CANE HILL -- Students with the Washington County Historical Society Heritage School kicked off the 32nd Cane Hill Harvest Festival with period dancing and period music.
The students attend a week-long school during the summer and this year's theme was the Civil War in Northwest Arkansas.
The students told stories of how people in Northwest Arkansas were for both sides during the Civil War but after the war was over, the people decided to work together to rebuild their communities. Even during the battles, people would get together to tell stories and dance.
One of the popular dances during the Civil War was the Virginia Reel and students with the Heritage School performed the dance for visitors to the Harvest Festival.
The annual Festival held on the grounds of Historic Cane Hill College draws crowds from the region, including visitors from Oklahoma and into Missouri. But it also attracts many who are returning home.
Carol Steen of Davidson, N.C., was visiting her mother, Betty Colborn of Clyde, and was glad that her visit fell on the same weekend as the Festival.
Colborn serves on the advisory board for Historic Cane Hill and she has seen the small community transform as historic buildings are being restored.
"It's great for the community and a wonderful legacy for Cane Hill," Colborn said.
The Festival, held Saturday and Sunday, featured 10 bands, food, arts and crafts vendors, a pop-up art exhibition and sale and a chance to look back at the past.
"It's been pretty wonderful," said Tom Pennel, who chairs the event for Cane Hill College Committee. Pennel has served as chairman for several years and his goal is to provide a variety of activities for all ages. He has added children's inflatables and a petting zoo over the years so that children would have things to do.
"When can you see a two-hump camel in Cane Hill?" Pennel asked.
Another goal of Pennel's is to get youth involved so that the Festival will be able to continue into the future. Members of Lincoln FFA Club helped with parking and youth from Prairie Grove United Methodist Church served a country breakfast each morning.
With blue skies overhead and warm temperatures, Pennel had to admit, "All in all a pretty good day."
Visitors could view beautiful handmade quilts displayed in one room in Historic Cane Hill College. The other room was set up with members of Wool 'N Wheel Handspinner Guild from Fayetteville and the Dogwood Lace Guild. The members explained their crafts to people coming into the room.
Across the grassy field from the College, visitors learned about making lye soap and sorghum molasses. In another tent, people learned about making hominy.
The historic A.R. Carroll Drugstore off Highway 45 featured a new event, a pop-up art show and sale. Gary Johnson with Artists of Northwest Arkansas said the group was happy to be the first pop-up art show in the historic drugstore building.
"This is a great room for it," Johnson said. "It's brightly lit, has track lights, white walls and these beautiful original floors."
The exhibition and sale featured photographs, oil and acrylic paintings, abstracts and watercolors.
Next door, the Historic Cane Hill Museum stayed busy as visitors learned about the history of Cane Hill through a timeline on the wall and viewed exhibits of what life would have been like in Cane Hill many years ago.
Mike Greene of Cane Hill comes to the Festival every year and he thought Saturday's crowd seemed larger than usual. With the restoration of Cane Hill College and work on other structures in the community, the Festival should only get more people every year, Greene predicted.
"For the first day of the Festival, this is the most people I've seen in years," Greene said. "The attractions are getting better."
General News on 09/19/2018