Ba-a-ack to Basics
Leave the gadgets behind at the Kentucky Wool Festival

In this age of computer technology that advances so quickly a new machine can become obsolete almost by the time it appears on your credit card statement, and of mobile communications so compact and smart that you can purchase stocks and answer e-mail while speeding down a highway at 70 miles per hour, stepping back to an old-fashioned, more relaxed era, if only for a weekend, can work wonders on your spirit akin to a breath of fresh mountain air.

Inhale deeply at Falmouth the first full weekend in October, and the earthy smell of a barnyard – sheep, to be exact – will ground you instantly.

Truly a celebration of a time when people lived off the land and master craftsmanship was appreciated as a tool for survival, the Kentucky Wool Festival (KWF) packs three days full of heritage crafts demonstrations, eclectic music, lively dancing, mouth-watering food and sheep thrills galore, all in a lovely outdoor setting right next to 850-acre Kincaid Lake State Park.

Designated the state’s official wool festival in the spring of 1986, this wild and wooly fete offers weaving, carding and spinning by nimble-fingered local ladies dressed as bonneted early settlers, sheep shearing by two or three local volunteers, and sheep herding by black-and-white border collies, the brilliant, busy breed which lives to round up strays.

“Border collies will herd almost anything,” says David Pribble, KWF president. “At the festival they herd sheep and ducks both.”

Though at some venues shearing is presented as a contest, that’s not the case here. From nearby Grant county, Rodney Edmondson furnishes the sheep and shares shearing duties. “We don’t do it for speed,” Pribble explains. “We do it to demonstrate the heritage art for people to see, especially young kids. They love it.”

A golden opportunity for children (and their parents) to learn how great-grandma and great-grandpa lived without mind-numbing video games, malls and MTV, the three-day festival also features a working blacksmith, wood carvers, broom and candle making, leatherwork and corn grinding, with finished products available for sale.

Occasionally a group of frontier-era garbed muzzle loaders, who set up tent and tipi camps where they sell handmade wares and tell tales of the harsh realities of wilderness life, will fire off long-barrels with ka-booms loud enough to wake their ancestors.

Arriving in the tranquil Licking River Valley in the late 1700’s, those courageous pioneers found the land to be perfect for raising sheep, and for many years Pendleton County was among Kentucky’s leaders in sheep production.

Woolen mills soon popped up all over the region. Just after the Civil War, the Woodheads, an English immigrant family who had first settled in textile-producing areas of New England, moved to Falmouth and began Pendleton Woolen Mills. The business flourished, achieving international acclaim for its Shaker-style blankets. Though no mills remain open today, the legacy of a once-thriving sheep industry remains.

In 1982 a small group of interested local citizens, including then-County Judge Pribble, met to for the purpose of creating a festival that would help promote the area. Gleaning organizational ideas from a pumpkin festival in Ohio and guidance from a University of Kentucky Extension Specialist, the committee harkened back to its wool-producing roots for a theme.

In October of 1983 the first KWF was birthed as an aid to tourism, but also to promote the revitalization of the sheep and wool products industry throughout the state, a goal seemingly closer to reality the past few years.

Initially, the to-do was held at Falmouth’s fairgrounds on property owned by the county school system. But traffic flow was a problem, until a couple of years ago, when Pribble sold the festival committee a parcel of land he owned that borders Kincaid Lake State Park.

“It’s a beautiful area that sits on a creek,” he says. “There are lots of trees and the leaves are usually turning color during the time of year the Wool Fest is on. And we can use the state park for parking.”

Since retiring in 1984, Pribble wields a golf club instead of a gavel. “A politician has three alternatives,” he laughs. “He either dies, quits or gets beat. I quit before they figured that out!”

Now he serves the festival as head electrician while his wife Virginia stays busy with its paperwork and any odd jobs that need doing to keep everything running smoothly.

During the course of the family-oriented weekend, some 25,000 to 30,000 attendees peruse 150 booths rife with juried crafts, such as hand-stitched quilts, handmade baskets, painted tole ware, hand-painted dolls and forged iron work. Bluegrass, barbershop, folk, gospel and country musicians share two entertainment stages with mountain cloggers and square dancers.

Twenty-five food booths offer ethnic foods varied enough to sate even the heartiest sheep shearer’s appetite. We’re talking Kentucky burgoo ladled from an iron kettle simmering over an open fire, Cajan jambalaya, pulled beef and pork barbecue, steaming bean soup and cornbread, pan-fried chicken dinners, fried apple pies, Pennsylvania Dutch funnel cakes and “bloomin’ onions,” a favorite of Pribble’s.

“They slice ‘em down and deep fry ‘em. They’re delicious,” he says. “I think one year they sold twenty tons of ‘em.”

Amazingly, the whole shebang is community volunteer-run. The eleven board members of the nonprofit Kentucky Wool Fest Corporation head committees that organize the event. One KWF goal is to “provide an opportunity for community and school organizations, crafts people and individuals to raise money as an alternative to door to door sales or fund raising drives.”

As a result, the local high school band boosters, both kids and parents, are in charge of parking. Food booths are operated by the county homemakers’ club, the Masonic lodge and several churches. The Lions Club sells tickets at the gate, 4-H club sells non-alcoholic drinks, primary and secondary school art classes have a face-painting booth and the Junior Bassmasters do rest room cleanup duty, all for a percentage of the gate, while the FFA is paid for garbage pickup. The event is truly a win-win for the community.

Just as the Wool Festival is a must-see, says Pribble, because it has “music, crafts, lots of food, lots of entertainment for children as well as adults, and some old things, like homemade sorghum and honey. And everything’s under cover. We have four big tents 100 by 80 feet long that are full of crafters. It’s a great family weekend.”

Ewe can ponder the shear variety of festival opportunities at www.kentuckywoolfest.com

In the Falmouth area, an assortment of overnight options can accommodate most family tastes and pocketbooks.

Right in town, two bed and breakfasts are at your service. Put your feet up in a big wicker porch chair and luxuriate in the peacefulness of small town America at Back Inn Time, with a choice of seven bedrooms.

For a historic roof over your head, the Red Brick House, a Victorian Gothic home (circa 1885 to 1890), offers four cozy bedrooms and a small antiques and collectibles shop on the premises. In 1996, owners Gene and JoEllen Kearns bought the property, just eight months before the disastrous flood of ‘97 deposited a foot of water in the house, which had been high and dry for all of its 110 years until that time. A gigantic serving of elbow grease got it ready in time for KWF that fall.

JoEllen serves a “continental plus” breakfast that can be geared to guests’ dietary needs. Her specialities include a breakfast quiche that can feature eggs, hash browns and bacon or sausage. And her Orange French Toast is so popular that “Guests usually ask for the recipe,” she says.

Closer-to-nature buffs can be lulled to sleep by the rippling waters of the Licking River at the Paddlers’ Inn (with the option of a canoe, kayak or raft trip), or can camp under the stars at one of Kincaid Lake State Park’s 84 wooded sites, hike on more than two miles of trails or simply put your feet up and ogle 183 acres of gorgeous water views.

Katherine Tandy Brown is a staff writer for The Lane Report.
editorial@lanereport.com

Back to Tourism Index

Back to September Issue

Copyright 1996-2001, by Kentucky Business Online.  All rights reserved.

Editorial content is copyright 2001, Lane Communications Group
All editorial material is fully protected and must not be reproduced in any manner without prior permission.

The Lane Report is a trademark of Lane Communications Group.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.