Heritage focuses on ‘Visions of Yesterday’

The most well-attended festival in Harrison County, Lanesville Heritage Weekend, will kick-off its 36th edition tomorrow (Thursday) morning.
At 8:15 a.m., Maynard Lambertus, a charter member of Lanesville Heritage Weekend Inc., will demonstrate wheat threshing, corn shelling, limestone grinding and other aspects of early American life for more than 100 children from Lanesville schools.
‘He’s a dyed-in-the-wool antique buff,’ Joan Schickel, Heritage publicity director, said.
Lambertus’ program serves as a tool for children to get in touch with their roots and it reveals how our ancestors had to eke out a living, Schickel said.
‘Kids don’t know their roots,’ she said.
Tomorrow evening, at 6:30, will be the antique tractor pull.
The festival will officially get underway in earnest Friday at 11 a.m. with the opening of the Heritage food building, where fish, pork chops, Tyson chicken fingers, bean soup, corn bread, barbecue, brats and Culver’s frozen yogurt will be served.
Booths, numbering about 250, and the farm toy show will open at noon, and farming demonstrations will take place beginning at noon and continue throughout the day.
The annual princess pageant, for girls ages 4 to 6 years, will begin at 6 p.m. at Lanesville Junior-Senior High School. This year’s contestants will be Olivia Briedenbach, Sophie Brengman, Hylton Brumley, Grace Campbell, Emma Davis, Jane Davis, Madelyn Dotson, Camryn Hiller, Claire Jolley, Isabella Jones, Ava Kerr, Makenna Magner, Allison McGrath, Karlee Morris, Kayleigh Morris, Bayley Myrick, Josie Powers, Brooke Prior, Alyssa Royalty, Ellie Schneider, Emma Shaffer, Emilee Snyder, Morgan Sonner, Grace Stickels, Fiona Tinius, Linzie Wernert, Ashlyn Wiehebrink and Izabella Zehnder.
After the princess contest will be the queen pageant. Candidates will be:
Caryn Eisert, 16, daughter of Pamela and Larry Eisert, Lanesville; she is a junior and will perform a vocal solo.
Celine Esparza, 16, daughter of Charles and Demariz Esparza, Lanesville; she is a junior and will perform a Mexican dance;
Bailey Kaake, 14, daughter of Karen and Steve Kaake, Lanesville; she is a freshman and will perform a gymnastic floor routine;
Kayla Smith, 18, daughter of Mitzi Smith Mills, Lanesville, and Eric Emery, Marion; she is a senior and will perform a vocal solo;
Kendra Smith, 16, daughter of Terry and Angela Smith, Lanesville; she is a junior and will perform a vocal solo; and
Hailey Turner, 14, daughter of Melissa and Todd Turner, Lanesville; she is a freshman and will perform a flute solo.
Scales will open Friday at 5 p.m. for a truck pull at 7 on the Heritage grounds. An amateur fiddler’s contest will take place at 8 p.m. at the Heritage Community Center in two classes (16 and younger, and 17 and older), with prizes totaling $300.
The night will close with a hot-air balloon glow, weather permitting, at 9.
Breakfast, craft and other food booths will open Saturday at 8 a.m., which is also the start time for the 8-miler, five-mile walk and two-mile fun run.
The farm toy show will begin at 9, followed by an exhibitor antique tractor pull at 10, chicken and dumplings at 11 and the ever-popular parade at 1 p.m. with a theme of ‘Visions of Yesterday.’ Grand Marshals of the parade will be the world champion Lanesville High School DestiNation Imagination Global Finals team.
A tractor and truck pull will begin at 5 p.m., and a hot-air balloon event is scheduled for 6.
Demonstrations throughout the day on the Heritage Grounds will include basket making, blacksmithing, broom making, cider mill, pottery, stained glass, quilting, sawmill, shaker boxes, shingle making, shredding, stationary baling, threshing, weaving, wood turning and others.
The festival will conclude Sunday, when the day begins with breakfast at 8 followed by a worship service at the gazebo from 9 to 9:30. A fried chicken dinner will be served beginning at 11, and the antique tractor games will also start then. The farm toy show will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Several competitions are scheduled for Sunday: horseshoe pitching (limited to 64 entries) at the Mail Pouch Barn at noon, a log-sawing contest on the Heritage Grounds at 1 p.m. followed by a pedal tractor pull at 2 (registration will start at 1 and costs $1; limited to 50 entries in each weight class).
A antique farm machinery parade will start at 3:30 p.m. at the pulling track.
The festival officially concludes at 5 p.m., when a total of $1,000 will be given away (one $500 prize and five $100 prizes).
Helicopter rides will be available for a fee Friday through Sunday, as will be amusement rides.
A reminder that no alcoholic beverages, skateboards, rollerblades, bicycles or pets of any kind are allowed on the Heritage grounds.
Festival parking and admission is free.
Parking with shuttle service is available at the following locations: West Parking Lot ‘ corner of S.R. 62 and Crandall-Lanesville Road; East Parking Lot ‘ corner of Park Drive and Tandy Road; New Life Christian Church along Tandy Road; and Lanesville Junior-Senior High School.
The Lanesville Lions Club will serve breakfast Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings from 8 to 10.