SEARCY -- The extra attraction at this weekend's Pioneer Village Spring Fest comes courtesy of White County Master Gardeners. Their floral plantings will add radiant color to the Saturday and Sunday celebration of life in Searcy and its hinterlands in the period between the Civil War and World War I.
Pioneer Village, operated by the nonprofit White County Historical Society, is a fine example of the results citizens of a locality can achieve when they care about the heritage of their community.
The collection of buildings and their contents from around White County has been gathered by the historical society for 50 years. The local master gardeners' chapter has been involved since 2002, and the effort that its members invest in the site's plant life is evident at each spring's festival.
Pioneer Village opened as a joint enterprise of the historical society and the White County Fair Board in 1967. Its first location was the fairgrounds, with the initial donated building being the Gordon log house dating to the 1870s. Eventually the site included the little red schoolhouse and community church, a blacksmith shop, a post office, a smokehouse, a barn, a general store and a privy.
In 2002, the fair board ended its involvement, after which the historical society moved the old buildings to the present location and added others. Visitors can stroll the grounds most days of the year, but the structures are open only occasionally, as during this weekend's festival.
Volunteers in period dress will be on hand at most of the buildings to answer questions. They'll also demonstrate crafts and skills of that time, among them woodworking, Dutch oven cooking, quilting, spinning, leather working, knitting and blacksmithing.
There will be music by local groups, as well as games and other activities for youngsters. For sale will be handcrafted items, including wooden toys, walking sticks, aprons, duck calls, bracelets and bird houses.
A plaque on the schoolhouse and church will remind visitors of the structure's varied uses. Four different denominations -- Methodist, Cumberland Presbyterian, Baptist, Christian Church -- held Sunday services on a rotating basis. The two doors served one of the congregations, which believed that men and women should enter separately and sit on opposite sides of the aisle.
School was held in the building on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., "June-July-August, crops permitting. December-January-February-March, weather permitting."
Spring Fest is one of three open houses on Pioneer Village's calendar. Fall Fest will take place in November, followed by Christmas Open House in December.
Pioneer Village Spring Fest takes place from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and noon-4 p.m. Sunday at 1200 Higginson Street, Searcy. Admission is free. On most other days, the village's grounds are open but not its buildings. For details, call (501) 580-6633 or visit www.whitecountypioneervilllage.org.
Weekend on 05/04/2017