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 This is a map of the Halifax County 4H Rural Life Center and Halifax Days festival site. |
The two-day event highlights the cornerstones of American strength and agriculture.
Included in the fun are the 2008 Corn Maze, 5K Run/Walk (9 a.m. Saturday), Agriculture Museum, Allen Grove Rosenwald School, cotton wagon and hay rides, antique tractor & farm equipment displays, old time saw mill and corn sheller operations.
Master Gardeners, 4-H youth, livestock, Extension Community Association, historic preservation and military displays are among the highlights.
And of course, the North Carolina High School Rodeo returns on both evenings.
Parking and admission to the festival is free.
Master Gardeners
The Roanoke Valley Master Gardeners will once again be participating in the annual Halifax Harvest Days. Each year the Master Gardeners put together an educational demonstration for the school children and the general public that attend Harvest Days.
This year’s demonstration will be about bulbs. Master Gardeners will show you how and when to plant different types of bulbs, what growing conditions they need, how to fertilize and care for them, and how to landscape your yard with bulbs for maximum effect. Information about bulbs and a visual demonstration will be available on both Friday and Saturday.
Master Gardeners are also an excellent source of information on a variety of gardening topics. Stop by the Master Gardener booth either day for free soil testing kits, handouts on gardening to attract butterflies and hummingbirds, gardening with native plants and much more.
Bring your questions and the Master Gardeners can help! You can also find information on how you can become a Master Gardener yourself.
In addition to lots of great gardening information, there will also be several items for sale at the Master Gardener booth. Come by and purchase locally grown plants, homemade potpourri, jams and jellies, pickles, homegrown vegetables, and more.
There will also be a raffle for a homemade potting bench made by Roanoke Valley Master Gardeners Vicky Brown and Edie Braginton.
The potting bench is perfect for anyone who does a lot of transplanting, rooting plants from cuttings, or starting seeds. It is a great place to do all those fun gardening tasks, and store pots, trowels, and plant labels without making a mess. Stop by the booth to purchase a $1 ticket and a chance to take home this potting bench.
Craft booths
Local artisans will be demonstrating their talents and selling their items at Harvest Days. Crafts will range from crocheted dishcloths, to various types of jewelry, painted gourds, and homemade baked items. It’s never too early to start your Christmas shopping.
Ride’m cowpokes
The old West comes alive at the Halifax 4H Rural Life Center this weekend with the N.C. High School Rodeo Friday and Saturday.
Young people in grades six through eight will compete in the Wrangler Division and while youngsters in grade nine through 12 compete in the High School Division.
The events in this years rodeo include saddle bronc riding, bareback bronc riding, goat tying, breakaway roping, chute dogging, ribbon roping, barrel racing, team roping, pole bending and the big event — bull riding.
These students travel across the state and the region competing for prize money and, more importantly, points.
The top four contestants in points in each event after the N.C. State Finals will be able to attend the National High School or Wrangler Finals to be held this year in New Mexico.
Each rodeo, this one included, is just another chance for the contestants to perfect their skills and earn points.
Going to the National Finals is a chance of a life time for these young kids and it is amazing how well they handle the pressure of competing in front of thousands of fans at this large rodeo. Not only are these kids competing for money and points, they are also competing for scholarships. These contestants have to maintain a certain grade average in order to be able to compete, just like other student athletes.
At the end of the year, the NCHSRA awards scholarship to deserving students based on grades, not rodeo ability. Just like any other sport, there are colleges that have rodeo teams, and N.C. students in the past have received their share of “full-ride” scholarships. We also are proud to say that we have had students decide to go on a professional rodeo circuit after graduating. Western heritage is still alive and thriving thanks to these young people and Harvest Festival organizers hope that you will enjoy watching rodeo as much as these young people enjoy doing it.
Farm House
The Halifax County Extension and Community Associates will offer tours of an early 1900s farm house. Take a step back in time and experience a simpler time of life. Thanks to numerous donations, the farm house is furnished with many items similar to the way it would have been furnished when a family lived in it. Imagine, no television, no electric stove, no computers; the occupants of the house actually had to do things to entertain themselves. Be sure to include a visit to the farmhouse in your trip to Halifax County Harvest Days.
Allen Grove Rosenwald School
The hard wooden benches and chalkboard in the Allen Grove Rosenwald School now located on the 4-H Rural Life Center’s grounds may remind one of a typical school from the early 20 th Century. This school, as were 46 others like it in Halifax County, was built specifically to educate African-American children.
The schools were named for Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears and Roebuck. He provided matching grants for communities that wanted to build such schools for African-American children throughout the South.
The school, built in 1922, was originally located on Highway 561, outside of the town of Halifax. Mr. Rosenwald would donate $500 to a community that desired to have a school, and it was up to the community to raise the rest of the funds. The Allen-Grove community raised the remaining $500 through fundraisers, and as some recall in-kind donations such as chickens, apples and peaches. The design is referred to as a “two-teacher” school.
The school’s builder, Cary Pittman, a successful African American contractor, built at least 20 of the Rosenwald Schools in Halifax County. Some of Mr. Pittman’s descendants will be available to answer questions during Harvest Days. In addition, a videotape titled “We Can Make Our Lives Sublime” will be available. The Allen Grove Rosenwald School will be open to visitors throughout Harvest Days. Those who enter the school will leave with a greater understanding of Halifax County’s educational history.
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