Over 100 vendors and demonstrators have booths registered for the Mountain Grove Heritage Festival and Missouri Bicentennial Celebration on August 14.
These vendors are from the four corners of the state and all parts between including Poplar Bluff, Raytown, Forsythe, Theodosia, Bolivar, Columbia, and Cuba. Twenty-five are from Mountain Grove and new ones are added daily.
East Second Street will once again be host to farm equipment similar to those seen in this 1930s photograph of a fair on the Mountain Grove square. The Ozarks Older Iron Club plans to occupy the same street with some of their historic equipment. Wayne Simpson, a member of the club, states he will also bring his replica of a Civil War cannon and two actual cannon balls from the battlefields at Wilson Creek and Lexington.
Attendees will be able to watch live chainsaw carving. Mountain Man Life from Mountain View, Arkansas will be present to demonstrate his carving skill with a chainsaw. The request is for an American eagle atop a tree trunk wrapped in the American flag. The completed carving will remain in Mountain Grove on display. Carving will begin Saturday morning and continue all day until completion, which includes its paint.
There will be handicap parking at the City Hall and golf carts available there for assistance on to the square if needed. Bring your lawn chairs and plan to enjoy music in the bandstand, guest speakers of our history, and demonstrations around the square of the pioneer ways as we celebrate Missouri’s statehood.
Watch for future articles as we highlight the guest speakers, vendors, and demonstrations.
We continue to welcome vendors and demonstrations of skills typical and necessary to the pioneers.
To contact the sponsors or to request a vendor registration form, please email: mghistoryandartscouncil@hotmail.com
