Sesquicentennial celebration to close with festival, parade

By Lynn Hotaling

Events this weekend in Webster and Sylva will conclude a monthlong commemoration of the county's 150th birthday. A sesquicentennial time capsule will be buried at the Justice Center Thursday, Oct. 25, with the assistance of local school children. The date for the capsule's burial was pushed back from Oct. 16 to allow the inclusion of newspaper coverage of the downtown events.

Friday's 'Day in Webster'

"A Day in Webster, Jackson County's Hometown" is the title of a Family Resource Center (old Webster School) program set for Friday, Oct. 19.

The event will open with walking tours led by Webster Historical Society President Joe Rhinehart from 4 until 6 p.m., and a fund-raising dinner sponsored by the resource center at 6 p.m. Dulcimer specialist Susie Beckwith of Sylva will perform during the meal.

A 7 p.m. program at the historic Webster Methodist Church will feature Asheville Citizen-Times columnist and Addie native Bob Terrell reminiscing about his boyhood days in Jackson County. Terrell, the author of numerous books, began his journalistic career at The Sylva Herald and wrote many of the stories for the Centennial edition The Herald published in 1951. The program will also feature music by the Deitz Family of Sylva and organist Frank Berry of Scotts Creek Baptist Church.

Saturday's Festival

The culminating sesquicentennial event will be an all-day downtown festival on Saturday, Oct. 20, in the town parking lot on Railroad Avenue.

Saturday's highlight should be the 4 p.m. Sesquicentennial Parade down Main Street, which will include local churches, schools, businesses, Scout troops and others. County commissioners - Jay Denton, Stacy Buchanan, Roberta Crawford, Franz Whitmire and Conrad Burrell - will serve as grand marshals. Vintage cars and trucks (1969 and older) are welcome to join the parade. Those wishing to participate may call Betty Foxx at 586-2512 or 586-6777 for information or to register.

"It's not too late to join the parade," Foxx said Monday. "People can call me until 5 p.m. Friday." Parade information is also available by calling the Jackson County Recreation Department at 586-6333.

An eclectic lineup aimed at pleasing all ages and musical tastes will provide the sound track for the festival. Performers scheduled include Spirit Filled at 9:30 a.m.; the Fiddling Dills Sisters and Cullowhee Valley Boys at 10 a.m.; the Donnie Clay Band at 11 a.m.; Smoky Mountain Dulcimer Club at 1 p.m.; the Queen Family at 1:30 p.m., Susie Beckwith at 2:30 p.m.; and the Willing Servants at 3 p.m.

Taking the stage at 6 p.m will be Steve Weams and the Caribbean Cowboys, a popular regional group that plays a wide variety of music. The group will perform during and after Sylva Partners in Renewal's traditional pig roast, which will begin at 5 p.m. A chainsaw contest has been added to Satruday's lineup. Participants must register at Mark Watson Park at 8:30 a.m., and competition will begin at 9 a.m. Trophies will be awarded to the first-, second- and third-place winners in each class, and the entry fee is $5. For information, call Norman Parris at 586-2611.

Local chainsaw sculptor Fred Bauknecht is already at work on a sesquicentennial carving he will donate to the county. The sculpture, a group of black bears, will be permanently displayed to commemorate the sesquicentennial.

Ladies of all ages should be readying their best 19th-century fashions for the Oct. 20 Sisters of the Swish fashion show, which draws its title from the name given to local women who dressed in period costumes when Jackson County celebrated its centennial in 1951. Fashion show entrants are asked to model clothing representative of that worn during the 1850s and will be judged in three categories: Home life; Social/courting; and Church. Prizes will be awarded in four age classifications: Adults, age 40 and up; Young Adults, age 20-40; Teens, age 13-19; and Children, age 12 and under. The fashion show will be at Sylva First Baptist Church.

For entry forms or information about the fashion show, call Irene Hooper (293-5456), Amy Garza (631-4587) or Gail Cooper (497-9664).

Saturday's events will include a noon ceremony featuring the introduction of festival royalty - Mary Jane Queen of Caney Fork and Sol Schulman of Sylva; a dramatic reading of the Sesquicentennial Proclamation by Howard Allman; recognition of student elected officials; a speech by Jay Denton, chairman of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners; and presentation of the official county flag.

Other activities Oct. 20 will include checkers and other "old-timey" games and contests and inflatable toys for the kids. Tuckasegee Wesleyan Church members will make and sell apple butter over an open fire. The day will also feature food and craft vendors.

A display of photographs by Ray Menze, "Jackson County Then and Now" will be on display Saturday at the Jackson County Library, which is open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Stephen Foster program

Sylva First Presbyterian Church will present the final sesquicentennial event - a program of Stephen Foster songs - Sunday, Oct. 21, at 4 p.m. Carol Lynn and Balfour Knight will perform along with guest musicians. Foster is remembered for tunes such as "Camptown Races," "Oh, Susannah," "Old Folks at Home," "My Old Kentucky Home" and "Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair."

Sesquicentennial memorabilia

All-cotton T-shirts featuring the official sesquicentennial logo are currently on sale for $10 each and are available at Jackson's General Store, Blackrock Outdoor Co., the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and the Jackson County Recreation and Parks Department and will be available during the Oct. 20 festival, as will souvenir magnets and commemorative newspaper sections.

Jackson County history

Jackson County was formed in 1851 from Macon and Haywood counties. Its government was organized in March 1853 during a two-day session at the Daniel Bryson homeplace in Beta. A monument was erected last fall along U.S. 23-74 near the Cope Creek intersection to mark the site of the county's first courthouse.

Jackson County is named for Andrew Jackson, a Democrat war hero who won an important victory over the British at New Orleans in 1815 and was twice elected president of the United States. Webster, the first county seat, was named for Daniel Webster, a prominent Whig orator and statesman who died a year before the 1853 formation of Jackson County's government.

Webster served as the county's hub until 1913 when citizens voted to move their seat of government to Sylva.

Information

For information about the county's sesquicentennial celebration and events, call the recreation department at 586-6333.

Click here to see a schedule of events...

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