Folk Arts Week at Augusta is for everyone from youngsters to grandparents and is open to individuals or family groups. Folk Arts Week introduces music, singing, dancing, and a wide variety of crafts to all participants. Coordinator Betty Druckenmiller has put together a talented staff to give students hands-on instruction in the many different traditional art forms offered. All ages will enjoy a unique learning experience and go home having made new friends, acquired new skills and made lasting memories.

The schedule gives choices for each age group. Some activities are open to all ages. Participants may work in numerous traditional craft disciplines. There will be traditional dance instruction. A varied selection of traditional folk instruments, with willing instructors in waiting, will be on hand for those interested in Finding Your Instrument. Fascinating methods of collecting family stories will make for fun group sessions. Tom Druckenmiller will be coordinating our Elderhostel activities during the week. R. P. Hale, Susie Raling, and Lynn and Amy Yurkiewicz will provide all kinds of traditional craft instruction for all ages. Joe Newberry, Bill Wellington, and Bruce Young will provide music instruction and dance music, while Bill, a dance caller, guides folks through traditional dances. Charles Kiernan will delight all with his colorful family-styled stories.

During Folk Arts Week, everyone comes together for evening activities. The Week runs concurrently with Bluegrass Week, so participants will have opportunities to experience some of the finest bluegrass music ever to be heard in concert, and participate in evening dances and many other Augusta events.  

To register, specify “Folk Arts Week”; you need not list a class preference.

Tom Druckenmiller (Elderhostel coordinator), a fine musician, has worked with Augusta since the mid-1980s.  He hosts two weekly radio programs featuring American roots music that air on NPR, in eastern Pennsylvania. Tom’s a full-time musician, teacher and writer. Tom and Betty, are proud to have raised their son, Nathan, to be a traditional musician. They frequently perform together as a family band.   

R.P. Hale (Crafts) is a master calligrapher and illustrator, pen-and-ink artist, wood-engraver, letterpress printer, wood carver, a marbleized paper and fabrics maker, linguist, archaeo-astronomer and historian. Such endeavors have been handed down in his family for generations. He’s been part of the Augusta family for well over twenty years. R.P. performs on dulcimer and harpsichord as a solo musician and with two ensembles, The King's Shilling and the period instrumental group, Augusta Consort.  

Charles Kiernan (Storytelling) is the coordinator of the Lehigh Valley Storytelling Guild and coordinator of their Storytelling Festival. He is the Pennsylvania representative for the National Youth Storytelling Showcase, hosts a monthly Storytelling Swap, and helps to produce a quarterly radio show called Stories in the Valley that airs on NPR. Charles is a Mark Twain impersonator and also performs a set of Americana tales, known as the Lost Dollar stories.

Joe Newberry (Music) is a Missouri native and North Carolina transplant who has made music most of his life.  His grandfather was friends with the great folk song collector, Vance Randolph, and Joe grew up singing the old songs he learned from his family in the Ozarks. Joe is also a banjo champion, having won first-place at the Appalachian String Band Music Festival.  He plays with Jim Watson, Mike Craver, and Bill Hicks-the original Red Clay Ramblers, and with Big Medicine.

Susie Raling (Crafts) has been working with preschool children in the central Pennsylvania area since 1973, and owns Childspace, a learning center for music and art.  She has been fascinated by folk arts and crafts since she learned how to crochet from her grandmother. Susie does macramé and quilting.  She decorates eggs in the pysanky tradition and incorporates quilt patterns into her designs.

Bill Wellington (Music, Dance, Stories) is a storyteller, folk musician, songwriter, and dance caller who has entertained audiences throughout America for over twenty five years. He has worked with children through countless school programs and has released several popular children’s recordings. Bill shares the joys of old time square dancing and fiddling his elders have handed down for generations.

Bruce Young (Music) has become a Central Pennsylvania folk institution, fiddling for contra and English country dances for hundreds of school students in Artists in Education programs for the Pennsylvania Council For The Arts. An experienced dance caller and teacher, Bruce also plays with Fiddle Fantastic, a company of fiddle students performing Anglo and Irish-American fiddle tunes.

Lynn & Amy Yurkiewicz (Crafts) have been a heritage craft enthusiasts for over thirty years. Lynn first learned the region’s traditional weaving techniques as an Augusta student.  After she and her daughter, Amy, took an Augusta felting class, they soon became proficient in the form. Lynn has shared her love of heritage crafts and fiber arts with adults and children from elementary school through college. Amy Yurkiewicz started making reed baskets at age eleven. She now specializes in white oak basketry and also uses other natural materials. Amy & Lynn have been teaching at Augusta for six years.