Crawford County Sorghum Festival

Check out these great photos we just posted on FLICKR of the Bye Family Sorghum Mill, a fourth generation sorghum making family in Crawford County and be sure to stop out and watch them turn cane juice into sorghum at the Crawford County Sorghum Festival on October 15.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/exploresouthernindiana/sets/72157627783304080

Art of the Green

5^TH ANNUAL ART FAIR

OCTOBER 8TH & 9TH

FRENCH LICK, INDIANA

The French Lick Art Guild and the Town of French Lick Tourism Board invite you to come join the fun on October 8^th & 9^th, 2011 for the 5^th annual art fair “Art on the Green”.   The art fair will be held on the French Lick Town Green located across from the Historic French Lick Hotel and Casino on state highway 56.

“Art on the Green” will feature over 35 regional artists and craftsmen displaying for sale ceramics, garden art, unique jewelry, lapidary art, metal creations, photography, primitive dolls, textiles, woodcarving and much more.   There will be an artist doing wonderful face paintings, too. Come meet our talented artists, watch demonstrations daily, and enjoy Orange County’s beautiful scenery while shopping for unique treasures or holiday gifts.

Experience a national classic car show Saturday, October 8^th featuring Tigers East/Alpines East and Rootes America classic cars on display in downtown French Lick.  For more information visit www.rootesamerica.org

Daily entertainment will include lively performances by Lick Creek Band, Kirby Staley Band, Coralus Acoustic Band, Magician Magic with Style and more.

Come join in this celebration of the arts accented with food and fun for the whole family.  Sample delicious food items from our local venues such as Lost River Market and Deli, Jody’s 19^th Hole Grill and more. 

For additional information contact us at frenchlickart@yahoo.com, or call (812) 936-6230

Bring your friends and family on October 8^th and 9^th and celebrate art, music, classic cars and Fall’s colorful display in Historic downtown French Lick !

Visit our show preview at http://www.frenchlickart.blogspot.com/

Mark Your Calendars for Explore! Events

•  Check out some of Explore! Southern Indiana events on our Facebook page:

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      Fall Harvest Day

      
      

      Sunday, October 9, 2011 at 10:00am

      Dubois County Museum, : 2704 North Newton Street (Hwy 231...

      
      

      
      

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      Kids Day in Downtown Jasper

      
      

      Saturday at 9:00am

      
      

      
      

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      22nd Annual Bristow Octoberfest and Car Show

      
      

      Sunday, October 9, 2011 at 7:00am

      ‎20569 Huffman Rd, Bristow, IN 812-547-9991 or 812-836-2386

      
      

      
      

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      Cannelton Heritage Festival

      
      

      Saturday, October 8, 2011 at 10:00am

      Food and vendor booths will be located on Washington...

      
      

      
      

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      Rome Courthouse Days

      
      

      Saturday at 10:00am

      Rome IN

      
      

      
      

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      Rickenbaugh House Tour

      
      

      Saturday at 10:00pm

      Celina Lake, Highway 37

      
      

      
      

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Persimmon Festival Redux

Check out my story about the Persimmon Festival that appeared today in the Herald Palladium, the largest newspaper in Southwest Michigan.

http://www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2011/09/28/features/6691519.txt

Billy Dean tickets are available online, so get yours now. Saturday, 10/8/11 in Bedford at BNL Performing Arts Center, 7:30 pm. 

Don't miss it and while you’re waiting for the show to begin, check out Billy Dean’s performance on You Tube.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDyx10eukUI&feature=share&noredirect=1

For tickets: http://www.lcconcerts.com/

The Wheel Keeps Turning: 1817 to Today at Spring Mill Park

Take a step back in time to when the water flowing from several cave springs led to the founding of an industrial village in 1814, powering several gristmills as well as a wool mill, saw mill and that necessity for pioneer life, a distillery.

 This October 1^st and 2^nd, the heritage of this pioneer village restored and part of Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell, with its 20 historic buildings including the 3-story limestone gristmill, built in 1817, that continues to grind cornmeal to this day, is celebrated at the annual Autumn Harvest Days. Watch heritage interpreters portray the year 1863 and demonstrate period crafts. Carve a pumpkin, build a scarecrow, take a boat tour of the Twin Caves and enter a Campsite Decorating Contest. It’s all part of the fun.

Even if you can’t make it for Autumn Harvest Days, be sure to visit Pioneer Village which is open daily from May thru mid-October, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Additional days and times as posted on their Website  www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/2968.htm

For more information, call 812-849-4129.

Dance Like It's 1864

Ladies, get out your Abe Lincoln era ball gowns. Gents, you’re going to need a stovepipe hat (but surely you have one or two in your closet, don’t you?) and head to historic Spencer County Courthouse in Rockport this September 24^th as the Friends of Lincoln Pioneer Village & Museum host the fourth annual Civil War Ball.

Check-in time is 6:00 pm CDT with the Grand March beginning at 6:30 pm. The dance will commence from 7:00 – 10:00 pm. Tickets are $20 per person and are limited. For tickets and more information, contact Nancy Kaiser at (812) 686-2553.

Fall Harvest Day in Dubois County

They certainly weren't simple days (no indoor plumbing or electric lights and that’s just a start) but it sure is fun to visit Dubois County Museum's Fall Harvest Day this October 9^th and see Dutch Oven cooking, how bees make honey, shucking, shelling and grinding corn. Other activities include pony rides, model trains, creating crafts with gourds and luffa, making corn husk dolls and turnip kraut and viewing the antique machinery used for harvesting grain and corn.

Dubois County Museum: 2704 North Newton Street (Hwy 231 N.), Jasper.

812-634-7733 or http://www.duboiscountymuseum.org/

Explore! Southern Indiana: Shubael Little Pioneer Village

Explore! Southern Indiana: Shubael Little Pioneer Village: Explore Southern Indiana just posted photos of Shubael Little Pioneer Village on our Flickr account. Here's one of them. To see the ...

Shubael Little Pioneer Village

Explore Southern Indiana just posted photos of Shubael Little Pioneer Village on our Flickr account.  Here's one of them. To see the rest, click on the link below. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/exploresouthernindiana/sets/72157627709354210/

Paddle the Blue River

Even if you missed the Milltown Festival last weekend, there's still time to travel the Blue River as it winds its way through this part of Southern Indiana.  Up until the end of October, Cave Country Canoes is open weekends and offers a series of trips including a seven mile trip which takes two to four hours, a full day trip and a two day trip. 

Sights along the Blue River, Indiana’s first designated Scenic and Natural River, includes blue herons, ducks, turtles and the giant salamanders called hellbenders.

And, of course, be sure to stop at the 3000-foot gift shop for trinkets and t-shirts to take home and the Cave Café for casual dining.

 888-702-2837 or locally at 812-365-2705 or http://cavecountrycanoes.com

TREE CARE WORKSHOP

Learn about native plantings and planting the right tree in the right place on Saturday, September 24th from 9-11 at the Jasper Train Depot. 


It's also a great chance to find out more about the depot, a historic replication of the 1906 station which was built to replace the 1879 station.

Then stroll along the city's river walk and take time to admire the Jasper City Mill, the third mill to be built on this site, the first erected in 1817 and then replaced in 1865 and torn down in 1964. The first mill's most famous visitor was Abe Lincoln who came to Jasper with grain from the family's farm in Spencer County, Indiana.


For more information about the Tree Care Workshop, which is free, call (812) 482-6866 or visit http://www.jasperin.org

Dig, Dance and Run into History in Spencer County

Fall is on its way and what better way to celebrate it than a visit to Spencer County where, starting September 23^rd and ending the 25^th, there are four big events.  Join us for one or all.

Visitors can get digging at the Archaeological Dig at Colonel Jones Home in Gentryville on September 23 & 24, 2011from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm CDT where, this historic home, will be open to the public for an archaeological dig of artifacts.  

Also on the 24^th is National Public Lands Day at the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Lincoln City from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm CDT to celebrate the nation's largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance the public lands.  Enjoy free entry into the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial.

The same night, dance like it’s like the 1860s at the Civil War Ball at the Spencer County Courthouse in Rockport. Guests experience a majestic evening during the 4th annual Friends of Lincoln Pioneer Village Civil War Ball.  Note to those attending – President Lincoln and his wife will be on hand.  Sign-in is at 6:00 pm CDT with the Grand March at 6:30. Tickets are $40 per couple.

If you have enough energy, participate in the Honest Abe Trail Run Marathon and 14K the next morning, September 25 at 7:30 am CDT at the Lincoln State Park in Lincoln City.  Sign in starts at 6:00 am CDT for this environmentally friendly race. For more information, including registration, visit ww.honestabetrailrun.com. 

For more information about the other events, contact Spencer County Visitors Bureau at (812) 937-2848 or http://www.legendaryplaces.org/

All Things Orange

I went to school in Southern Indiana, a place of rolling hills, covered bridges, small towns, stone quarries and the Mitchell Persimmon Festival. Before living there, I had heard of persimmons only in passing, filing them away in my mind with such fruit oddities as paw paws.But in Southern Indiana, the persimmon -- ripe and bright orange -- is not only remembered, it is revered.

So make sure to visit the 65th  Persimmon Festival in Mitchell on Sept. 17-24. http://www.persimmonfestival.org

Twilight Tours Take Us Back

One of my favorite ghostly events is the annual Twilight Tours at West Baden where costumed interpreters portray pivotal characters from the hotel’s fabled past at the West Baden Springs Hotel. This year it's being held on September 24 & October 8 at 7:00 pm.  Reservations required. 

 Here's a link to an article I wrote about it last year: http://www.nwitimes.com/lifestyles/travel/article_47a5dc16-07f0-5107-8676-28a830c395e7.html
 

For more information, call 877.422.9925 or visit www.visitfrenchlickwestbaden.com