Not the SAMA Old Evening

Last Friday evening was the launch of The Loyalhanna Review. It is an annual publication that collects and shares the talent of writers and photographers it its glossy pages. The magazine has been able to gather, spotlight, and focus attention on these skilled and gifted craftspeople of pen and camera. Each year, this magazine gains in prestige and distribution.

Friday’s gala event took place in the Southern Allegheny Museum of Art located just outside Ligonier, Pennsylvania. Ruth McDonald is the Editor in Chief of The Loyalhanna Review and was the emcee for the evening. Several of the writers were chosen then introduced to share their words of art with the gathered crowd. This year, as the reputation of the magazine spreads, so do the writers who enter. This year, we had a writer from Baltimore, Maryland submitted and was accepted for publication. She drove to join us at the event. Writers from Rhode Island gave submissions.

The stories and poetry of 30 page magazine is interspaced with colored photographs. Copies were distributed to the attendees, giving them first chance to hold the freshly printed literary collection. They were given the opportunity to see and later hear the offerings inside. Several younger authors had articles accepted and they read their submissions to the crowd.

This year, I submitted a photograph of a sunset behind my home instead of a written article. The sunset on the clouds and contrails created a gold colored beauty I dubbed as a “Crown of Glory.” It won the coveted back cover page.

A tantalizing buffet of dainties filled one corner of the art gallery and as people mingled before and after the presentation and readings, sampling the varied foods and drink. The variety of foodstuffs was able to tempt the taste buds of the pickiest of palates.

The inside walls of the museum was lined with wonderfully beautiful paintings of aboriginal art on loan from its tour of the United States. The somber colored paintings added an air of formality to the event.