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Museum in the ’Grass
An old-time mountain homecoming with music a’plenty
by Clint Casey
For 25 years, the Museum of Appalachia in Anderson County has played host to a Fall Homecoming. The event had a humble beginning, drawing visitors from Knoxville and Oak Ridge, with a handful of tourists drifting in from the then-recently completed Interstate 75. Each year, the Homecoming expands, attracting an increasing number of visitors to revel in demonstrations of pioneer life, old-time crafts and music.
The annual festival is a celebration of the culture and heritage of rural inhabitants of the Appalachian Mountains. Sixteen miles north of Knoxville in Norris, the site encompasses the 90 acres surrounding the museum itself and offers ample room to accommodate the more than 50,000 people the event draws over a five-day period. The 2004 Tennessee Fall Homecoming is happening now through this Sunday.
“Everybody does festivals this time of year, but what I think makes ours different is the fact that we try to keep the old-time traditions alive—making lye soap, apple butter and apple cider, and sorghum,” says Elaine Meyer, museum executive director. “Even things as simple as washing clothes in kettles, the things people used to do and had to do as a part of their life that were lost along the way.”
The musical lineup features Dr. Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys, Sparky Rucker, and Rhonda Vincent, but, with four stages on the grounds, bands will be playing continuously during the event. Meyer says that the process of wrangling musicians has evolved over the past 25 years. “We used to have to drag them out of the woodwork, but now we’ve got several hundred musicians with 50 groups on the waiting list.”
Traditional cloggers, buck dancers and flat-foot dancers will be performing with the music. And the museum encourages visitors to bring instruments along for the open jam sessions all across the grounds.
Members of the Smoky Mountain Antique Engine and Tractor Association will have century-old engines and antique farm tractors for demonstrations on how the machines were used to power corn mills, butter churns, ice cream makers, and other early household tasks.�
Cooks will prepare and serve regional food using wood-burning stoves, including cornbread, fried pies, country ham and biscuits, pit barbecue, chicken and dumplings and homemade desserts.
Regional authors are scheduled for the writers’ table to discuss and autograph books, and local genealogists have committed to the Homecoming to give direction to festival goers to help trace their Appalachian ancestry.
Despite hosting several other annual events, the Homecoming represents the museum’s largest gathering—more than 10 times the attendance of other happenings.
Meyer says the museum has visitors from all over the country and the world. “We have a group of Australian quilters, and a gentleman that drives from Homer, Alaska every year for the bluegrass,” she says. In addition, it gives an economic boost to the area by selling out restaurants, filling hotels and local businesses.
Admission is $25 for adults and $5 for children under 12, with discounted four-day packages available. For more information, e-mail the Museum of Appalachia at [email protected] or call (865)494-0514.
October 7, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 41
© 2004 Metro Pulse
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