Human Interest

Sausage sandwiches, elephant ears, apple dumplings, lamb dinners, pepperoni puffs, meatball sandwiches … hungry yet? For some Festival goers, the best part of the event is the food. “Some people just go to the Festival for the food,” said Raylene Boots, Festival Chairwoman. “Everyone has a favorite.” There are some “booths” that are well known … maybe even famous around Ellwood City’s Festival. Festival Hall of Fame Inductees Wolves, Rotary, and First United Methodist are truly among those daydream-worthy booths that push the salivary glands into overdrive. But more than just mouthwatering foods, these booths have a mission to give…

That unmistakable sound of the hammer hitting the anvil is a sound that will resonate forever in the hearts of the family, friends, and Festival-goers who were lucky enough to know Larry “Hoss” Crable. “You could hear it the entire way across the park,” said Crable’s daughter Laura Goehring. “I remember when I was little walking to the grounds and knowing the greatest weekend of the year has started when I heard the distinct hammer sound,” Niece Jillian Court recalls. “I knew that I’d find him, my aunt and cousins if I followed the sound.” That sound is one that…

Bittersweet. It’s a feeling that Lee Marinaccio knows all too well. Lee lost his father, Pat, mid January shortly before his dad would have celebrated his 93rd birthday. That’s the bitter part that Lee lives with. Losing a parent is a tragedy that stares into the face of thousands on a daily basis, but for each person that loss is something personal, something that no one else can possibly understand. Then, a sweet surprise came in the form of a Festival Hall of Fame induction that will honor Pat Marinaccio’s Festival legacy forever. You see, Marinaccio was a part of…

He will forever be known as the man on a mission to save the Festival fireworks. Eric Rayner, 26, of Ellport wasn’t going to let the 2019 Festival go on without the beloved fireworks. He refused to settle for it. So Rayner rallied the community with a goal of raising $5,000 to save the display. Not only did he meet the goal … he more than doubled it, raising $11,230. His charismatic approach to inspiring others was not lost in the dollars and cents and money matters of the fundraiser. His step-up-and-do-something attitude earned Rayner an induction into the Ellwood…

Joe Ferrara is no stranger to the stage, and that charisma and charm is what made him the perfect person to lead and organize the entertainment at the Festival. Ferrara one of the Festival’s founders was there from day one and even before that. Festival Chairwoman Raylene Boots revealed a little history and told a story of a pre-Festival entertainment event that Ferrara helped to organize. It was a musical revue thought up by 2018 Hall of Fame Inductee Mary Wiley. She presented the idea to Denny Schill and Ferrara, who gave a thumbs up. She suggested that the revue…