“It’s going to be different this year,” said Fort Roberdeau executive director Peggy Goodman.
What she is referring to is this year’s Fourth of July Celebration at the Fort.
Goodman talked of a “one-time opportunity” that day for folks in the area to see a revival of The Wagon Train Show of the Bicentennial Pilgrimage to Pennsylvania. The Wagon Train Show will be presented at the Fort on July 4.
This year marks 30 years since a nationwide trek wound up at Valley Forge as part of the country’s 200th birthday celebration in 1976. Members of Penn State’s music and theatre departments put together the show. The music is by Bruce Trinkley with lyrics by Roger Cornish and Don Tucker.
Trinkley called the show, “a piece of Americana.” He said, “As I revisited the music, been with the cast and talked to people who saw the show, I (feel) it is still relevant today.”
He said the show was written and cast in less than a month. Trinkley explained the show traveled from west to east in 1975 to 1976 with five wagon trains traveling about 20 miles a day and then performing in the towns they stopped in. Along the way a wagon train was added from each state along with hundreds of people who wanted to make the trek eastward.
Local talent performed during encampments along with dinner that might consist of a fish fry or barbecue. The performances would conclude with The Wagon Train Show. The show played more than 2,000 performances throughout the United States in 1975 and 1976.
According to a press release from The Wagon Show web site (www.music.psu.edu/wagontrainshow) Trinkley is planning the reunion with Manuel Duque, professor emeritus of theatre, who directed the show; Douglas Cook, former head of the Penn State theatre department, who produced the show; Montez King, retired faculty member in the School of Theatre, who designed the costumes; Del Boarts, retired staff member in the School of Theatre, who was responsible for the technical operations of the show; and Jerry James, alumnus of the School of Theatre and one of the stage managers of the production.
Trinkley said there would be three performances of the show at the Fort on the Fourth of July. The show will also be performed July 3 at 6 p.m. at Esber Recital Hall at Penn State. The performance is free of charge.
Regarding other Fourth of July activities at the Fort, Goodman said there would also be local groups performing and a proclamation from Blair County Commissioners designating the Fort’s celebration as the County’s official Independence Day celebration. The Fort will also have “costumed interpreters” to inform visitors of the history and background of the Fort.
Goodman urged people in the area to “come spend all day or a little time here.”
She said, “It’s the perfect place to celebrate because this is our link to the American Revolution. It is the only reconstructive military-bastioned fort that’s been rebuilt in Pennsylvania. It is quite an honor we have this close by.”
Goodman said the Fourth of July celebration at the Fort is a ‘donation day.” Goodman pointed out the Fort had recently added 180 acres and still had obligations to meet regarding a mortgage and other expenses.
“Any donations people can give that day would go toward making those payments and toward protecting a really significant resource,” said Goodman.
Activities are scheduled to start at 11 a.m. at the Fort, which is located in Sinking Valley, eight miles northeast of Altoona. For more information, contact Fort Roberdeau at 946-0048.
