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Show IV s Fiddles And Bear In Cannonville CANNONVILLE It's fiddles and bears time again for Cannonville. Cannon-ville. It will be the 18th year in a row for the Old Time Fiddlers as they return once again to Cannonville Saturday night for their annual open air concert at the town's community park at 7:30 p.m. and the 9th year for the town's annual "Bear Festival." The musical group came first in 1978 as a local fiddler's club from the Provo area to benefit the little town's community center and clinic which townspeople were struggling to complete. They were joined the following year by members of the statewide association of "Old Time Fiddlers." Their regular July visit, in conjuction with their annual visit to nearby Bryce Canyon National Park, has been a highlight of the summer for the intervening years. Now, people come from all over the mountain west to enjoy the fancy fiddling. The early evening concert took on an added dimension in 1987 whent the town added a 'bear barbecue' to the evening's events. Meat from a marauding black bear, who had been fond of feasting on favorite chickens and making dessert of appetizing apricots from area trees, made up the' main course. The large black bear had been deemed a little too friendly after he attempted to join a Cannonville couple in their home for dinner. He was subsequently shot and killed by government authorities. After he was skinned, his hide and meat were donated to the town of Cannonville. Townspeople celebrated with a "bear barbecue," posthumouly naming the rascal "The Red Rock Bandit." There will be demonstrations, art displays, community booths and some of the West's best fiddling. Dinner at the park at a modest price starts at 5:30 p.m. with hamburgers and fixin's and homemade root beer. They usually have a few bear-burgers, bear-burgers, too. All funds raised from the dinner and the concert support the town's community projects. |