ALGONQUIN MILL FESTIVAL
Oct. 11, 12, 13, 2013
Again this year I will be carving at the Algonquin
Mill festival as I did last year. This a festival where they have primitive
crafts , and working steam engines producing lumber, and other heritage goods
for sale . Also there is a variety of eat stands where one can buy almost
anything from bread made from the mill itself to half chickens seasoned and
cooked over an open fire. A variety of crafts are displayed and practiced by on
site artisans from basket making, to weaving, to shingle making, which allows
the festival to be blast from the real past as most of these crafts are no
longer practiced today on a regular basis.
The permanent
displays of the mill itself and the old train station salvaged from historic
sites in Carroll County are on display. Visit authentic log cabins and tour the
houses as artisans in authentic dress of the era relive those past days when Congress
used to work and pay their bills and set an example for the rest of America to follow
and be proud of. A visit to the farm museum will allow you to reminisce if you
are old enough, or stand in awe of those former pioneers who used these
implements to feed a nation, though they may seem crude to the young generation
of today. Some of these principles of farming are still employed today in a different
form as part of our ongoing agricultural revolution, as we strive to bring food
to the American people in one form or another.
There is
always something to be learned every time I visit the Algonquin mill festival
and I am proud to be a part of it, albeit a small part and more of an annoyance
as I slice and dice the logs into cartoon animals in front of a crowd of
spectators who really don’t seem to mind the noise. When carving it is nothing
to see crowds of fifty to sixty people watching my friend Kevin Thompson and I as we carve along with the sights and smells
of the festival, as coal smoke hangs in the air over the valley and the sawmill
steam engine chugs along behind us. Wisps of steam rise into the air, and the
valley takes on an orange glow of autumn, as once again we celebrate another
year of harvesting success in a season ending festival, sure to please most all
that comes along our way. Toots from steam engines are released every hour signaling
the passing of a lost generation and marking the time to the close of the festival.
These are sounds that are truly lost from modern farming as the steam whistle
not only signaled lunch and dinner, or the start to the day but also signaled
neighbors when an emergency would arise.
The cost for
admission is 8 dollars per vehicle so load up the Yoder toter and head on down
for some fun in the sun and fill up your bellies with some old fashioned rib packing’s
sure to please all, and enjoy the crafts and the first days of autumn in this
season ending festival of harvest.Algonquin Mill Fall Festival
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