Against The Gills/My Catfish Festival Experience by: Andy Sullivan

Thu, 07/10/2014 - 10:18am — Diane Dyer

I couldn’t very well call this installment Against The Grain. I mean, fish have gills. I had to change it up a little. Thursday night I went to the Morgantown City Park for the Green River Catfish Festival, the annual summer rite of passage here in Butler County, for some fish, music and fun. How do you explain the Catfish Festival to someone who’s never been? Obviously the main attraction is the world-renowned catfish. But there is so much more!

Every town and county has a summer festival. This is our county’s festival and it’s quite a scene. Is it the food that brings people in? Maybe it’s the music. What about the friends you don’t get a chance to catch up with otherwise? It’s all of the above.

There aren’t many places you’ll see DeWayne McKinney in a tie. I told him he looked like he was campaigning.
Not long after I arrived I went straight for the fish. I’d been looking forward to it, after all. I’d also been looking forward to the one night only reunion of Antietam. Antietam is Jon Hunt, Derek Lawrence, John Givens, Kirk Johnson and Bryan Locke. They put on quite a show at the first pavilion at the park. These guys hadn’t played together as a group in 15 years. They sounded like they’d just played a gig the day before.

Antietam entertained the crowd with an eclectic mix of Country and Rock. The crowd was salivating for more. From Kansas’ “Carry On My Wayward Son” to Dwight Yoakam’s “Thousand Miles From Nowhere”, they played hits from various decades and genres. The massive crowd gave them a well-deserved standing ovation. The 15 year hiatus certainly did nothing to darken fans’ memories. It was easy to see the crowd, this writer included, loved every bit of it.