Published: October 04, 2009 12:32 am      

Old Fashion fun

Festival keeps folks coming back for more

GREENUP — There’s something about Greenup County Old Fashion Days that keeps folks coming back year after year.

Just ask Wayne and Helen Fries.

They’re from California — the one in northern Kentucky, not the one on the West Coast — and they’ve been at the festival every year since its inception.

That’s 44 years now.

The couple sells rugs that Wayne Fries makes on an authentic 1800s loom he purchased in 1960. He also works the loom at the festival, giving folks the opportunity to watch him ply his craft.

Wayne Fries said Saturday that he was able to trace the loom’s history from 1818, when it was given as a wedding gift. However, “We don’t know if it was new or old at that time,” he said.

Helen Fries proudly displayed a plaque the couple received this year from the Old Fashion Days Committee for their years of dedicated support of the festival.

“We really like it here,” she said. “This is the last show we do every year.”

Another fixture at the festival since its very beginning has been the Greenup County Lions Club’s Antique Car Show. It’s one of the longest-running, if not the longest-running car show in the region.

This year’s show drew 57 entries, ranging from street rods to ‘60s muscle cars to actual antiques.

Show Chairman Jim Archey said the number of entries was down this year. He attributed that to the fact there were other car shows taking place elsewhere in the area on Saturday.

Money raised through the car show is used by the Lions Club to support vision health, Archey said. That includes paying for glasses and eye exams for children and adults who are unable to afford them.

The live Wild West drama is another popular Old Fashion Days event that’s been going on for years. However, the folks who laughed as they watched the scenarios play out in front of the county courthouse likely had no idea how much work goes into the production, said Greg Stevens of Flatwoods, one of the actors.

According to Stevens, who played a character named Flash, a mountain man clad in buckskin clothing and a coonskin cap, a la Daniel Boone, rehearsals begin about six weeks before the show date.

“We meet here and work out our parts, and sometimes, we’re here as late as 3 or 4 a.m.,” he said.

Stevens has been part of the drama for 21 years. He said it’s the camaraderie among the cast that keeps him coming back.

“We’re just like family,” he said.

Other attractions at Old Fashion Days on Saturday included an apple pie-baking contest, a talent show, a cornhole tournament, tractor games, a fiddle contest and a parade.

Roger Hardin of South Shore was one of the unexpected stars of the festival — or, more accurately, his companions were.

Hardin was pulling a wagon through the streets of downtown Greenup. In the wagon were some 9-week-old English bulldog puppies, which Hardin was selling.

Hardin started the day with seven pups. He’d sold three of them by about 2 p.m. Still, kids trailed after the wagon, eager to reach out and pet the pudgy, wrinkly and completely adorable canines.

“I’m going to have to take them home and let their hair grow back,” Hardin joked. “They’ve just about rubbed the hair off of them.”

KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.