The Clayton event has been rescheduled to Saturday, Oct. 8, for safety reasons as Hurricane Ian approaches.
Photo courtesy of Todd Faircloth, Foxfire executive director Progress continues on the miniature replica of Foxfire’s Chapel for the new Children’s Village at the museum and heritage center. This chapel will be added to the existing miniature replica Warwoman Cabin also displayed at the Children’s Village. In the future, the Children’s Village will also feature a barn, blacksmith shop, and Cherokee House from the period before European contact.
Fall is in the air and the annual Foxfire Mountaineer Festival is coming to Clayton next weekend.
The festival now will be held Saturday, Oct. 8, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Rabun County Civic Center, 201 West Savannah Street, Clayton. Tickets are $8 and children ages 5 and under are free.
The annual gala originally was scheduled for Oct. 1 but the date was changed because Hurricane Ian.
The Children’s Village is the newest amenity that is currently being added to the museum site.
Faircloth said he is appreciative of how Foxfire was searching for a way to improve children’s experiences at the museum and also wanted a place where children could play and interact.
“Now we have an experience for the whole family, no matter their ages,” said Foxfire executive director Todd Faircloth. “We’re encouraging kids to be hands-on.”
The Children’s Village will have miniature replicas of existing buildings such as the Warwoman Cabin, Chapel, Barn, Blacksmith Shop, and Cherokee House from the period before European contact. These replicas will be scaled smaller so children can interact by playing, cooking, and learning about what life was like.
The replica children’s Warwoman Cabin is complete as children can enjoy the facility that is scaled down to fit their needs.
“We’ve got it set up like what it looked like then,” said Faircloth of the miniature replica cabin that was featured during Foxfire’s Heritage Days event in July 2022.
Stiles, along with volunteers, built the miniature replica Warwoman Cabin by hand with resources, such as logs and rocks, found on the property.
“[We’re] using what we have and that’s the way it would have been done over 100 years ago. The purpose was to make it look as authentic as possible,” said Foxfire Museum Director Barry Stiles. He explained that back in history the community would come together for a “barn raising” and build for the community. And that’s exactly what they are doing today.
In addition, all of the facilities at Foxfire today were built on the property.
Faircloth said the goal is also to have a pavilion and outdoor classroom in the area.
Stiles said that work continues to be done on the Children’s Village with the miniature chapel as the next project.
Volunteers who either want to help, give financially or donate resources to the project are encouraged to reach out to the Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center.
Faircloth and Stiles thanked donors to the Children’s Village project, including the Lake Rabun Association Foundation.
“We appreciate their assistance and support in this project,” Stiles said.
The Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center is open year-round Monday-Saturday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. It is located at 98 Foxfire Lane, Mountain City. Visit https://www.foxfire.org/ for more information about living history and to celebrate Appalachian Culture in the North Georgia mountains.
Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center offer ‘living history’
The Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center features an Appalachian Village that is made up of more than 20 historic log structures, each showcasing various artifacts representative of life in the mountains from the 1820s to the 1940s. It also has interactive displays with hands-on history where demonstrators teach the roles that crafts such as weaving, blacksmithing, soap making, and more played in everyday life and how they have been adapted to the modern era, according to the website.
Additionally, the museum features a half-mile walking trail, a gift shop, and offers Heritage Skills classes where visitors can learn crafts like needle felting and flintknapping, as well as learn culinary skills during the wood stove cooking workshops.
The displays in the museum are “truly rustic and authentic,” said Todd Faircloth, executive director of Foxfire.
Nestled in the North Georgia mountains, the Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center paints a picture of what life in Appalachia was like over 100 years ago.
Foxfire began in 1966 when a teacher at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School asked students what would make school more interesting. The students created a magazine that featured stories gathered from their families and neighbors about the pioneer era of southern Appalachia and traditions of the region. It was called Foxfire after the glow-in-the-dark fungus found in the local hills, according to the Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center website.
“This spark of an idea turned into a phenomenon of education and living history, exploring how our past contributes to who we are and what we can become-how the past illuminates our present and inspires imagination,” according to the website.
In 1974, Foxfire used book royalties to purchase land, which eventually became an immersive museum. Faircloth said the museum is important to the history of the area because visitors can learn about Appalachian people; where they came from; and show appreciation for the hard work of their ancestors.
“It gives us an appreciation for what we have,” said Barry Stiles, museum director. “Helps with self-esteem and confidence and knowing where they came from.”
Foxfire also hosts workshops and festivals throughout the year.