September

FROM THE Old Fashioned Farmer's Day WEBSITE:

Come and visit the past!  Marvel at how things were done!  Think of all the advances that have been made through the years!  You will see many skills and technologies which have been almost forgotten over the years! 

We continue to add to our antique Farm-related Treasures.  Last year we added a Blacksmith and Wheelwright Shop reconstructed from and abandoned Deep River Coal Company site in Chatham County.  Visit us in 2010 to see new additions!

Last year our extensive working display of Antique Steam Power drew the attention of Roy Underhill of the Public Broadcasting System's The Woodwrights Shop series, who filmed an episode during the Event!

[See all sorts of amazing antique equipment at work during the Festival!]

[A Steam-Powered Engine in the Pugh Memorial Ice Cream Building, powers several Churns can each turn out five gallons of Home-Made Ice Cream at a time!]  The Delicious Ice Cream is available to you at the Ice Cream Building!

Also featured is an Antique Tractor Display, an Antique Car Display, Antique Farm Machinery (some in operation), Corn Shredding, a Shingle Mill, hit-and-miss Engines, and a Rock Crushing Machine.

You may wish to purchase some excellent Old-Fashioned Corn Meal made on site during the Festival in our Grist Mill Building, and perhaps pick up some tasty Old-Fashioned Molasses made on site from locally-grown Sugar Sorghum in our Sorghum Press and Wood-Fired

Don't miss our Farm Animals in Working Harness carrying out such chores as Rock Crushing, Plowing, and other demonstrations!

There are Farm Animal Competitions in which animals raised by local children are judged, as well as many other activities for all ages.

Our Quality Entertainment throughout the Festival includes Gospel Singing, Bluegrass Music, Folk Dancing, a Flea Market, Antiques, Crafts, and much more.

The Great Food and Fixings include Pork Barbecue (is there any other?), Fried Chicken Tenders, Hot Dogs, Home-Made Ice Cream, and many other culinary delights!

The Old Fashioned Farmers Day Festival is located 1 hour west of Raleigh, NC off US 64; 1 hour southeast of Greensboro via US 421 and US 64; 45 minutes south of Burlington, NC via NC 87 and Lindley Mill/Silk Hope-Lindley Mill Rd. 6 miles NE of Siler City, Chatham County, NC . [Approx. 30-45 minutes from Chapel Hill]

Get Directions / Read more about the Silk Hope NC Old Fashioned Farmer's Day

Admission fee, children under 10 free; Senior Citizens receive a discount.  
www.silkhoperuritans.com
(919) 742-2972 or (919) 742-4881.

The Annual Mountain State Fair features kids' activities, carnival rides (Powers Great American Midway), livestock competitions, live music (including bluegrass, old-time and gospel), giant produce including pumpkins, watermelons, and sunflowers, antique farm equipment display, Farm Adventure Tent (watch the mama pig with her piglets, the baby ducklings on the water slide and some hands-on barnyard activities for the children), watch a chainsaw artist sculpt wood with a chainsaw, transforming a block of wood into a bear, eagle or fish right before your eyes; Heritage Walk (take a walk through the past and learn about family traditions and mountain folks way of life; see crafters at work); lots of fun events and exhibits for everyone; lots of fun for families and kids!

http://www.ncagr.com/markets/fairs/mtnfair/index.htm
(828) 687-1414.

Friday, September 10, 2010, 7:00 pm

The joyful and exuberant African Children's Choir will perform at Trinity School of Durham and Chapel Hill on September 10, 2010 at 7pm.  The African Children's Choir is a group of 8 - 12 year olds, most of whom are orphans, from Africa (based in Kampala, Uganda).  Children from across Africa audition for the choir, and the children chosen to be members of the choir are guaranteed free tuition and room and board through college. The African Children's Choir has been performing since 1984; new groups of children replace the prior group of children after each tour (each group in the choir tours for approximately 9 months.)   To learn more about the African Children's Choir (and see a video clip featuring "A History of the Choir in 3 and a Half Minutes") visit www.africanchildrenschoir.com.

Additional Performances:  Friday, September 10, 2010, 6:00pm, and at the 9 and 11 am services on Sun. Sept. 12th at Grace Church of Chapel Hill, 200 Sage Road, Chapel Hill, NC.

(919) 968-4120

Colonial Kids Day in Hillsborough, NC - Hosted by the Orange County Historical Museum and the Burwell School Historic Site
Burwell School Historic Site, 201 N. Churton St., Hillsborough, NC

Saturday, September 11, 2010, (2010 HOURS TBA - FYI - in 2009 the hours were 1pm-4:30pm)

Orange County Historical Museum and Burwell School Historic Site will host Colonial Kids Day at the Burwell School Historic Site, where children can participate in colonial games, a fashion show, and a lemonade party. They can learn about colonial medicine and watch a weaving demonstration. The museum is located at 201 N. Churton St and there is an admission fee. Advanced registration is encouraged. Limited number of tickets available/limited participants, so reserve your tickets early. Call (919) 732-2201 for more information.

Saturday, September 11, 2010 9am - 7pm.

Also BugFest Evening Insectival, Sat. Sept. 11 5 ? 7 pm
Jones Street, The Plaza, the Capitol Grounds and the first and second floors of the Museum will be teeming with live bands, bug stations, a nocturnal insect tour and a street carnival.

There is lots of buggy fun to be had at the 14th Annual BugFest event at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences!  The nation's largest single-day bug event, BugFest?held annually at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh?offers quirky bug-filled fun for adventurous people of all ages. Learn about arthropods, which make up three-quarters of all animals on Earth.  See unusual insects, arachnids, and crustaceans from around the world. Taste delectable dishes featuring creepy crawlers as a major ingredient at Caf? Insecta. Educational and entertaining displays, exhibits and activities?both inside and outside the Museum?will highlight BugFest!  In prior years the BugFest has been host to amazing and bizarre live animals such as the foot-long Malaysian walking stick, the venomous giant South American centipede, and an Amazonian bird-eating spider as big as a dinner plate! 

From the website:  * Enjoy the entertaining displays, exhibits and activities ? both inside and outside the Museum.
* Learn about arthropods, which make up three-quarters of all animals on Earth, during fascinating presentations.
* Taste delectable dishes featuring creepy crawlers as a major ingredient at Caf?Insecta.
* Join the moths, fireflies and katydids for an exhilarating evening of nocturnal activities at the Evening Insectival.
* Beekeeping Workshop
* Bring an unusual bug to the Stump the Experts table

This year's theme is aquatic bugs!

Admission FREE.

(919) 733-7450 or toll-free (877) 4NATSCI

Saturday, September 11, 2010, 6:30 pm

From the NC Museum of Art website:

"There's nothing quite like the experience of an outdoor show by North Carolina's renowned Paperhand Puppet Intervention. Myth, magic, and pageantry abound as fantastical creatures and settings transform the Park Theater stage, all accented with original live music.

Islands Unknown is an odyssey epic that travels to the depths of the imagination and the very ends of the earth. The heroine, a wandering young girl, finds herself in a mysterious library that is being consumed by a rising sea of information. Soon she is afloat, on a paper boat, with a goat heading toward an adventure full of animals and beasts, mustachioed men and pirates, monsters, furies, and even gods.

Please note: [The Museum] will be offering a family-friendly menu including hamburgers, hot dogs, popcorn, and more at this event."

General admission: $15, $10 Members
Children 3?12: $7.50
Children 2 and under: Free

See Details

9/17/2010: 5-10pm
9/18/2010: 11am-10pm
9/29/2010: 11am-7pm

Click here for FREE TICKET ($3.00 value)

Enjoy a great day out visiting local farms and support sustainable local agriculture! 

The goal of the farm tour is

"to help connect you and your family with where your food comes from, who is growing it and how it is being grown.  Too often, when you ask a child where their food comes from, they say the grocery store.  It was only two generations ago when most people grew up on farms.  It's time to reestablish the connection between consumers and farming before it is completely lost.  Local and organic food systems are critical to preserving our rural agrarian landscape and achieving long-term socio-economic sustainability.  All of us, from farmer to distributor to consumer, play a role in creating a sustainable agriculture."

To take the Tour:  Load up a car with friends and family, find participating farms on the maps, and head out to the countryside for a day at the farms!  Advance Tickets $25 per car for all farms; Day of Tour Tickets $30 for all farms: $10 per farm (buy buttons at the first farm you visit.)

Tickets available online at www.carolinafarmstewards.org and at the Raleigh, Cary, and Durham, and Chapel Hill Whole Foods Markets, and Harmony Farms in Raleigh.  (Or buy Day of Tour tickets at the first farm you visit.)

Tips for taking the tour:  (1) Bring a cooler!  You will be able to purchase fresh produce, eggs, cheese and other products at many of the farms.  (2)  Look for the red tomato signs to help find the farms; (3) plan to visit 3 or 4 farms a day at most, and budge 1 - 1 1/2 hours per farm; (4) stick to one region of the tour each day for the most efficient tour route; (5) Link to an interactive Google Tour Map at www.carolinafarmstewards.org

Did you know?  In the past year (from May 2008 - April 2009), Whole Foods Market purchase $8,889,223 worth of products from local growers and producers in North Carolina.  Support local agriculture with your LOCALLY GROWN produce selections from your local grocery or Farmers' Market.

For more information visit the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA)

or call (919) 542-2402

What a cute pup!  Ellie was born in March 2010 - and she is available for adoption from CARE as of August 2010.

More information about CARE:  Chatham Animal Rescue and Education, Inc. is an all-volunteer, not-for-profit humane society.  All the animals in the C.A.R.E. system are fostered in volunteer foster homes.  C.A.R.E. pays for food and routine medical expenses such as spay or neuter, rabies vaccinations, deworming and vaccinations.  Chatham Animal Rescue and Education, Inc. is a 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt organization.  Adoption fees cover the very basic medical expenses of animals, but they do not cover additional treatments that some animals require.  Proceeds from Woof A Palooza will be used to help pay the veterinary expense of animals in the C.A.R.E. system and will help with humane education and outreach efforts in Chatham County.

Saturday, September 19, 2010

WOW!  We are constantly reminded of all the reasons why Carrboro is such a cool, fun, excellent place to live.  The annual Carrboro Music Festival offers great music and lots of fun for everyone; family friendly and fun activities for kids too.  We look forward to the Carrboro Music Festival EVERY year!  Last year during the evening of the festival we were enjoying a casual dinner outside at Armadillo Grill, listening to some great live music at the table next to us.  What a great place to live and play!

From the Carrboro Music Festival Website:

The 2009 event presented a myriad of musical styles (at 23 venues) with over 170 different musical aggregations- ranging in size from solo artists to a twenty piece jazz orchestra.

~ Looking Back for a moment ~
The first four years the festival was held in June and called The Fete De la Musique. In 2002 we moved to the last Sunday in September and began calling it The Carrboro Music Festival. 2010 will be the ninth year as festival coordinator for Gerry Williams, who says "This is the most incredible music event that I've been involved with during my thirty year career in and around music. Unlike many aspects of the music business, this is entirely about celebrating our community and its music. The range and quality of what we see and hear each year is simply amazing!"

Check this video out!  It's such a great little film and truly captures the essence of the Carrboro Music Festival 2005 Carrboro Music Festival Video by BeeryMedia.  Come out down to Carrboro - SO COOL!  So looking forward to the festival as we do every year!