By Ben Cox
Photos/Ben Cox and Kyla Hurt
The Village of South Jacksonville was a bustling metropolis in the hot sun over the weekend of September 26-28.
Temperatures averaged about 90 degrees for all three days of the Prairie Land Heritage Museum Steam Show & Fall Festival Days. Dozens of volunteers and vendors said it was hot but good weather, as there were no days of rain during the show this year. The grounds were packed each day of the show, as activities ran almost every hour all three days.
The steam engine-cooked ham and beans dinner sold out on Saturday. The author of this article and his family attended most of the day on Saturday. My children enjoyed boba-flavored lemonade shake-ups, reuben sandwich balls, regular lemonade shake-ups and more.
Demonstrations for rope making, homing pigeons, shoelace making, plowing, threshing and soap making were all well attended. I even showed the children an old rotary dial telephone in the museum.
Due to the heat, we all took a break at midday and returned in the late afternoon to shop from the dozens of vendors and makers to look for various items. As a lover of music and movies, I had plenty to choose from. My children loved all the toys, while my fiancée browsed antique glass and kitchenware.
The children also were able to enjoy the new LEGO competition sponsored by the Village of South Jacksonville Police Department. I personally enjoyed meandering through the plethora of engines, tractors and antique farm equipment. I know little about them, but agriculture remains an integral part of the community — both past and present. The various innovations and techniques are quite fascinating, if you get down in the weeds.
This year’s winner of the event’s annual quilt raffle was Linda Wyatt and the winner for the golf cart raffle was Bertie Covey.
“I think things went really well. Overall, there were no major issues. We couldn’t have asked for better weather and turnout,” said PLHM Steam Show co-chair Lori Hanson, “We couldn’t have made it all happen without all of the wonderful volunteers and vendors that make the Steam Show possible every year.”
We also got to enjoy the musical offerings of the Jacksonville Drumline Institute, the harmonies of The Elderly Brothers and the Heartland Heritage Community Band. My oldest daughter was thrilled to know that her band teacher, Mr. Burchard, was playing in the community band.
The main takeaway is that the PLHM Steam Show & Fall Festival Days has a long-standing tradition of consistently providing a family atmosphere filled with arts, crafts, entertainment, education and fun at an affordable price so that anyone from the community and beyond can enjoy.
As my friend Buddy Fore of My Buddy’s BBQ & Catering posted to his Facebook this past week, “That’s the beauty of Prairie Land … it’s more than just an event, it’s a community.” The community, past and present, always seem to gather and fellowship when it churns each fall.
