God’s Country USA - A small, white, wooden church, isolated in a fog-shrouded mountain valley, with cars crowding the parking lot for the morning services--"Sunday in God's Country; an American classic." But mixed with the distant hymns is the sound of gunfire. Tomorrow is the opening of deer season and Potter County (Pa.) hunters are "sighting-in" and revving up. Here are the effects--good and bad, depending on your point of view--of the yearly explosion of hunters streaming into "the deer-hunting capital of the United States." NBC and Sports Illustrated come; the firemen's dance is a crowded success; deer are "harvested." And in a few days the valleys are peaceful again--except for a few local residents quietly hunting the snowy hillsides above ice-covered streams. Recreation as community problem, big business, and modern folklore. Festival - Haluski, pierogi, and pigs-in-blankets. Moonwalk, bingo, nickle-pitch, and Madonna. "A money-making activity and a social activity, to bring the people together." Welcome to Christ the King Church, Houtzdale, PA. Despite intermittent rain and a shortage of wieners, the 13th Labor Day Festival went off as scheduled. The four-day event, organized by Rev. L. M. Kuziora and a small army of volunteers, is representative of the harvest festivals which dot the calendar each fall in rural Pennsylvania. With dinners, dances, and games-of-chance, they are gatherings of neighbors and strangers, come together for relaxation, conversation, and sometimes a free basket of groceries. Produced by P.J. O'Connell for Penn State Television / WPSX-TV. Rural America Documentary project.*
Category: Keystone/Regional
$ 25.00