Welcome to mcdowellnews.com. Skip directly to: our Keyword Search, Section Navigation, Content.

mcdowellnews.com - The McDowell News

HomeNewsEntertainmentSportsLifestylesOpinionCommunityWeather Online Tools Jobs | Real Estate | Shopping | Classified

Pioneer Day celebrates 25 years of doing it the way the settlers did it

By Mike Conley | The McDowell News

Published: April 23, 2009

Mountain crafts, historical re-enactors, good food and old-time music will be just some of what you will experience at Old Fort's Pioneer Day celebration on Saturday.
The 25th Annual Pioneer Day celebration will be held Saturday at the Mountain Gateway Museum in Old Fort. The free event will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
"It's hard to believe it's been 25 years," said Terrell Finley, administrator of the Mountain Gateway Museum.
Pioneer Day pays tribute to the hardy folks who first settled the Southern Appalachians more than 200 years ago and the heritage they have left to us. Craft vendors will show how the early pioneers made their own furniture, spun their own clothes and created their own distinctive culture.
Finley added that this year's Pioneer Day is scheduled to have more demonstrators showing how to make mountain crafts.
At one of the museum's historic cabins, Anne Allison will demonstrate how spinning and weaving was done in mountain homes two centuries ago. Her husband David will show how rifles were made in those days.
Wood carvers will show off their handmade creations while a blacksmith will hammer out some metal crafts. Randy Vess' old-time hit-and-miss engine is a popular attraction at Pioneer Day.
Re-enactors with the 22nd North Carolina, Company K will pitch their tents on the museum grounds and show how Confederate soldiers lived during the War Between the States. The local group portrays soldiers from McDowell who fought in Gen. Robert E. Lee's army.
Other re-enactors will portray soldiers from the Revolutionary War. In the fall of 1780, the Overmountain Men left their homes in the Southern Appalachians to fight the British forces under Major Patrick Ferguson. They won a major victory in the American Revolution at the Battle of Kings Mountain.
Chaz Misenheimer, a popular entertainer at Pioneer Day, will again perform magic tricks in the style of an old-time medicine show.
In addition to the craft vendors, folks will be selling a variety of foods including funnel cakes, hamburger, hot dogs and fries.
As in years past, Pioneer Day will offer music in the museum's amphitheater. The groups Possum Creek and the Windy Gap Trio will perform on Saturday. The Friendship Dulcimer Club will play their traditional mountain instruments on the museum's front porch.
At noon, a special tribute will be held to those people who started Pioneer Day a quarter of a century ago.
And of course, the museum itself will be open for tours.
Pioneer Day pays tribute to our mountain heritage with fun-filled activities that can also educate a little, said Finley.

For more information, contact the Mountain Gateway Museum at 668-9259.