By Tabitha Johnston, The Journal
SHEPHERDSTOWN — Vandalia Award winner Bil Lepp reminisced about his own Appalachian heritage, as he took to the stage of Reynolds Hall on Saturday afternoon.
Lepp was the featured storyteller at the 29th annual Appalachian Heritage Festival, which was held in Shepherdstown over the weekend. His storytelling event, “Jack, Liars and Tale Tales: The Origins of a Storyteller,” was the next-to-last event held that day, following a Gospel Brunch at Alma Bea restaurant, which featured Appalachian food and Gospel music; a “Flatfooting and Appalachian Percussive Dance with Soles in Motion” workshop taught by dance instructors Jan Scopel and Emily Crews in the War Memorial Building; and a lecture and demonstration on “The Roots of the Banjo” by professional banjoists and Shepherd University alumni Ben Townsend and Joshua Jimmerson in Reynolds Hall. The artists featured at these events were then showcased one final time on Saturday evening, with a concert on the festival stage by Shepherdstown’s Town Hall.
For some attendees, the topic of Appalachian heritage was deeply familiar to them, as they are descendants of settlers who moved to the region hundreds of years ago.
