MARYSVILLE – A 19th century covered bridge will be the center of attention and activity of Union County’s Covered Bridge Bluegrass Festival, Sept. 23-25. At no other festival can you dine on a covered bridge and tap your feet to the music of several bluegrass bands performing on a covered bridge.
And all around the Pottersburg Bridge, at 17141 Inskeep-Cratty Road, North Lewisburg, festival goers, young and old, will immerse themselves in a wide range of other activities, including a 5K run and 2-mile walk, art classes, an 1860s-style baseball game, horse-drawn wagon rides, many children’s activities, bus tours to Union County’s other historic bridges, and a church service on the bridge.
The Pottersburg Bridge was built in 1868 and was moved in 2006 to its current location to become part of a bicycling and walking trail.
“The Covered Bridge Bluegrass Festival is quite a gem of an experience that you won’t find anywhere else,” said Mardy Hanlon-Stolte, chairperson of the festival, an event of the Union County Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We welcome visitors to join us for a special weekend of delicious comfort food, foot-tapping music and charming arts and crafts, all set in quaint, relaxing surroundings.”
A complete schedule of festival events can be found at CoveredBridgeFestival.com. Here’s a summary:
Dine on a covered bridge
·Friday, Sept. 23: An elegant sunset dinner, served on linen, on the Pottersburg Bridge. Cost $75, including social hour at 5:30 p.m., a four-course dinner that features local foods at 6:30 p.m., a take-home gift and music by Bill Purk and the Muleskinner Band. Also, folk artist Billy Jacobs will work on a painting and sign prints at the dinner. Jacobs, who has an art studio in Navarre, Ohio, began his career as a woodcrafter and designer in the country gift industry and today specializes in nostalgic watercolor paintings of the rural American countryside and the simple American lifestyle of days gone by. Dinner reservations required (email [email protected] or call 937-642-6279).
·Saturday, Sept. 24: Breakfast on the bridge, 9-10:30 a.m.
·Saturday, Sept. 24: Picnic on the bridge, 5:30-7 p.m. Reservations encouraged, limited seating. Music by Sugar Creek Bluegrass band.
·Sunday, Sept. 25: Coffee on the bridge at 10 a.m., preceding a 10:30 a.m. community worship service that will be offered by Riversong Worship Center of North Lewisburg
Bluegrass music on a covered bridge
Saturday, Sept. 24
·One More Time String Band, 9-10 a.m.
·Glenn Parks, banjo player, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
·Daniel Dye & the Miller Road Band, noon-1 p.m.
·Rock Island Plow Company, 1:30-2:30 p.m.
·Tyler Williams Band, 3-4 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 25
·Bill Purk & the Muleskinner Band, noon-1 p.m.
·Mad River Railroad, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Bridge tours
Bus tours of Union County’s historic bridges will depart from Pottersburg Bridge every half hour, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and 12:30 to 2 p.m. Sunday. Cost is $8 for adult; $4 for children 12 and under; $20 for family of four (two adults, two children, additional children free).
5K run and 2-mile walk
The first-ever Union County Farm Bureau FarmFit 5K run and 2-mile walk will be held at the festival Saturday, Sept. 24, at the Pottersburg Bridge. The 5K run will begin at 8:30 a.m. and the walk, 9 a.m. The online registration fee is $20, at speedysneakersracing.com, and $25 day of the event. Registration includes a voucher for festival admission and breakfast and a Dri-fit T shirt.
Additional activities
·Ohio Village Muffins Vintage Baseball Team exhibition game at noon Sunday, playing the game as it was played in the 1860s
·Demonstration Tent – featuring presentations Saturday and Sunday on gardening, crafts, cooking and history, including Union County Commissioner Steve Stolte, who will portray James B. Whelpley, a Union County commissioner from 1877 to 1883. As Whelpley, Stolte will provide a history of Union County and the Union County Courthouse and pay tribute to Reuben L. Partridge, Union County bridge builder, at noon Saturday, Sept. 24.
·Coffee and Canvas art class, 10:30 a.m. Saturday and noon Sunday, offered by Marysville Art League; $15 for 11×14 canvas. Limit 15 people per session.
·Art tent, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, offering mini pumpkin painting, coloring pages and other fall crafts
·Horse-drawn wagon rides and old-fashioned kids’ games and activities, face painter, farm animals and storyteller, Saturday and Sunday
·Food vendors, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday
Marketplace vendors, offering handcrafted items, antiques, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday
Corporate sponsor of the Covered Bridge Bluegrass Festival is Honda. Partner sponsors of the festival are Honda Marysville, Honda Marysville Motorsports, North Central Ohio Solid Waste District and the Union County Foundation.
Festival admission is $5, and free for children 12 and under.
For more information on the Covered Bridge Bluegrass Festival, including a complete schedule of events, and to learn more about Union County’s historic bridges, visit www.CoveredBridgeFestival.com, or call the Union County Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau, 937-642-6279.
