One of the major entertainment events in Summit Hill each year is the Hootenanny.

This year the folk music festival will be held Sunday in Ludlow Park from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Hootenanny was started in 2012 by Sara Ruch as a means of bringing the community together. Ruch is a musician and is a member of the folk music band Free Range Folk.

She had been the chairman for the Hootenanny since then until this year, when she was forced to step down because of her work schedule and other projects.

Taking over at the helm is Elise Reabold, who has also been involved with Hootenanny since its first year.

“I thought it was a great free, family event for the community,” Reabold said, explaining why she agreed to such responsibility as the chairmanship. “I really like Summit Hill. It’s a nice town. Hootenanny is a great thing to bring all the families out to have a great time.”

It was virtually by accident that Reabold became involved in the Hootenanny. At the very first one, she recalled, “I came up to hang out with everybody. I saw they were short of volunteers, so I ended up collecting the garbage. There were six food vendors and over 1,000 people attending, but no volunteers for the garbage detail.”

She continued working with Ruch and the Hootenanny.

After last year, Reabold said, “Sara said she had a lot going on and wanted me to take it over.”

This year there are about 20 food vendors and about 45 non-food vendors at the Hootenanny, the most ever scheduled for it.

She credits this with the hard work by fellow committee members Terri Kane, in her second year of working with the event, and Clayton Ayers. Kane is in charge of the vendors and much of the general activity. Ayers “takes care of the bands and sound,” said Reabold. “He also will run open mics in the gazebo.”

With seven live bands and various other events, she’s expected good attendance as in years past.

Reabold works as a wildlife rehabilitator for the Carbon County Environmental Education Center. A native of Jim Thorpe, she moved to Summit Hill 16 years ago and fell in love with the town. She has a daughter, Sky Reabold, who is a sophomore at Panther Valley High School. Sky is also a volunteer at the festival.

Obviously as evidenced by her occupation, Reabold is an animal lover. She and her daughter have a pet dog named Tammy, a mixed wire-hair terrier that was a shelter dog.

She said most of the planning for the Hootenanny starts in January. “We work straight through to the day of the festival,” she said.

Her favorite things about Hootenanny are “the music and getting to see everybody,” she said.

She estimates that she and fellow committee members “put in several hundred hours” preparing for the event.

Reabold gave much credit to Kane for the smooth transition in festival leadership. She said of Kane, “She went above and beyond with coordinating and being so organized. She did such a great job.”

In her off time, Reabold said she enjoys the outdoors with such hobbies as kayaking, camping and hiking.

Reabold said she was pleased that Ruch asked her to be the new chairman of Hootenanny. “It’s a fun event and I enjoy it. I wouldn’t want to see it end.”