SHAMOKIN - A retired businessman and longtime community leader will join a well-known area entertainer in serving as grand marshals for the Anthracite Heritage Parade on Friday, May 27, that will kick off the sixth annual Anthracite Heritage Festival of the Arts.
The two-day popular festival, which has grown every year, is sponsored by the Northumberland County Council for the Arts and Humanities.
Irvin Liachowitz and Vic Boris, who have performed together as pianists at numerous musical events since the early 1980s, have been chosen as the grand marshals for the parade sponsored by First National Bank.
Liachowitz owned and operated Liachowitz Jewelers in downtown Shamokin for more than 50 years. The store was established by the Liachowitz family in 1888 and served as a landmark business before closing in 2004 when Liachowitz and his wife, Lillian, retired. Mrs. Liachowitz passed away last year.
Liachowitz served as president from 1979 to 2002 of Central Community Concerts, a Shamokin-based performing arts organization that brought the world's best music entertainment to the area through its longtime concert series.
He also has served as an organist for the Shamokin Elks and has been a longtime board member of the Shamokin-Coal Township Public Library.
The 86-year-old Shamokin native has been very active through the years with the Shamokin Area High School Alumni Association. He was a former president of the alumni association and is a member of the Educational Scholarship Committee.
Liachowitz served as secretary of the local B'Nai Brith Lodge and was a member of its congregation.
"It's quite an honor to serve as grand marshal for the parade and I am very much looking forward to it," he said. "I attend the festival every year and it's a great event for the Shamokin area."
His good friend, Boris, who is known as Shamokin's "Mr. Entertainment," has become one of the community's most beloved characters.
The talented 63-year-old musician and director, who could be working under much brighter lights, chose to stay in his hometown. He directs high school plays, works with community theater groups, teaches private lessons at his home, lectures at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove and is always performing for the area's large population of senior citizens and nursing home residents.
Boris, who has dedicated his life to music and entertainment, graduated from Shamokin Area High School in 1966, continued his studies at the Navy School of Music in Norfolk, Va., where he graduated in 1967, and then spent four years as a naval musician.
After his time in the military, he attended Susquehanna University and earned a bachelor's degree in music education in 1977. He then took a teaching job with Shamokin Area School District.
In addition to his shows, lessons and lecturing, he is choir director for Elysburg Presbyterian Church, directs theater productions for Our Lady of Lourdes Regional High School and Anthracite Citizens Theater (ACT) and does benefits for the arts and humanities council.
When contacted Sunday afternoon, Boris stated, "I am very honored to be chosen as grand marshal with Irvin. We've performed many times together over the years. Being chosen for this honor makes me realize that I've made a difference in the community over the years. It means a great deal to me. Participating in the parade also will take me back to the grand and glorious days of Shamokin when I watched many fabulous parades as a kid."
Jeanne Shaffer, executive director of the arts and humanities council, said participants can still register for the parade.
Cash prizes will be given in the following categories: most patriotic, best use of coal mining heritage theme, most entertaining and most creative. For more information or to register for the parade, contact Pam Burns at First National Bank at 648-9500.
After the parade, the Mudflaps will perform alongside Independence Fire Company. Their performance is being sponsored by Service Electric.
At approximately 8:50 p.m., the luminary service will begin. Luminaries can be purchased in memory or in honor of a loved one for $5 by calling Ann Slodysko at 648-5605. Applications are available at Beverly's Flowers on Independence Street. Lighted luminaries will be displayed with the name on the sidewalk along Lincoln Street.
A fireworks display at 10 p.m. will climax the activities Friday.
On Saturday, May 28, a 5K race will be held at 9 a.m. at Kemp Memorial Stadium. To register, contact Sandy Winhofer at 648-4675.
Free entertainment will be provided on stage at Market and Arch streets from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Performers include The Morgan Sisters, Oak Grove Gospel Group, Cloggers, Moyer's School of Dance, Motivation Station, Marla & the Juniper St. Band and Vic Boris.
A talent show sponsored by the Fun Shop is set for 12:30 p.m.
At noon, a combat field memorial tribute to fallen service members will be held at the Hiker Monument on Lincoln Street.
Carriage and trolley tours will be available throughout the day.
Tours start at 10 a.m. and run every half-hour until 4 p.m. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. Discounts will be offered to people taking both tours.
Tickets can be reserved by calling Garth Hall at 648-3181.
The carriage tours are sponsored by M&T Bank, while Aqua Pa. sponsors the trolley tours.
Train rides from Shamokin to Paxinos and back are scheduled for 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday. Riders can board the train behind Rite Aid Pharmacy on Water Street. Tickets are $10. Children under 5 ride free. Tickets can purchased at Shuey Jewelers and Beverly's Flowers on Independence Street.
Cemetery tours are $7 for adults and $3 for children 12 and under. Participants can drive to the cemetery and pay there.
A record 115 vendors will offer ethnic food, specialties, crafts, art, memorabilia, children's activities and games throughout the day.
Mother Cabrini Church, Transfiguration of Our Lord Ukrainian Catholic Church, both on Shamokin Street, St. John's Church on Eighth Street, and Trinity Evangelical Church on Arch Street will be open for self-guided tours. Times will be listed in the free festival booklets available at the information booth.
The Northumberland County Career and Arts Center at Arch and Eighth streets, which is located a few blocks from the festival, will offer the "Coal Region Pride" exhibit in the gallery. Welch Art Studio will present Masterworks and Gloria Zielinskie will display and sell historical prints and Shamokin. "My Hometown" books will be available to view.
The Masonic Lodge above the Fun Shop on Independence Street will offer tours of its beautiful, historical architecture starting at 10 a.m.
The Victorian High-Wheelers and the strolling bagpiper sponsored by Tom Olcese Drug Store, along with a balloon artist sponsored by the Medicine Shoppe will roam the festival grounds.
The Anthracite Heritage Museum in the American Legion building above the Shamokin-Coal Township Library will be open from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and noon to 3 p.m. Sunday. The train display and military rooms in the American Legion building will be open Saturday only, as will the Rescue Fireman's Museum on Liberty Street.
Festival T-shirts, historical note cards, Shamokin songs CD, 1939-1949 and 1989 downtown parades, WISL jingles CD with Tom Kutza, books including "Shamokin Historical," "Edgewood Park," "Building the Eagle Silk Mill," "Past and Present," "F&S" and, new this year, "Matinee Memories" (Shamokin's movie theatres), will be available at Booth 17.
Also, self-guided tours of the former Shamokin High School, which is now the career and arts center, will be available throughout the day. Movies of past parades will be shown in the center's auditorium.
Shaffer, who pointed out that many local businesses benefit from the festival, encourages everyone, especially current and former "Shamokinites," to spend their Memorial Day weekend in Shamokin in celebration of their heritage. "Join us as we honor our past, celebrate the present and look forward with hope to the future," she said.