Fiddlers on the green

BETHANY, PA — This year’s Music Mix on the Green, held on August 17 and attended by over 100 people, provided the audience with an opportunity to enjoy one of this summer’s rare intervals of perfect weather while listening to bluegrass and classical music performed in the band shell on the town square.

Johnny Beers and Friends gave a dynamic start to the show with energetic fiddling and comedy numbers, including the ever popular “I Just Don’t Look Good Naked Anymore.” The Bethany Chamber Ensemble followed with an eclectic selection of music including several classical pieces in which sounds of flute and violin were interwoven. One of their pieces, “Brian Boru’s March,” was a haunting Celtic melody of ancient and unknown origin.

The Uphill String Band closed out the evening, combining the sounds of bluegrass instruments, mandolo, banjo, guitar and bass.

Some members of the audience were locals who remembered Johnny Beers entertaining groups in the Forties and Fifties along with his father and brother. Others were travelers from elsewhere in the country. A camping couple from Florida remarked that the Music Mix was an unexpected highlight on their visit to Pennsylvania .

The Annual Music Mix on the Green is a fund raiser for the Bethany Historical Society, whose mission is to sustain, maintain, renew and preserve the history of Bethany Borough.