Joni Hoffman of Duck, Braxton County, received the 2016 Vandalia Award on May 27 at the annual Vandalia Gathering at the state Capitol. The Vandalia Award is the highest folk life award that is presented by the state of West Virginia. It celebrates the heritage, spirit and wonder of West Virginians who are dedicated to the preservation, promotion and presentation of folk life traditions.
Hoffman has won prizes for her own quilts and for quilting she has done for others, including awards at the Mountain State Art and Craft Fair at Cedar Lakes, Three Rivers Quilt Show in Pittsburgh and shows in Virginia. She has won the Best Hand Quilting Award twice at the West Virginia Quilt Festival. She quilted the Sesquicentennial Quilt that features quilt pieces made by men, women and children from around the state.
Hoffman teaches a basics-of-hand-quilting class for West Virginia quilt guilds and has taught elementary school children to make a Log Cabin quilt block.
West Virginia's champion old-time fiddle, bluegrass banjo and mandolin players, and pound cake and favorite family cookie bakers competed for top honors on May 28. On May 29, old-time banjo, lap dulcimer and flatpick guitar musicians, and liars vied for awards.
The winners were:
Youth Old-Time Fiddle (age 15 and under): First place, Ben Davis, Marlinton; second, Hannah Snuffer, Beckley; third, Liam Farley, Chapmanville.
Old-Time Fiddle (age 59 and under): First place, Dan Kessinger, St. Marys; second, Jesse Pearson, Huntington, third, Bob Smakula, Elkins; fourth, Jenny Allinder, St. Albans; fifth, Cody Jordan, Point Pleasant.
Senior Old-Time Fiddle (age 60 and over): First place, Greg Bentle, Huntington; second, Gerry Milnes, Elkins; third, John Morris, Ivydale; fourth, Terry Vaughan, Cross Lanes; fifth, Jim Mullins, St. Albans.
Mandolin (all ages): First place, Karl Smakula, Elkins; second, Joshua Brown, Summersville; third, Jake Eddy, Parkersburg; fourth, Dan Kessinger, St. Marys; fifth, Silas Powell, Salem.
Bluegrass Banjo (all ages): First place, Andrew Kidd, Morgantown; second, Jake Eddy, Parkersburg; third, Josh Lanham, Buckhannon; fourth, Levi Sanders, Fairview; fifth, Karl Smakula, Elkins.
Lap Dulcimer (all ages): First place, Hunter Walker, Beckley; second, Jesse Pearson, Huntington; third, Patricia Westman, Beckley; fourth, David O'Dell, Glenville; fifth, Ezra Drumheller, Prosperity.
Old-Time Banjo (59 and under): First place, David O'Dell, Glenville; second, Hunter Walker, Beckley; third, Nick Freeman, St. Albans; fourth, Ben Townsend, Romney; and fifth, Cody Jordan, Point Pleasant.
Senior Old-Time Banjo (age 60 and over): First place, Jim Mullins, St. Albans; second, Paul Gartner, Yawkey; third, John Morris, Ivydale; and fourth, Warren Owings, Hamlin.
Youth Flatpick Guitar (age 15 and under): First place, Silas Powell, Salem.
Flatpick Guitar (all ages): First place, David Watson, Huntington; second, Bryant Underwood, Charleston; third, Matt Lindsey, Culloden; fourth, Joshua Brown, Summersville; fifth, Rick Hall, Princeton.
Liars (all ages):
Biggest Liar (First place and Goldenseal magazine's Golden Shovel award): Jacob Hall, Charleston.
Bigger Liar (second place): Ian Nolte, Huntington.
Big Liar (third place): Pete Kosky, Charleston.
Youth (age 15 and under, and Goldenseal magazine's Golden Shovel award): Claire Kosky, Charleston.
Favorite Family Cookies (all ages): First place, Ella Hoffman, South Charleston; second, Jennifer Foreman, Red House; third, Toni McCullough, Bridgeport.
Youth (age 15 and under): Victoria Scarberry, Charleston.
Pound Cake (all ages): First place, Ella Hoffman, South Charleston; second, Casey Pruitt, Charleston; third place, Bridget Pauley, Pinch.
The annual Vandalia Gathering is a free celebration of the traditional arts, music, dance, stories, crafts and foods of West Virginia. The Culture Center and Capitol Complex grounds play host to this expanding family-style gathering each year on Memorial Day weekend.
The unique blend of ethnic and cultural heritage combines an atmosphere as comfortable as a family reunion with the excitement of a state fair. The statewide folk festival, named for the proposed 14th colony, pays tribute to the state's ethnic heritage through a variety of exhibitions and programs.
Vandalia Gathering is a program of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. For more information, contact Caryn Gresham, deputy commissioner and communications director for the division, at 304-558-0220.