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KD Country: Penn's Colony Festival

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Sep 18, 2009 6:55 pm US/Eastern

KD Country: Penn's Colony Festival

Reporting
Dave Crawley
SAXONBURG (KDKA) ― The Penn's Colony Festival has ushered in the first days of autumn for a quarter of a century.

Now, the woodland south of Saxonburg is bustling once more, as performers and artisans gear up for season 26.

A "soldier" clothed in the manner of a Scottish regiment of the mid-18th century shouts the command, and a second re-enactor fires a vintage musket.

The scene dates back to the French and Indian War.

Meanwhile, a tinsmith from Harmony hammers out his latest work by hand.

Al Breitenbach says it's a far cry from his former career in sheet metal.

"Everything you do you do by hand. No machinery," he says. "I try to do everything like they did in the 18th and 19th century."

A woman in colonial garb spins yarn at a spinning wheel of that era. And we learn that much of the spinning was done by unmarried women.

"That was the one they called the 'spinster' because she did the spinning for the family," he said.

Festival organizer Beth Rush says visitors often take home something personal.

"They discover why they have traditions in their families. And it's also about a time when we all did things together," she said.

At Penn's Colony, they still do.

The festival takes place the weekends of September 19-20 and 26-27.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.