By Jennifer Whittaker, Editor

Westville’s Fall Festival is scheduled for Oct. 7 through Nov. 7, with a Yellow Fever re-enactment scheduled for Oct. 9, and an Arts and Crafts Festival on Oct. 16

It’s always 1850 here, so you’ll only find one ride in this Courier and Ives style village - a horse drawn wagon that takes visitors on a tour of the more than 30 authentic historic buildings. However, there will be plenty of old-fashioned fun with special harvest-time activities and daily demonstrations of century-old crafts including, pottery, woodworking, baskets, quilting, cloth weaving, and wood stove cooking.

Westville visitors can watch mules move slowly around a circle, providing the power for a cane grinder that extracts juice from sugar cane to make syrup. Afterwards, visitors can sample the homemade syrup on a made-from-scratch biscuit at the Kiser House.

During the festival, a mule-powered cotton gin will be in operation from noon to 2 p.m. daily. Idle most of the year, the Westville gin is one of only two operational animal-powered gins in the world. Guests visiting the Westville gardens can see how cotton is grown and try their hand at picking cotton.

Professional musicians will provide visitors with

Children visiting Westville on Dec. 4, may participate in the search for the Yule Log. Other Christmas celebrations will include the lighting of the Christmas Tree on Dec. 11 and 18

throughout the month showcasing the work of talented artists playing the guitar, fiddle, dulcimer, banjo, and the saw.

There will be a re-enactment of a Yellow Fever outbreak on Sat., Oct. 9. Throughout the day, Westville visitors will be able to watch a Yellow Fever scourge unfold as it would have in the antebellum South when there was no understanding of bacteria or viruses and people believed wild superstitions. Programs have been based on research with assistance from the Columbus State University Archives.

On Sat., Oct. 16, the Stewart County Historical Commission will sponsor an Arts and Crafts Fair on the Square in uptown Lumpkin, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The transition from fall to Christmas will occur on Mon., Nov. 29, when Westville Advisor, Roscoe Duncan, will lead volunteers in decorating the village using natural greenery, fruits, and berries. The workshop begins at 10 a.m. and is free to all who wish to attend.

Christmas celebrations at Westville officially begin with the 36th Annual Yule Log Ceremony on Sat., Dec. 4, at 3 p.m. Visiting children can hunt for the Yule Log. Upon its discovery, the finder of the log will be presented with a cup of wassail and the log burning ceremony will begin. According to tradition, servants were exempted from their daily chores as long as the Yule Log burned.

The lighting of the Christmas Tree will take place at the Singer House on Dec. 11 and Dec. 18, at 2 p.m. This tradition, mostly unknown in the United States before the 19th century, was brought over by German families who settled in the area. The trees will be lit using hand-made candles crafted at Westville. The lighting of the Christmas tree will be accompanied by a recitation of “The Night Before Christmas” and the “Christmas Story” found in the Bible.

Westville’s yuletide season will end on Sat., Dec. 26, at 2 p.m., during the Burning of the Greens. The greenery used to decorate Westville’s buildings for Christmas will be burned, symbolizing the passing of the old year. As the decorations are ignited, village bells will ring welcoming the new year.

Westville is located in Stewart County, 35 miles south of Columbus on US 27. Westville is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Tickets are $4/students and $10/adults with group rates available. Westville is closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years Day. For more information visit www.westville.org or call toll free 1-888-733-1850.