CELINA-Preparations are underway for the 2024 Annual Clay County Museum Festival, which will be held here on the historic courthouse square August 3.

“The Clay County Museum Festival is less than a month away,” local museum president Beverly Hollifield said. “This event supports the Clay County Museum of History, so bring your chair and enjoy the day and night on the square the first weekend in August.”

The one-day event will again be staged here in the heart of Celina, and booth space is still available.

The day will begin at 9 a.m. and include food booths, vendors, the Cow Patty Contest, the “Mighty Duck Race,” a car show at the old Celina High School, arts/crafts, a Rolley Hole marble tournament, bounce houses, a cake walk, and live music that night on the square.

The Clay County Museum is currently closed for major renovations, which are being completed with a $95,000 grant from the Tennessee State Museum.

The renovation to the museum is just one of two building projects ongoing at the museum site.

State funding for an extensive renovation to the Cordell Hull Law Office was also recently awarded, and that project is also well underway.

The Hull law office has been located beside the Clay County Museum of History for some time, after being at multiple locations here through its long history.

Despite the grant funds, the museum still relies on the festival to fund their day-to-day operations.

Hollifield said the money is used towards “providing a scholarship for Clay County High School seniors, continuing operations, and delivering unique educational experiences based on pictures, objects, stories and lives from our Clay County traditions of ingenuity, resourcefulness and innovation.”

For more information about the museum or the upcoming festival, contact Hollifield at (404) 216-6708 or call the museum at (931) 243-4220.

Also visit the museum’s website at www.claycotnmuseum.com.