Annual event helps preserve history

CELINA-The Annual Clay County Museum Festival will be held here on the historic courthouse square this Saturday, and organizers have announced a final schedule for the one-day event to benefit the Clay County Museum of History.

“We couldn’t do it without the community support,” museum president Beverly Hollifield said.  “The businesses around have been great and everybody has been really generous.

“We only do it once a year, so it helps us if they are generous, and they have been!”

In addition to donations leading up to the event, Hollifield explained the community turning out this weekend is also important.

“We are not supported by the county or city government on an ongoing basis, so this is what keeps the lights on and what keeps us going,” she said.  “We hope everybody will come to town Saturday to enjoy all the fun we have to offer.

“We’ve got our very own Cherokee Upton and Alex McLerran, the duck race, the cow patty contest, the cakewalk, the food, and so much more.  It is going to be a full day, and you can come and go, but I think you will find you are going to come and stay!”

Schedule

The day will begin with a car show at the old Celina High School at 8 a.m. and include food booths, vendors, and much more here around the Historic Clay County Courthouse square.

Other feature events will include the “Mighty Duck Race” at 2 p.m., and both a cakewalk at 5 p.m. and the ever-popular Cow Patty Contest at 6 p.m.

“Those two are both something you want to experience if you haven’t,” Hollifield said, “and we have tremendous prizes and terrific gift cards for the cakewalk, in addition to all the wonderful cakes and pies people are making.”

Kids games will also be available throughout the day and the music will begin at 1 p.m. with Cherokee & Alex, followed by Crossfire kicking off their evening show at 7 p.m.

Additionally, the Clay County Cattleman’s Association will be serving up their signature ribeye sandwiches, and other food vendors will include the Little Burger Shack, Dine at the Line, Callie Anderson, and other ice cream and sweets offerings.

There will also be a wide array of craft vendors set up around the courthouse, plus a quilt show will be held at the museum beginning at 11 a.m.

The museum will also be open to the public throughout the day for people to take in all the exhibits and view the expansion of the building.

“We do have a lot to see, and we are going to have more once the Cordell Hull Building is finished,” Hollifield said.  “We are hoping it will be finished in the next two months or so, but we still invite people to come see all the improvements.”

Get pizza

on Friday

The day prior to the festival, Dale Hollow Pizza will also continue their tradition of donating to the museum.

“The pizza people are again going to give us their proceeds from Friday night,” Hollifield said.  “They have been a strong contributor and have given us over $2,000 each year, which comes from their Friday night sales.

“We encourage everybody to come on down and eat pizza on Friday, and then join us on Saturday.”

For a full festival schedule, see page 2 of this week’s Dale Hollow Horizon newspaper and it also accompanies this online article below.

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 or follow them at Facebook.com/ClayCoTNMuseum.