The big attraction

Like most small towns there ain't squat to do in Woodville. This weekend was the Heritage Festival that they hold ever year at Heritage Village which is a couple miles out of town. Luci took the girls and they wandered around the old buildings and learned about traditional arts and crafts and saw some singing and dancing. Heritage Village is a collection of building maintained by the towns historic society that contain items from the early settlement of the area. I think there is around twelve buildings in various condition that include the typical school house, jail cell, barber shop and work shop buildings. My personal favorite is the building full of Buggy's.

Every time we go I think about my grandfather taking us to the museum he worked on in Delano. Every time we went as kids it felt like the first time. I can remember my grandfather telling the story of how the sheriff almost shot the mannequin in the general store when checking on a reported break in. I remember helping to move toilets and unstick doors when they brought in a new building while I was visiting. Not much to speak of I think I have the clearest picture in my mind of the jail cell, one of the oldest in California, which was like a tiny log cabin with a small window covered by iron bars inside and out. The door weighed a ton and peering inside the only thing you could really see was an army of spiders.

The kids enjoyed seeing how a loom works and how candles were made as well as the ever popular shingle splitting. I know they have seen the same demonstrations every year, but they always seem interested. Maybe because they see it from a new perspective every year as they grow up. Fourth of July, Heritage Festival, Dogwood Weekend and anytime someone visits from out of town usually require a trip to heritage village. Seems like Halloween would be a great time to go to a place like this I know I could scare the bejeezes out the kids with stories of the old man who still haunts the old saloon to this very day. They always fall for that one.