Editor's pick: In praise of wood

Festival takes another look at something we take for granted

WHEN: Saturday, August 11, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday, August 12, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

WHERE: Grey Towers National Historic Site, Milford, PA.

COST: General admission and most activities free.

CONTACT: greytowers@fs.fed.us, fs.fed.us/gt or 570/296-9630.

MILFORD, PA — It’s all around us—by the roadsides, framing our houses, propping up the TVs we watch and producing the oxygen we breathe—but while we employ its services constantly, we seldom stop to appreciate it. The annual Festival of Wood, which will return to Grey Towers National Historic Site for the third time this weekend, is a chance to stop and honor a material that has supported civilization from the dawn of time: wood.

There are crafts made from wood, children’s activities with wood, films about wood and music created with wood. Craftsmen and artists from throughout the region will exhibit, sell and demonstrate their crafts, including wood furniture, pipe boxes, Shaker boxes, sawdust folk art, wooden snowflakes, wooden bowls, wood turning, fretwork and hand-carved sculpture.

There will also be activities, with bluebird-box building sponsored by the Gifford Pinchot Audubon Society, a children’s sing-along and puppet program, a forestry trail hike and a visit from Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl. Films about wood and forestry, educational exhibits and informational handouts will be ongoing throughout the event, which is co-sponsored by the Pocono Arts Council. All three floors of the historic Pinchot mansion will be open for visitors both days, for a $3 fee. The Pike County Office of Aging, the Milford Dairy Bar and Muggs Hotdogs will provide refreshments.

Free music with wood instruments will be provided each day. The headline event will be held on Saturday at 4:30 p.m., with a concert by Alex Battles’ Whisky Rebellion. Battles grew up on a tree farm in Chesterland, OH, and writes country songs, both funny and bittersweet, on his grandfather’s tenor banjo, which he rescued from his cellar. His major songwriting influences are Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, John Prine, Tom Lehrer, Tom Waits and Tom T. Hall. Battles is also the founder and host of such events as the Brooklyn Country Music Festival, The CasHank Hootenanny Jamboree, Johnny Cash Birthday Bash, JugFest, and the The Brooklyn Winter Hoedown.

Other free musical performances throughout the Festival of Wood weekend will include the River Gap Recorders Consort, on Saturday from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m., playing the only instrument that is completely made out of wood; strolling guitar player Bill Frye, on Saturday from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.; and Native American flutist Little Bear on Sunday from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., among others.