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Throwback weekend as Pioneer Festival returns for 41st year

A shot from a three-pounder light artillery cannon announces the opening of the Forks of the Wabash Pioneer Festival in 2015. Members of the 1st U.S. Light Artillery of Huntington, Doug Pressler (front) and Ken Bloom (in back mostly hidden), stand by as Jed Vaccaro (right) lights the fuse. The cannon will return to open this year’s festival, set for Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 24 and 25, at Hier’s Park and the Huntington County Fairgrounds.
A shot from a three-pounder light artillery cannon announces the opening of the Forks of the Wabash Pioneer Festival in 2015. Members of the 1st U.S. Light Artillery of Huntington, Doug Pressler (front) and Ken Bloom (in back mostly hidden), stand by as Jed Vaccaro (right) lights the fuse. The cannon will return to open this year’s festival, set for Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 24 and 25, at Hier’s Park and the Huntington County Fairgrounds. TAB file photo.

It will be a throwback weekend at the 41st annual Forks of the Wabash Pioneer Festival, as Huntington County’s history and “the way it used to be done” in the early- to mid-1800s takes over Hier’s Park and the Huntington County Fairgrounds.

The festival, which celebrates the time when Native Americans, white settlers and French traders populated the area, gets underway Saturday, Sept. 24, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and continues Sunday, Sept. 25, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with nearly every inch of the grounds occupied with vendors, entertainment, food, crafts and even old-fashioned carnival rides powered by “elbow grease.”

Festival Co-chair Ra-chelle Nightenhelser says among the new attractions this year is a scarecrow contest for the kids, held in the Younguns’ Fun area.

Fliers went home with school children in grades K through 8, inviting them to create a scarecrow to enter into the contest. They should bring their scarecrows to Hier’s Park on Friday night, Sept. 23, before the festival begins.

“They will be judging in the Younguns’ area on Saturday to pick the winner,” Nightenhelser says.

There is no fee to participate. Judging will take place at 2 p.m. Cash prizes will be awarded to the winners – $50 for first place, $30 for second place and $20 for third place.

The event is sponsored by Learning in Motion Preschool & Daycare.

The vintage bicycle demonstrators are stepping it up this year, with new games and races for spectators to watch. Ribbons will be awarded to the winners.

The Piecemakers Quilting Club’s bicentennial quilt will also be on display, as well as the county’s “bison-tennial” project, Keekiiyosia (“Traveler” in the Miami language), a bison statue painted by local artists.

Many of the festival’s favorites return as well, Nighthenhelser says.

“We have a lot of great activities,” she says. “We’re going to have the old-time base ball league there, playing games. We’re also going to have the old-time bicycle demonstrations going on. Those are always fun. For people who enjoy the tractors, we will have our usual tractor parade.”

Festival guests can see a blacksmith at work, tradesmen caning chairs and weaving baskets, homemakers churning butter and separating cream and frontiersmen cooking their game over open fires.

The 1st U.S Light Artillery, 1812, and Seven-Year War Horse Tactical will engage in military drills and riders on horseback will demonstrate their sharpshooting skills. Abe Lincoln will be seen offering his perspective on the times.

Children can learn their lessons in a pioneer school house, play some unique musical instruments, fly through the sky on a merry-go-round made of ropes and logs and try their hands at a variety of games.

Although the focus of the festival is the traditional pioneer era, the weekend also pays tribute to pioneering spirits of slightly later times with displays of antique motorcars, time-worn tractors and early engines.

The festival stage features continuous entertainment and more music will be encountered throughout the festival grounds by wandering minstrels on foot.

A melodrama, entitled “The Will,” will be performed by members of the Huntington North High School Masque & Gavel Club. Several performances will take place on both Saturday and Sunday at a new location in the “Opera House” – also known as the Family Living Building. The HNHS Varsity Singers will again sing in several performances in the Saloon.

Two buildings and several tents will let vintage fans get their antiquing on, offering everything from beads to clothing and furniture. Craft booths include 11 new vendors this year. A farmers’ market will offer end-of-the-season goods including pumpkins, fresh produce, jams and jellies, fresh baked goods and local honey.

Vittles will also be plentiful, with Pioneer favorites a-plenty, including funnel cakes, apple fritters, roast pork sandwiches, chicken, corn chowder, beans, fish sandwiches, corn on the cob, “karmel korn,” turkey legs, maple nut clusters, washed down with root beer, cream soda, hot cider, lemonade and hot chocolate.

An old-time, non-denominational, pioneer-style worship service will get the second day of the Pioneer Festival started off, held Sunday at 9 a.m. in the Saloon before the festival opens. Rev. John Ritchie of First Presbyterian Church of Huntington will lead the service.

Nightenhelser says those coming to the festival should get a brochure before they come and plan out what events they want to see.

“I think if it’s a specific thing you’re looking for, there are specific times you want to make sure you’re there and not miss those,” she adds.

Brochures listing the events and times of festival events can be picked up in advance in various locations throughout Huntington, including The TAB, or online at www.pioneerfestival.org or the link posted on the Pioneer Festival’s Facebook page. Brochures will also be handed out at the entrance gates during the festival.

Affordable admission is charged, with discounts for students of any age and free for children under 5. Proceeds from the festival are used to support charities and historic preservation projects in the community.

Hier’s Park and the Huntington County Fairgrounds are located at 547 S. Briant St., Huntington.