Final preparations are being made for the 2nd Annual Carthage Acoustic Music Festival. The event, which is sponsored by Main Street Carthage and funded with a grant from the Helen S. Boylan Foundation attracted a estimated crowd of over 600 people to the Square last year.

This year’s schedule again includes an open stage from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. Performers of all levels can sign up during this time. Sign in starts at 9 a.m. and will allow twenty minutes for groups and ten minutes for individual performances. All performances must use live acoustic music, no tapes or electrified instruments are allowed.

The scheduled band performances begin at 1 p.m. and include some groups returning and several new groups. They include a variety of music including Irish, country, bluegrass, old time rock and roll, and folk.

Spectators are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and instruments. The Square offers a large shaded area for seating and informal jam sessions. Free parking is available on the Square and within a block in the down town area.

It’s time to pull out your banjo and clean your teeth for the pickin’ and grinnin’ this Saturday. If you happened to miss the fun last year, you need ta stop by.

The talent for the open stage portion of the show was outstanding last year. The young lady from Fairview will be on stage this year again to open the scheduled performance portion with her "Star Spangle Banner.."

No matter what your taste in music, you will most likely hear it durin’ the day. New this year is the group "Natural Disaster" which specializes in old rock tunes from the fifty’s.

More "jammers" are expected this year to keep the music goin’ around the square. Seating will be on the Courthouse lawn, bathrooms will be available, and it’s free.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Carthage Printing

THIS IS A HAMMER

By Samantha Mazzotta

Unsightly Cedar Walls

I recently received an e-mail from a reader whose question I addressed a few months back. She gave me some great feedback on repairing stains on the cedar walls inside her home, and I wanted to share it with you:

"I was thrilled to read in my local newspaper your response to my question on cedar wall wood stains.

"We have replaced leaky doors, put in new flashing and sealed where we could so that the rain/snow will no longer invade the house. Today I tried your suggestions for getting out the stains. The bleach, TSP and water combination didn’t do much and ended up making a large dark spot in addition to the watermark line. The wood bleach helped more and got out most of the dark lines. I then tried sandpaper and found that it seemed to work the best!

"I then tried just the sandpaper without any chemicals first. The walls are tongue and groove unvarnished cedar. I used 50-grit first, rubbing with and against the grain, to get the darkest stains out. Then I used 100-grit to blend in the sanded part with the rest of the wood and then wiped it down with a dry cloth. It is amazing how well this worked, and the stains are practically invisible.

"I really want to thank you for all of the work and effort you did to research my question. I thought you might like to know my experience so that you could add it to your resource file, especially for rough cedar inside. Thanks again." — Patricia H.

Thanks, Patricia! It’s great to hear back from readers, especially when their efforts are successful. I hope this information will help readers facing similar troubles with interior cedar walls.

HOME TIP

Here’s a safe way to tap out a broken windowpane: Place cross-strips of duct tape on both sides of the pane. Then, run one long strip of tape along the middle of the pane and across to the neighboring frame (or pane).

Hammer gently along the edges of the broken pane until it comes free in one piece, and use the extra-long tape strip to carry it away.