By STEPHANIE BRUMFIELD / Staff Writer

SHELBY – The Historic Shelby Association’s biggest fundraiser and annual Fall Festival will return to Shelby Iron Park Oct. 12-13 and feature food, vendors, hay and train car rides, music and more.

“It’ll just be a demonstration of a lot of antique tools like the sawmill, making syrup and blacksmithing and selling various items like pastries and cakes to raise money for the park,” said HSA board member and historian Jerry Willis.

The festival will also feature raffles and vendors selling items such as antiques, quilts, knick-knacks, gift baskets, fresh cane syrup, crafts and more.

The annual fundraiser raises money for the upkeep of Shelby Iron Park through vendor fees and the selling of “county cooking” from the kitchen, Willis said. In addition to burgers, hot dogs, beans and greens that will be sold for lunch, the festival also features an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast both days for $5.

Historic Shelby Association member Hylott Armstrong said he sees the festival as portraying the “festive mood of the past,” when the summer’s labors of harvesting crops would come to a close and the celebration of a successful growing season would begin.

“It’s relaxed and a friendly environment, and at particularly this time of the year, invokes a warm and upbeat feeling of pleasure and enjoyment for those who attend and participate,” Armstrong said.  “It’s fun. It’s wholesome. And it is a source of partially reliving what rural life in this part of the world was like in the fall in years past.”

Admission is free to the festival. Non-food vendors interested in participating can participate for $15 for one day or $25 for both days. For more information, contact Jerry Willis at 475-0114.