Canehill celebrates with Harvest Festival

Magda Musur, left, and Billy Bower skim non-edible material off the top of cooking liquid sorghum as they help make sorghum molasses Saturday at the Cane Hill Harvest Festival. The festival continues today in Canehill.
Magda Musur, left, and Billy Bower skim non-edible material off the top of cooking liquid sorghum as they help make sorghum molasses Saturday at the Cane Hill Harvest Festival. The festival continues today in Canehill.

— Dorris Kiple and Mary Jean Marshall celebrated the history of Canehill on Saturday by dressing in traditional Civil War period attire.

"It's definitely not as comfortable as the clothes we're used to wearing," said Marshall, who donned a full-length pink floral dress, complete with apron and bonnet. "It makes you appreciate modern attire."

Marshall and Kiple were among the nearly 500 area residents who attended the 23rd annual Cane Hill Harvest Festival, which took place about a block west of Arkansas 45 in Canehill. The two-day event started on Saturday and ends today. Parking and admission are free.

Each year, festival volunteers demonstrate old fashioned ways of making sorghum molasses, lye soap and apple butter. Proceeds from the sale of the items and funds raised at the festival help pay for the maintenance and operation of the Cane Hill College.

The event chairman, Darrin Taylor, said the college was established in 1864, prior to the University of Arkansas, and later became the first chartered educational institute west of the Mississippi River.

"During that time period, they tried to put a railroad through Canehill, but the local residents didn't want it," he said. "That's why it now runs through Fayetteville. A lot of people think the UA would have been in Canehill if the railroad had gone through their city."

A group of Cumberland Presbyterians first settled in Canehill in 1834, Taylor said. They established a school aimed at providing religious literacy and ministry training. Classes started in 1835 and the school received its charter by 1850. Students at Cane Hill were taught in a two-room, hewn-log building with only fireplaces for winter warmth.

The school filled students' educational needs for the next 15 years.

"There's a lot more history in Canehill than most people realize," Taylor said. "We have a Presbyterian church that was built in the 1860s and a cemetery that's become a permanent resting site for numerous Revolutionary War heroes. They say [Hernando] De Soto traveled through here before it was Canehill, but that hasn't been confirmed."

The town's annual Harvest Fest first started as small pioneer gathering but later expanded to support the town's historic roots. The event has since grown from an intimate local gathering to a large area festival that attracts residents from across the region.

"We always get people from other states, especially when there's a football game in town," Taylor said.

During this year's event, the Trans Mississippi Medical Corp, under the direction of Maj. Johnny M. Manley, set up its medical camp to demonstrate how a unit operated during the Civil War.

Food vendors, an antique tractor display, music, quilting demonstrations, a parade and a youth talent show were among the other attractions featured during the festival.

Kiple, who has offered quilting demonstrations for the past five years, said she hopes to revive the craft's popularity.

"It's really become a dying art form," she said. "There are only about four or five of us left in town who still do it."

From individualized designs to stories told through patchwork, Kiple said quilts often paint pictures that help preserve the past.

"A lot of stories have been told through quilting, and each one is different," she said. "I've seen quilts that tell stories of slavery and the journey to freedom. I've also seen quilts that represent people's personalities. They're all unique."

Taylor said the Harvest Festival has becomeknown for the making and selling of sorghum molasses, which requires the stripping, cutting and harvesting of sugar cane. The juice is squeezed out of the cane using a press and then cooked off and strained in a large brass cooker with a baffle system that produces molasses.

Taylor's wife, Sandy Taylor, said she was thankful that afternoon showers held off until after the parade. This year the procession featured both antique and handmade tractors, a performance by the Lincoln High School Band and floats made by church groups, families and politicians.

"It's all about showing off your hometown pride and experiencing living history," she said. "There's no other place where you can experience something like that."

Traci Gardemire of Clyde, along with her husband, Joe, and their 11 year-old daughter, Ashley, have made the Harvest Festival an annual family tradition.

"It's grown since we first started coming here, especially the parade," Traci said. "But, the main reason we come is for the good food and the music. It's also a great place to bring the family and supports a good cause." Festivities will continue today with breakfast from 7-10 a.m., cowboy church at 9 a.m., lunch at noon, gospel singing from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and a quilt giveaway at 4 p.m.

News, Pages 1, 7 on 09/20/2009

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