Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Cane Hill Festival Brings People Together
CANE HILL — A perfect fall day with blue skies and cooler temperatures was on tap for the 27th annual Cane Hill Harvest Festival.
Visitors on Saturday and Sunday enjoyed a country breakfast or beans and cornbread for lunch, as well as craft booths, demonstrations of how to make lye soap, hominy and sorghum molasses and a living history about a family from Washington County in the 1860s.
For most at the festival, though, the weekend is a chance to meet new people, visit with friends from the past and enjoy the beautiful, historic grounds of Cane Hill College.
Johnnie Chambliss of Morrow has come almost every year and he said he likes the breakfast and “seeing people I haven’t seen from year to year.”
He added, “It’s a country atmosphere and a family atmosphere.”
Donna Reed and her husband, Dale, of Mountainburg, just happened to be coming through last year, saw the sign for the festival and decided to stop. They returned this year and she said they hope to come back every year.
“You meet a lot of people from the area and they are so friendly,” Donna Reed said. “We like to look at old cars and tractors.”
Mary Jean Marshall, chairwoman of the Cane Hill Harvest Festival, said the event is held annually to raise money for maintenance and repairs to the historic building. Many of the people who come to the festival attended the school as elementary students. Marshall attended the Cane Hill school until fifth grade when all students were moved to the Lincoln School District.
Marshall said the festival probably would bring in $ 5,000- 6,000 to help with renovation expenses.
One of the fundraisers at the festival is a quilt raffle and this year’s raffle had a beautiful, patriotic pattern. Lillian McConnell was working on the 2014 raffle and visitors to the festival were invited to add stitches to the community quilt. McConnell starts the quilt each year and the Cane Hill Quilters then work on the quilt throughout the remainder of the year. She said the group has made community quilts for about 10 years.
Carolyn Latta of Morrow demonstrated how to make hominy for visitors and Archie Reed of Clyde made sorghum molasses.
One of the highlights Saturday was the living history presentation by the Heritage School, a group of children and teenagers who attended a one week history program this past summer. Through narration and drama, the students described how the Civil War impacted the life of Jonas and Matilda Tebbetts, a family from Washington County. They also demonstrated games and dances that would have been a part of life during the 1860s.
Scott Davis, a member of the Cane Hill College Advisory Board, said the living history presentations help visitors understand “what it was like during the days of the college.”
Other activities at the festival included concerts by the Lincoln High choir and band, a petting zoo, gospel music, a parade, church service, and children’s games.