Rain Stays Away From Fall Fest

WAITSBURG - It was a day of Victorian fashion, museum tours, buffalo, corn on the cob and Butlers at Waitsburg's Fall Festival on Sunday.

The attendance was anything but sparse. The community filled benches and wooden chairs on the front lawn of the Bruce Memorial Museum for a church service. Pastor Mike Ferrians, dressed as though he were from the old west in a long black coat and hat, led the congregants in singing traditional hymns and spoke about an old-fashioned farm tool he had found.

After the church service, the award for Pioneer of the Year was presented to Jane Butler, a Waitsburg resident for about 50 years. Butler's late husband Bob was born and raised in Waitsburg. The Butler family was established in Waitsburg beginning with Dr. Rufus Butler, the town's doctor, who retired in 1922, said Bob Butler, Jane Butler's son.

"It's a genuine thrill that will always stay with me," Butler said Sunday with a wide smile, quoting actress Betty White.

Butler's son Bob was on hand to acknowledge friends and family who had traveled from afar to see the award presentation and shared some stories about the family.

Jeff Broom, the president of the Historical Society, said the Bruce Mansion was open all day for tours and the adjacent house, now known as the Wilson-Phyllis House, has been donated to the society for a museum. Currently, the house is acting as a boardroom for the society and the group is gleaning artifacts from it. Broom said the society hopes to have the house open for next year's Fall Festival.

The rest of the afternoon was mellow. Folk music sang through the air as visitor's noses were greeted with the smell of kettle corn and buffalo. The Lion's annual buffalo lunch was a hit and diners filled picnic tables on the lawn behind the house.

The Weller Public Library had a book sale running and many visitors left with hardbacks tucked under their arms. Children smiled up at ladies in aprons who were scooping ice cream, in vanilla, chocolate and strawberry flavors and even selling root beer floats in red cups with straws.

Men and women dressed in period clothing wandered through the history-inspired festival, and later in the afternoon, women and children showed off intricate Victorian costumes in a fashion show.

Ronda Bell sat at an oldfashioned spinning wheel on the lawn. Little boys watched her work, feeding the fluffy wool through the wheel and turning it to thread. Bell said she attends the festival every year to show off her craft.

"It's just a lost art," she said of spinning.

Typically, visitors ask her what kind of fiber she uses and how long spinning takes. Also, they want to know if it's difficult.

Bell smiles as she continues to spin. She doesn't even have a shoe on her foot that presses the pedal.

"I enjoy it because it's relaxing," she said.

She spins alpaca, buffalo and lots of different kinds of fibers to knit socks and crochet with.

Bell said she believes it's important that people are aware of how spinning was done before today's large manufacturing machines made clothes and other goods.

" It shows people how things used to be and it gives them a piece of history," she said.

Francis Roth and Jane Samples had come from Walla Walla for the festival to get a piece of Waitsburg and a piece of buffalo.

The ladies were examining old fashioned glass bottles and trying to guess what each bottle held. Roth said her daughter makes bath salts for friends and family and she was trying to find a bottle big enough for that purpose.

Roth had been to Waitsburg before and brought her friend because "the little towns around here just interest her," she said. "And I want some buffalo and corn on the cob. The Fall Festival is always great fun."

Roth said she first came to Waitsburg and was impressed by the local Lions Club members and how active the group is. She said Waitsburg is a very special place and events like the Fall Festival really highlight that fact.

"I come back as many times as I can get here," Roth said.