a family affair at the georgia mountain fair
The Georgia Mountain Fair - July 17-25, 2015 - The Georgia Mountain Fall Festival - October 9-17, 2015
For the past 64 years, Hiawasse, Georgia, has welcomed thousands of people who come by RV, motorcycle and yes, by horse, to the Georgia Mountain Fair. As a product of these mountains, I'm proud to say that I have attended at least half of them. It's a North Georgia tradition that knows no age or termination, and as each fair (July) and festival (October) gets underway, it proves that there's still gold in these mountains. It takes little more than a conversation with a local to understand the pride and excitement of everyday living in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Hilda Thomason has been working with the Fair for 34 years, and is one of the locals - who happens to be the Fair's general manager, too - who sings its praises. "The Georgia Mountain Fair is what put Towns County on the map," states Thomason. The organizations goal is to promote tourism in the area, and with "all the fairs, festivals, concerts and special events we have, [it] helps fill up the hotels, cabins, cottages, bed and breakfast, and campgrounds. The shops, gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants benefit from what we do. Without us bringing all these people to the area, you would not see a lot of businesses make it."
Hilda Thomason has been working with the Fair for 34 years, and is one of the locals - who happens to be the Fair's general manager, too - who sings its praises. "The Georgia Mountain Fair is what put Towns County on the map," states Thomason. The organizations goal is to promote tourism in the area, and with "all the fairs, festivals, concerts and special events we have, [it] helps fill up the hotels, cabins, cottages, bed and breakfast, and campgrounds. The shops, gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants benefit from what we do. Without us bringing all these people to the area, you would not see a lot of businesses make it."
a little rain doesn't stop a parade . . .
Saturday morning's parade always signals the official beginning of the week long festivities. Beginning at Park Sterling Bank in downtown Hiawassee and ending at the Fairgrounds, this year, the parade route was sprinkled with constant drizzle yet it never dampened spirits. And who knew you only needed ONE float in a parade? The Lions Club proudly showcased the Queen and her court as they were trailed by the Model A Restorers Club of Georgia, founded in 1952. Families still lined the streets in spite of the rain; kids still darted out in the middle of the street hoping to snag the next armful of treats tossed. Some offered Popsicles. That one-ups Tootsie Rolls and Double Bubble any day of the week.
from pioneer village to the midway . . .
In my memory lives my experience of roaming from vendor to craftsman at the Georgia Mountain Fair of the 60s. Nestled in an open field near the high school in downtown Hiawassee, artisans and the midway shared the same spot of earth, and while there was always a crowd there, it seemed like a very small corner of the world. I remember the quilters (still seen in the Exhibit Hall) and their multicolored creations draped over chairs and quilt racks. Then, the sorghum makers, the wood splitters, the old cars, the cotton candy. All of these still remain, and people (and yes, children) are still amazed at the simplicity of life on display. Thousands of people still plan their July and October vacations around these events, stepping back - if only for a week - into their memory of how life used to be. Since taking over its new spot of real estate on the edge of Lake Chatuge in the late 70s, it has hosted the common man as well as the famous for over half a century.
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Top to Bottom, Left to Right: Nostalgia Plaques; the old Log Cabin; Funny Money with Jim the Magic Man; Stanley and Shylan Wood; Bonnie Blitch and her grandson, Conner; Ellen Speed; Robbie Tieffel with Ironwood Tools; Bob Banasack; The McKamey's; watching the pig race; Archie Watkins & The Smokey Mountain Reunion; Tasha Biggers; The Primitives; Ada Thomas and Logan Turnpike Mill; inside the old Log Cabin; the line for the Jack Anderson's Country Cafe smoked trout.
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you'll confront the legacy of the mountains . . .
Stanley Wood
The people you meet in the Pioneer Village are not vendors. They are craftsmen and most have spent a lifetime working off the land and understanding that the amount of hard work you put into it is exactly the quality of product you get in return.
Stanley Wood learned how to mill logs from an older friend who encouraged Wood to pick up the trade and continue the man's legacy. He did just that. After driving a truck for over 20 years and putting in over 2.5 million miles, he started Stanley Wood Sawing. Although these days his equipment is updated, he remembers the grind and shares it with all who will watch and learn. The team of Wood, Tom Phillips and Wood's grandson Shylan work together to demonstrate the early days of saw milling. They maneuver the logs onto a carriage that are then held down by "dogs;" Wood moves the "money stick" which engages the entire operation of moving the carriage and log past the rotating saw blade. An old auto motor provides the power for the sawmill.
"You get dirty moving the money stick," says Wood. "If it ain't movin', you ain't makin' no money."
As with most everything at the Fair, it is family-centered. Shylan and his grandfather have been working together "since forever." Born and raised in Hiawassee and having been a part of the Georgia Mountain Fair for over 20 years, Wood plans on being back at the festival this October, demonstrating sawing and slicing lumber that will ultimately be used to repair the Fair's buildings - which Wood and his friends built.
Stanley Wood learned how to mill logs from an older friend who encouraged Wood to pick up the trade and continue the man's legacy. He did just that. After driving a truck for over 20 years and putting in over 2.5 million miles, he started Stanley Wood Sawing. Although these days his equipment is updated, he remembers the grind and shares it with all who will watch and learn. The team of Wood, Tom Phillips and Wood's grandson Shylan work together to demonstrate the early days of saw milling. They maneuver the logs onto a carriage that are then held down by "dogs;" Wood moves the "money stick" which engages the entire operation of moving the carriage and log past the rotating saw blade. An old auto motor provides the power for the sawmill.
"You get dirty moving the money stick," says Wood. "If it ain't movin', you ain't makin' no money."
As with most everything at the Fair, it is family-centered. Shylan and his grandfather have been working together "since forever." Born and raised in Hiawassee and having been a part of the Georgia Mountain Fair for over 20 years, Wood plans on being back at the festival this October, demonstrating sawing and slicing lumber that will ultimately be used to repair the Fair's buildings - which Wood and his friends built.
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The longest line inside the fairgrounds is at the Country Cafe. Moving through the craft vendors, the aroma of smoked trout and BBQ propels visitors to the bottom of the hill and Jack Anderson's Country Cafe.
Jack Anderson started working at the Fair's Music Hall when it first opened in 1979. "Everything was 50 cents - Coke, peanuts. It's a different ballgame now," he says. Soon to be 77, he's seen it all. He still farms and rides mules, robs bees, plants an acre-garden and has 50-head of cattle. "I live where I was born," he says, "just a little over the North Carolina line." He's been a Lions Club member since 1964 and has been a barber since he was 17. And he proudly says, he's worked the Georgia Mountain Fair for the last 50 years in one capacity or another. It was the third day of the fair when we happened upon Anderson and by this time, he had already smoked 50 hams and they were running out. For eight hours at 200 degrees, he places net-wrapped hams from Oakwood, Georgia, on the outside smoker and waits. He has individual smokers for trout and chicken; you never mix your meats. The smoked trout - complete with eyes staring - seems to be the crowd favorite. As with everything, they are fresh which could be the secret. "They are swimming in Mill Creek this morning and you're eating them this afternoon," says Anderson. Served with pinto beans, creamed corn and cornbread, my belly was full and I never questioned why this is the place to be; it was obvious. I pushed for the BBQ sauce recipe as any good Southerner would do. And according to Bob Banasack, if he had given it to me, he would have had to kill me. But instead, he reached for the paper with "Georgia Mountain Fair Sauce" recipe - the one they've used since the beginning - and held on tightly. From across the prep table, he read the ingredients: butter, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, Worcestershire, ketshup, hot sauce, salt and pepper. That was as much as I was getting. |
Jack Anderson
As we left the Cafe, we noticed many older gentlemen gathered around back, eying Anderson as he stirred a black skillet filled with fried cabbage. It was dinner time and Anderson invited his friends for cabbage. It wasn't the BBQ or the trout they waited for; it was the cabbage (sorry, it's not on the menu!).
Jack Anderson frying cabbage
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John Ray Parker
 John Ray Parker and helpers
John Ray Parker remembers "making what we needed." He grew up between Young Harris and Hiawassee on the North Carolina/Georgia line. "I would drink North Carolina water and sleep in Georgia," he laughs. He grew up on the farm, grew tobacco and had to work.
Parker has spent decades showcasing his "old ways" at the Georgia Mountain Fair. He demonstrates how the "shaving horse" (above) made shaping wood a little easier, keeping the wood secure by using man's weight to stabilize movements. The horse was crafted by J.B. Nichols long ago. Then, there was the apple press (right) hewn from a maple log by Donald Mauldin. With a little weighty-help from his friends, Parker and his helpers watch as fresh cider pours from the spout. "Bull [Maudlin] used this when he was a boy," says Parker. "He'd watch children gather the apples and thought this press would be good." Between the board-splitting and cider-pressing, Parker stays busy. This year, his 13-year-old neighbor Douglas Cox is giving him a hand since he is somewhat of a board-splitting expert, too. He's been splitting since he was eight years old. "You know, I like this," Cox says. It would take about 2-3 days to split enough boards to cover a small shed roof. |
John Ray Parker and Douglas Cox
Douglas Cox
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Funny Money with Jim the Magic Man
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Jim Eubanks wasn't just Funny with Money; he was funny with Coke bottles, washers, sticks, or anything that would catch the attention of the young ones walking past. I surely walked through the crafters line a dozen times, and each time there was Jim and his magic show, laughing and getting one over on the kids. There was always a crowd gathered and the curious of all ages watched a man in love with the attention.
"I think the grown-ups like it just as much," he told us. I believe he is right. |
Robinson's Racing Pigs and Padding Porkers . . .
Smokey Mountain Amusements . . .
Anderson Music Hall . . .
"If it works for her, it works for me. If she has all she wants, I have all I'll ever need."
Singer-Songwriter Scott Brantley
Singer-Songwriter Scott Brantley
Scott Brantley
At 66, Larry Gatlin still brings it and sings it - way up there with as sharp a tenor tone as 60 years ago when brothers Steve and Rudy began harmonizing. The Gatlin Brothers begin each show with "The Star Spangled Banner" and as introductions are made, Gatlin reminds the audience of the brother's long legacy in country music and at this point in their career, "we can do whatever we want to." At that very moment, a man from the front row offers Gatlin an ice cream cone which Gatlin instantly accepts and commences eating. He tries singing and consuming at the same time, but quickly decides to stop and make the ice cream a priority.
The Gatlin Brothers stop the show
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Carry on, audience - the band plays and the audiences picks up the lyrics where Gatlin left off. "Isn't this the best country ever," he says and grins that infectious smile. And just as insane as stopping the show for an ice cream cone seemed, he halted again for a photo opp, bringing the entire band to the front of the stage. First, center; then stage left and then, stage right. Then, he returns and begins "All the Gold in California" and addresses a young lady on the front row. "That young lady is saying to herself, 'I wish he was Josh Turner' but he don't know what I know." Gatlin laughs and plays on, all the while reaching back for another taste of the soft serve. But don't think the band was left out. Soon, the reigning Miss Georgia Mountain Fair - Miss Sally Ann Jones - and entourage handed cones to the entire band.
What a great country, indeed! |
And when all is said and done (and eaten), may you be lucky enough to be carried home by daddy.
Where to Stay
lakeside view at The Ridges
The Ridges Resort & Marina
one of our favorite places to stay, located right on Lake Chatuge, complete with fireplace and salt water pool
and . . . smores every evening from 8 p.m. until 10 p.m out back at the fire pit
Where to Eat
The Oaks
located at The Ridges Resort, The Oaks serves local fare . . . and excellent cheese grits from Logan Turnpike Mill
located at The Ridges Resort, The Oaks serves local fare . . . and excellent cheese grits from Logan Turnpike Mill
downtown Hiawassee, it serves everything from the perfect pastry to an angus steak chocolate wrap
