special you can take advantage of by downloading and printing this coupon!

It is important to remember there must be snow (2″ to 3″ on the ground) or conditions suitable for packed snow on the course. Bare brown ground means no mush and there is no snow date to reschedule.

Sled Dog Race

There is NO gate admission charge, and there is plenty of free parking. Again gates open at 9:30 AM. For more details, call 412-867-1816.

To do full justice to this story, let’s step back to the evening before the festival, when the celebrations actually began. Friday night, the festival commenced with ‘Ceilidh’, a Gaelic term meaning “a social gathering with traditional music, dancing, and storytelling” at 7pm. Johnathan Shegog played the bagpipes to welcome visitors to downtown Foxburg for the event held in the grassy nook between Foxburg Free Library and Foxburg Wine Cellars. Throughout Ceilidh, Carl Peterson and Robert Murdoch sang folk songs joined by Melinda Crawford on the fiddle and her husband Dan Crawford accompanying on piano. It was a joyous open air concert interlaced with the sounds of the bagpipes up and down the valley.

Saturday’s events started with the opening ceremony by MacDonald Pipe Band from Pittsburgh and was followed by various events including athletic performances wherein athletes displayed their strength and skills with the Caber Toss and Stone Put, sheepdog herding demonstrations by Tom Conn & Pam Gardner, and a variety of live music by the MacDonald Pipe Band and other performers. There were many craft vendors selling their wares ranging from pottery to kilts to hand pulled wool. Foods of the Highland included traditional Scottish delights such as meat pies, sausages, homemade cookies or folks could even have a slice of pizza by Foxburg Pizza. Other businesses in Foxburg also joined in the festivities with wine from Foxburg Wine Cellars, and Chocolates by Divani Chocolate Boutique to give the visitors a taste of the town. Inside the Events Center, kids enjoyed stories and songs by John Mickle and also had an opportunity to learn some Gaelic from Harry Webb. Popcorn, chocolate and ice cream were some of the tasty treats readily available for snacking… a kid’s dream come true! Visitors awaited horse carriage rides given by the Hovis family of Emlenton and Segway Tours promoted a new kind of “leisure sport” with a team of Segways, giving demonstrations and trials. Other attractions included various Scottish clan organizations who lined their tent along the roadway near the Galloway and Highland cattle. There, they shared their history and offered genealogy study and memberships.
The festival was interluded with announcements from the management, one of which was for the band to play the surprise ‘Happy Birthday’ tune for Dr Arthur Steffee, the owner of Riverstone Farm, who hosted the festival on his premises. Incidentally, during the closing ceremony, Dr. Steffee announced that he discovered at the festival that he is about a quarter Scottish.

A special “Moran taing!” goes out to all of the volunteers for ARCA in making this wonderful event such a success, after all it was a great day for Scotland and Foxburg!

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Participants from Armstrong, Butler, Clarion, and Venango counties enjoyed all the sights, sounds, and flavors of our river valley town whilst meeting one another for a chance to exchange ideas and swap business cards.

The wonderful variety of eatables consisted of a salad bar of fresh fruits, vegetables, and cheeses provided by The Allegheny Grille and pizza pies of all kinds by Foxburg Pizza, as well as a tantalizing selection of  fruity and dessert wine samples by Foxburg Wine Cellars and decadent Belgian chocolate by Divani Chocolate Boutique. Also featured was Segway demonstrations in which people got to try out the segway motorized vehicle.

The event was organized and hosted by The Foxburg Inn, who featured prize giveaways from the area’s businesses toward the close of the event. Prizes included a Girlfriends Getaway package from The Foxburg Inn, a canoe trip from Parker’s Landing, gift cards from the Allegheny Grille, gift baskets from Divani Chocolate Boutique, Foxburg Wine Cellars, Foxburg Pizza & Country Store and the newly opened Paul & Sally McKissick Bank building, and many other terrific prizes.

What a splendid evening overall! Congratulations Foxburg on a sucessful event!
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For more information, call Scottish Festival Hotline 412-894-8749 or go to ARCA’s website.

Arrive at the event with your ears and eyes open, binoculars, and guide books in hand. A hat, comfortable walking shoes and a water bottle are also recommended. Cameras are optional.

The number of reservations are limited and pre-registration is required. The fee is $15 per person and the check must be mailed to ARCA by May 9th. Please contact Sue Peairs at 724-659-7546 for additional information.