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THUMB OCTAGON BARN FALL FAMILY DAYS IS SEPTEMBER 10-11

STEP BACK INTO RURAL MICHIGAN IN THE EARLY 1900?S!

September 8, 2011       Leave a Comment
By: O. J. Cunningham

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See, hear, touch, smell WHEAT being harvested and processed by machines used in the 20's and 30's including grain binder, stationary threshing machine, and a stationary baler! Visit the VINTAGE KITCHEN in the 1920's house; see cooking demonstrations using old kitchen utensils in the theme tent plus revisit/become aware all the time/utensils used by the women of that era in using wheat and other commodities in the kitchen to feed the farm family - also there will be a huge apron display! Kids of all ages can participate in KIDS FARM FUN from that time period - Things that you can see and do when visiting the 16th annual Fall Family Days event at the Thumb Octagon Barn, Gagetown, Saturday, September 10th and Sunday, September 11th!

Festivities begin at 4 PM on Friday, September 9th with a Fish Supper served until 7 PM; adults $8.50, children 6-12 $3.50, children under 5 are FREE. George and Lavonne Pettinger, Snover, are organizing all of the details for the supper and are happy to announce that Greg Talaski, Kinde, will be returning to prepare and cook his famous fish! Following will be the Sing A Long in the Barn from 7 to 10 PM with Arlen Bannick's, Bad Axe, Eastern Michigan Music Makers. People of all ages are encouraged to bring their musical instruments - including their voices - and perhaps even join in for a good old fashioned Barn Dance. What a great evening of old fashion fun!

Bob Hirn, Cass City, and Martin Kubacki, Ubly, are co-chairs of the 16th Annual Fall Family Days and have added several new trappings to this event. New on the site this year are the Blacksmith Shop, with demonstrations scheduled both days - located in of the new Village area east of the creek - plus the addition of two new wooden bridges over the creek.

Other events held past years were a big hit and are back again! Of course the VERY popular and HUGE Farmer's Breakfast for $6, prepared each morning by the extended Gerald Auten Family, from Cass City and beyond, will be available and easy to find in the Munro building - just follow your nose for the wonderful aroma of bacon, sausage, pancakes, and potatoes! The Auten cooks will be preparing made-to-order eggs as well as from 8 to 10 AM Saturday and 8 to 11 AM Sunday.

The One Room Country School, an actual country school moved to the site several years back, will be open to show what education looked like in the early 1900s. The School House Museum, which highlights country schools in the Thumb Area and era educational materials, will be manned by retired school personnel for learning and reminiscing! Again this year will be several half hour presentations in the One Room County School put on by local children/teachers in period dress depicting the routines students went through during the early 1900?s. These children also will be operating an old style lemonade stand out by the school; this activity not only fits in to the era, but will also provide a nice cold drink to the visitors out in that area of the grounds!

Both Saturday and Sunday, The Eastern Michigan Music Makers will gather under the black walnut trees by the House for old fashion musical entertainment from 11 AM to 5 PM; from 10 to 11 AM on Sunday morning, there will be a Gospel Sing. Also Saturday evening from 8 to 10 PM, there will be Old Time Music in the Barn. People of all ages are invited to come relax, enjoy, and sing!

Field demonstrations begin at 9:30 AM on both Saturday and Sunday near the Munro Building showing wheat/grain binders, a stationary hay press, threshing demonstrations, Bidwell bean thresher, and a stationary baler; other bygone era equipment will be prominently featured all around the site. Antique tractors and gas engines will be on display, along with 1935 and older antique cars and trucks. Bay City Shovel will be in operation out near the Sawmill Building.

The Sawmill will be working for all to see, hear and smell, as well as, the volunteer lumbermen will be using the planer, edger, buzz saw. The Sawmill museum will also be open with many wonderful displays of wood tools of yesteryear, including photos and displays of many lumberyards in the Thumb area through the years.

The Sugar Shack - Mark Battel, Cass City, chairperson - and the Grain Elevator, - Louie Wehrman, Reese, chairperson - both buildings new to the Village in 2010, will be working with on-going informational tours taking place. Out by the creek, teams of horses will pull wagons to give FREE wagon rides for people of all ages.

Ladies Workshops chairperson, Linda Bailey, Crosswell, has scheduled a variety of hands on classes for a nominal charge. There will be also classes on rope making by Aaron Davis, Marshal, doll making, plus additional classes with times listed by the garage, where the classes are held.

The Children's Activities tent, located across the creek, will allow the kids to participate in a variety of activities common to children in the early 1900's. Mary Inbody, Snover, and Bernadette Schwalm, Ubly, Children's Activities co-chairs will have activities ready to go for the kids involving pumping water with hand pumps, washing clothes using a scrub board and hanging them on the clothes line, saddles on straw bales to ride, silts to walk on, large checker games, huge tubs of corn to play in, plus Daisy the goat to milk! All this and the barrel train rides are FREE for the kids!

Many different kinds of wonderful, old time foods will be available! Delicious, homemade tasty treats include fresh squeezed apple cider, deep fried donuts made fresh throughout the day, many batches of homemade ice cream churned every hour, hog kettle popcorn, cotton candy, homemade bean soup, plus chicken strips and fries. There will also be a food concession in the Munro Building with a wide variety of food items. Beverages will be available at several locations on the site.

At 2:30 PM on Saturday and Sunday, there will be a style show in front of the Barn depicting era clothing followed by the annual antique tractor parade at 3 PM both days! This is a wonderful time to sit back, relax, and take some time to enjoy a look at years gone by.

All 230 spaces for vendors and crafters are filled to overflowing; a waiting list has been kept by Louis & Linda Wehrman, Reese, co-chairs of this area, to make sure all spaces are filled for this wonderful event. There will be a shingle mills and forge working as well. Beautiful craft items of all kinds and a big variety of flea market items will be available for purchase. This area is a big hit with men and women alike!

Families/people of all ages, prepare to spend the day to take in the all the demonstrations, vendors and crafters, buildings, and taste a variety of yummy foods during the 16th annual Fall Family Days at the Thumb Octagon Barn & Agricultural Museum on Saturday, September 10th and Sunday, September 11th from 8 AM until 5 PM. Through displays and demonstrations, the color and mood of farming in the early 1900's comes to life. Handicapped parking is available. FREE shuttle service for all, via tractor-pulled wagons, is provided all day to/from the parking area.

The Fall Family Days event is put on by the Friends of the Thumb Octagon Barn, an all volunteer organization. All proceeds support the improvements, restoration, and maintenance of the Thumb Octagon Barn & Agricultural Museum. For more information /questions phone Thumb Octagon Barn & Agricultural Museum, 6948 Ritchie Road, Gagetown 48735 at 989-665-0081, and/or visit www.thumboctagonbarn.org. which includes photos and a map to the site. Please note: NO PETS ON THE SHOW GROUNDS.

Spin back in time as the eight-sided barn and surrounding site serve as the staging grounds for the Thumb Octagon Barn's Fall Family Days 2011. The event begins at 4 PM Friday, September 9th with a fish supper and sing a long in the Barn; all activities/events will be open Saturday, September 10th and Sunday, September 11th from 8 AM to 5 PM. Themes this year highlight Wheat Harvesting, Vintage Kitchens, and Kids Farm Fun. Gate donation people six year of age and up is $4.



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O. J. Cunningham

O. J. Cunningham is the Publisher of MyBayCity.com. Cunningham previously published Sports Page & Bay City Enterprise. He is the President/CEO of OJ Advertising, Inc.

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