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Visitors flock to annual Belpre Heritage Day

BELPRE — Visitors to the Farmers Castle Museum in Belpre had the chance to see how crafts were done in the old days during the annual Belpre Heritage Day.

The free event was held at the museum and its annex at 509 Ridge St. in Belpre.

This year’s demonstrators included dulcimer players, a bagpiper, antique equipment, blacksmithing, leather working, a farrier, the Congregational quilting group, antique tractors, a spinner and a display by the Belpre Library.

Also on display during Heritage Day was the Farmers Castle Museum itself. The museum features a General Store, the Exhibit Barn, a gift shop and a Victorian era room. The Belpre Historical Society accepts donations of historical artifacts that belonged to a Belpre area family, have some significance as to time and place, and/or would be acceptable within an exhibit that the society is developing, such as the General Store.

Charlotte Powell, society president, genealogist and curator, said this year’s event featured several returning demonstrators, including a group of dulcimer players who were well received last year and enjoyed the experience.

“They were very eager to come back this year,” she said.

For a second year, the event featured free tours of historical sites in Belpre. Powell said the tours were added last year and drew such a positive response they were brought back again this year, running from 12:30-3:30 p.m. to various sites important in Belpre’s history.

Bryan Farcus, of Athens, Ohio, owner of Farrier Friendly, was set up to give farrier-related demonstrations Saturday at the heritage day. Farcus said he couldn’t give full demonstrations of his craft because he didn’t have any horses to put horseshoes on, but he did demonstrate the steps to turn a bar of iron into a horseshoe.

With his farrier workshop travels in the back of his pickup truck, Farcus said he is continuing a tradition going back to the Civil War and its aftermath. While the mode of transport has changed – from horse-drawn wagon to motor vehicle – the tradition of the traveling farrier has remained much the same, although coal-fired furnaces now run on propane.

As part of his exhibit, Farcus had photos of traveling farrier setups from the late 19th Century up through the 1970s. What was once a vital role in helping with animal-powered agriculture and industry changed in the 1960s and 1970s when horse ownership and usage changed to a more recreational activity.

While he doesn’t participate every year, Farcus said he has been giving demonstrations at the Belpre Heritage Day for about six years and has been saddened by the decline in involvement and interest he has observed in such events over the last several years.

He believes today’s education system focuses more on the present and the future than it does on the past and history. Events like the heritage day and places like Farmers Castle Museum could be a valuable tool in connecting students with history if they were just used more for that purpose, he said, adding he believes the interest is there.

“I know kids will come up to me from five or six years ago and say ‘I still have that horseshoe you gave me when I met you down at Belpre,’ the little sample (horse) shoes I make for the kids. They remember the steps that it takes … they saw me make a little pattern horseshoe for them and I bet that’s something they remember more because they witnessed it than they read it online somewhere or saw a video,” he said.

The Farmers Castle Museum Education Center is open Wednesday and Saturday afternoons from 1-4 p.m. through the end of October. It is open other times by appointment. Groups are especially welcome. Memberships for students, individuals, families and for businesses are available.

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