The recipe for fall fun

From days long before the Civil War, families have gathered their neighbors together for molasses boilings. The gatherings often turned into parties as men played instruments and the ladies got dressed in their finest, hoping to catch the eye of an eligible beau.

The social gatherings that accompany molasses boilings continue to this day.

For Jill Kirby and her cousins, molasses boiling was a family event. They helped gather the cane and then their grandfather taught them all about molasses and how to make it. For the last 24 years, Kirby and the rest of her family have opened their arms and hearts to the community in order to share what they have cherished.

“(The molasses festival is) just a fun day that our whole family looks forward to each year,” Kirby said.

This year the festival itself has been moved to the barbecue building, but the molasses making will remain in the same place as always. Sims Country Barbecue will be open for folks to sit back and enjoy some fine food and music. The Dollar Boys and The Little Rascals will be performing at this year's event.

“You have a crowd of people that will come to our festival every year, bring their chair and just sit and listen to the band for hours,” Kirby said. “The barbecue being open will make it nice because they'll be inside and they won't have to bring a chair.”

In addition to the bands, the grounds around the building will be alive with activity from vendors hawking their wares, as well as children playing games and jumping on inflatables. Many of the vendors offer homemade items.

“The molasses festival is unique because it uses a lot of homemade items,” said Brandon McCann, tourism development director for the Caldwell County Chamber of Commerce. “A lot of the things that you see there are locally produced.”

The 24th Annual Molasses Festival will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Sims Country Barbecue, which is located at 6160 Petra Mill Rd., Dudley Shoals.

Attendees will experience southern Appalachian culture at its best with clogging and traditional agricultural techniques of the past, such as molasses boiling. The festival will bring bluegrass entertainment, jam sessions, clogging, molasses making, apple butter making, hayrides, food, crafts, games, antique tractors and tractor rides.

“The festival itself showcases our heritage,” McCann said. “This is one of the few opportunities for those who have never seen molasses boiling to come out and see it.”

The making of the molasses, apple butter and apple cider will start well before crowds begin to arrive at the festival, Kirby said.

“It's not like we bring in a truck full of molasses,” she said. “We do it the old-fashion way.”

New this year will be a molasses-made baking contest that allows attendees to enter their own molasses-based dishes for $3. There also will be a Rally in the Valley from 4 to 9 p.m. that will feature live entertainment on the outdoor stage.

For information, call Sims Country Barbecue at 396-5811 or Jill Kohnle at 396-2052. For directions, visit www.scc.clogdancing.com.

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