The theme of Union County Heritage Festival on October 7 is “Going to Grandma’s.” The 19th festival will immerse you in all things that remind you of the most lovable grandmothers you can imagine from eating hot, freshly baked biscuits and pie to admiring finely stitched quilts and purses.
Visitors can park at Union County High School and enjoy the main event in Wilson Park or board the free shuttle (the big yellow bus) sponsored by Monroe Bus Lines, State Farm Insurance and the City of Plainview to travel to the Farmers Market Pavilion for produce and the Ice Cream Bar, to the Union County Museum for the Heritage Day Quilt Show, and to the Historic Snodderly House for the Art Show. All venues are open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Rise early to enjoy pancakes for breakfast beginning at 8 am. at the Union County Museum. Walk off any calories by chatting with the authors, buying some antique items and viewing dozens of hand stitched, machine made and heritage quilts, aprons and bonnets.
Leave in time to catch the Festival Opening at Wilson Park at 10 a.m. Mayor Jason Bailey will remember grandmothers in his welcome. The Veterans and the Cub Scouts will lead the pledge, and Keaton Roach will sing the National Anthem. If you missed pancakes at the museum, you can get breakfast at Wilson Park too.
At the entrance will be Smokey the Bear and some of the equipment used by the Tennessee Division of Forestry to fight forest fires. On the grounds will be more than 100 vendors. Arts and craft vendors include woodworking from signs to bowls, wreath making with grapevine, burlap, and tulle, quilts, beaded jewelry, soy candles, custom tumblers, embroidered shirts, custom hats and handmade items of every kind. Heritage crafts demonstrate chair caning, embroidery, crochet, leather crafting, wood turning, blacksmithing, wool spinning and basket weaving. Purchase “Stitched with Love,” the collectible print by Betty Bullen, at the Information Booth #102.
Get a hamburger, Italian sausage, tacos, beans and cornbread, hot dogs, fried bologna, hibachi steak, barbecue, a smoked turkey leg, or chicken 'n dumplin’s for lunch along with your favorite soda or lemonade. You can even have dessert of doughnuts, a favorite cookie, cupcake, or slice of pie. Then head to the Gazebo or the Country Gospel tent for the best bluegrass, country and gospel music that you or grandma has ever heard .
Jack Hatfield and True Blue open the Emily Link Gazebo Stage at 10:15 followed by headliner Evie Andrus and Friends at 11:15. A tribute to Bit Rouse, the master fiddler of Sharps Chapel, happens at 12:15. Evie’s encore is at 12:30. Tennessee Brushfire and Sleepy-Eyed John’s Band will have your heart tugging and your foot tapping.
Then comes the Luttrell Fiddle Club, a dozen or so youngsters who are learning to carry our musical heritage forward. Lastly, the 5th Heritage Fiddle Contest sponsored by KUB Fiber will showcase amateur regional talent and conclude with a combined fiddler’s jamboree as the judges decide the winners. Cash prizes include 1st place of $300, 2nd Place of $200, and 3rd Place of $100. Participants can register from 12:30 to 2:30 at the Fiddler Tent.
If country and gospel remind you of grandma, take your lunch to the Country Gospel Tent to hear Southern Spirit sing their original country as they open at 10:45. At 11:45, Richard and Linda Nicely will have you remembering the choir at grandma’s church. Next up will be Sharps Chapel’s BetterThanNothing Band to sing some ole time favorites at 12:45. Grab a lunch and enjoy a new duo, Brand New Box of Matches, to ignite the spirit. Ronnie Kitts and the Gospel Strings, a crowd favorite, complete the musical lineup.
Contests abound before and during the festival. Businesses can enter the Business Front Decorations Contest. Hopefully you or someone you know entered the Heritage Pie Baking Contest, sponsored by Tammie Hill of Realty Executives Associates and coordinated by Union County FCE and UT Extension Union County.
Await the results of the Pie Baking Contest just after the Bit Rouse tribute. At Wilson Park behind the 4-H Biscuit Baking, experience the Heritage Olympics sponsored by A & B Bookkeeping. Throw a skillet, toss a feedbag, drive a nail, or have your child race with a spoon holding an egg just like grandma did. Information for all contests are at www.unioncountyheritagefestival.com.
On your way to the Olympics, visit ICARE’s new drug prevention trailer. Then go on up the hill past the Heritage Olympics and the 4-H Exhibits to view the antique tractors and engines. Chat with the owners to find out how they have patiently restored every piece of metal, belt and bolt to get that vintage John Deere, Massey Ferguson, Ford or Farmall in mint condition for the Tractor Parade at 2:00. Walk a bit over from the tractors to watch the blacksmith forge a pot hook. Just a little farther and you can have Rigger Jed craft you a custom leather bracelet or belt. Our wool spinner will demonstrate that ancient art. If you missed the Model As and the vintage cars as you entered, check them out before they leave with the tractor parade.
Board the Free Shuttle and travel to the Historic Snodderly House to stroll through the Art Show, where a variety of mixed media art including 2D, 3D, and photography await your viewing. Many will cause you to remember something you did at Grandma’s house long ago or a more recent adventure in the hills of Appalachia.
As you ride the shuttle back to Wilson Park, don’t forget dessert or supper to go. Follow your heart’s desire for funnel cake, gourmet cupcakes, cookies, brownies, cotton candy or pie at Wilson Park. But memories of grandma’s hand-churned ice cream may tell you to ride the Free Shuttle to end the day with ice cream at the Farmers Market Pavilion.
Hopefully as you return to your car you are laden with the day’s treasures so you can share your own story with your grandchildren or others to perpetuate the memory of going to Grandma’s!
Wow, what a day!