Green Creek Heritage Festival set for tomorrow, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
If you would like a glimpse of what it was like to live in the area 100 years ago, plan to visit the 13th annual Green Creek Heritage Festival Saturday, Sept. 10.
The festival will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Green Creek Community Center, located at 534 Coxe Road in Green Creek.
“The festival offers the community and visitors a day of fun that depicts life in Green Creek 100 years ago,” said festival organizer Krista Haynes. “We’ll have demonstrations of old-time skills such as blacksmithing, basket-weaving and spinning, displays of antiques, crafts for sale, historical information about the area, a parade, a firemen’s barrel roll competition and lots more.”
The parade has increased in participants each year. Any civic club, church, school organization or scout troop that would like to participate can register with Francine Costner at 828-863-4065.
The finale to the parade is the popular “Firemen’s Barrel Roll Competition,” featuring local fire departments pitted against each other.
“This year we’ve added a Junior Firemen’s Combat Challenge for 14-year-olds to 17-year-olds,” Haynes said. “They’ll put on firemen’s uniforms and compete in a kind of obstacle course based on firefighting skills.”
There will again be an antique car, truck and tractor show. Registration is at 7 a.m. You can pre-register by calling David Waldrop at 828-863-4071.
The craft fair, organized by Susie Kimbrell, includes a wide variety of craftspeople, many of whom will demonstrate their crafts throughout the day.
Also returning this year are storytellers, a health fair and a 4-H livestock show.
At 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., the medical emergency helicopters from Mission Memorial and Spartanburg Regional hospitals will arrive. Families will be able to see inside the helicopters and talk with personnel.

Entertainment
Live music will fill the air all day, ranging from gospel to country and bluegrass music. Storytelling and magic shows will also be offered.
Entertainers this year will include:
• Phil and Gaye Johnson (9:10 a.m.), will perform for their 13th year at the festival. This award-winning duo offers a unique blend of traditional and contemporary folk, bluegrass and country music along with generous portions of western swing, cowboy, blues and old-time traditions.
• Jack Roper is co-host of “Your Carolina with Jack and Kimberly,” which airs each day on WSPA-TV in Spartanburg, S.C. Roper, who was born and raised in Union, S.C., will perform a magic show at 10:30 a.m.
• Timberline (11:15 a.m.), an up-and-coming bluegrass group from Pickens, S.C., will be picking and singing bluegrass favorites.
• Jennifer Prince (noon) will perform in the group Keown & Prince with Donnie Foster. This will be Prince’s sixth year in a row to perform at the festival. She grew up in Green Creek and has played music as a solo act, as well as with various groups across the United States, Europe, Canada and in the Caribbean/West Indies islands.
• The Master’s Singers (1 p.m.) is a southern gospel trio from Chesnee, S.C., that has been together for 30 years.
• Greg Day (2 p.m.), legendary songwriter, is best known for writing “The Midnight Cry,” a number one gospel song for the Gold City Quartet in the 1980s, which was also voted as the song of the decade in the 80s by the “Southern Gospel Field.” Day, who lives in Greer, S.C., has written dozens of top 10 and top 20 southern gospel songs.
Throughout the day, the Mountain Legacy Dancers will perform, along with various musical groups. The Chesnee Highway Band will also perform throughout the day at the car show.
James Metcalf, entertainment chairman and member of the board of directors for the Green Creek Community Center, will emcee the festival for the 13th year. Metcalf is also the music coordinator for the radio station WJFJ in Columbus.
Food
David Wallace, owner of Smoky Dave’s BBQ, will cook the barbecue this year. Wallace placed fifth in the South Carolina State Barbecue Competition and provides outdoor catering to festivals and fairs all across the United States.
“We are all excited to have Smoky Dave’s at the festival this year,” said Haynes.
Barbecue sandwiches will be available at all food stations. Barbecue plates with bread, slaw, baked beans and dessert will be served inside the cafeteria.
David Page will smoke chicken-leg quarters again this year. Chicken plates will also be served in the cafeteria and will include the same side items as the barbecue plates. Organizers said Page’s chicken has been a big hit for the past three years and always sells out quickly.
The main food court will be located inside the walking track at the front of the property; this is where you can get a hotdog with homemade chili, barbecue sandwiches, ice cream, soft drinks, lemonade and ice cold water. All of this will also be available across the road at the antique car, truck, and tractor show.
Barbecue and chicken will be available at 11 a.m.; hotdogs and all other food sales begin at 9 a.m. Breakfast biscuits will be served in the cafeteria until 9:30 a.m.
Raffles
Two raffles will be held during the festival. You don’t have to be present at the drawing to win.
One of the raffles will give away a Saluda Mountain Weekend Getaway, which includes one night at the Saluda Mountain Lodge, a $30 gift certificate for Caro-Mi Restaurant, a $10 gift certificate for Ward’s Grill, a $25 gift certificate for M.A. Pace General Store and a $25 gift certificate for Somewhere in Time.
Another raffle will give away a pineapple crocheted throw.
All proceeds from the festival go to support the Green Creek Community Center. Ten percent of all proceeds are designated for a college scholarship awarded to a Green Creek resident each year. Scholarship applications will be available at the festival.
For information and/or driving directions, please contact Krista Haynes, festival chairman, at 828-863-4367. The event offers free admission and free parking. Handicapped parking is available and all areas are handicapped accessible. No pets, outside solicitation or food vendors are allowed at the festival.