Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
In the 1800s, life didn’t stop because of a little rain. Chores, tending to animals and hunting for food could not be put on hold because you didn’t want to get wet.
The same goes for a festival that harkens back to the 1800s, such as Huntersville Traditions Days. It may have been a rainy Saturday, but the re-enactors and performers bundled up and carried on their demonstrations.
Visitors slogged through the mud around the Huntersville School and huddled under tents as they enjoyed the entertainment provided by local musicians, including Juanita Fireball and the Continental Drifters and Viney Mountain Boys.
Inside the schoolhouse, Vivian Blackwood had a painting studio set up in the cloak room and Joyce Mullens shared stories about attending school there when she was a child.
The school cafeteria was transformed into a quilt display with quilts of all styles from all decades draped on every surface and hanging from the ceiling.
Local demonstrators, like Bob Sheets of Fort Warwick and herbalist Kayde Deardorff, were joined by others from throughout West Virginia and Virginia.
Paint Creek Banjos’ Zack Kitchen had a display of his handmade banjos and played a few tunes for passersby; Tape Looms crafters Paul and Elissa Parish had handmade looms and Elissa showed visitors how to use the looms to weave a pretty design with thread; and the Ye LowFarb Pedlar was carving a wooden bowl and had his tables of kitchenware on display.
Along the schoolhouse road, more music, performed by Stony Bottom Bluegrass and Mud Hole Control, welcomed tapping feet. The Frame Farm was making apple butter and selling jars of the sweet concoction and, sticking with the apple theme, Kermit Friel was selling his apple cider vinegar.
A giant pumpkin named Bubba was resting on a trailer and passersby were asked to guess his weight for the opportunity to win a chance to take him home.
At the Carr household, Terry Carr opened his blacksmithing shop for tours and other demonstrators made cider, caned chairs and cooked soup over an open fire.
Down the road, at the jail and clerk’s office, student re-enactors set up camp with neat rows of canvas tents and a camp fire. The students, dressed as Civil War soldiers, shared what they learned about the era and “roughed” it by camping in their tents during the weekend.
Hunting demonstrators were set up around the two restored buildings. The West Virginia Trappers Association set up several handmade traps using only items that could be found in the woods, such as snares using tree limbs.
Justin Madron had his bird dogs on site and gave a pointing dog demonstration to show the skills of the trained hounds.
Winners in the annual Joyce Varner Memorial Salt Risin’ Bread Contest and Hazel Sherbs Memorial Cornbread Contest were honored during a break in the music. In the salt risin’ bread contest: first place went to Barbara Birchfield; second place to Reba Arbogast; and third place to Lois Mamak.
In the cornbread contest, first place went to Tom Simpkins; second place to Linda Spencer; and third place to Loy R. Jones.
The contests not only honor the memory of two ladies whose baking skills are unmatched to this day, they also keep alive the old tradition of passing down recipes that have served families for generations.
It may have been a wet day, but it didn’t deter visitors from taking in the sights, sounds and aromas of the 19th century that demonstrators and the Historic Huntersville Traditions organization work hard to keep alive.
