The Roanoke Canal Museum and Trail will hold its Rockfish Muddle Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday May 2.  The event will focus on a demonstration and taste testing of rockfish muddle. Demonstrators will use a cast iron pot over a real fire to make one version and two other types of muddle will be brought in for tasting. Guests will then be able to enjoy sample plates with portions of all three muddles along with homemade hush puppies, coleslaw and cookies. Water, tea and soda will also be served. For those interested in making their own muddle, 24-page cookbooks with all the sample recipes and more will be available for $1.

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Along with the food, the event will have tons of entertainment. Kids can try their luck at several free games of skill such as batteau boat racing and fishing in a barrel.  Demonstrators will be stationed throughout the museum to talk about a variety of historical topics and several local authors will be signing their books in the gift shop area. For live entertainment, the “First for Freedom” actors from Halifax will perform small skits every hour, Chambergrass will provide music throughout the day, and a special visit from Roxie the Rockfish is expected.

This year there will also be a 50/50 plus raffle. Raffle entries will be sold throughout the event for a $1 donation to the museum per ticket with no limit on the number of tickets purchased. At the conclusion of the muddle cooking demonstration, several merchandise prize packs will be raffled off first with the final drawing for a cash prize equal to 50 percent of the raffle ticket sales. Persons must be present to win. Tickets will be drawn for the merchandise prize packets until a winner claims them. Only one ticket entry will be drawn for the final cash prize. If no one claims the final cash prize at the time of the drawing it will be donated to the museum.

Rockfish Muddle Day is proud to be sponsored by a number of local businesses this year, which include Ralph’s Barbecue, Reser’s Fine Foods, Ryan’s, Colston’s Tackle Box, Roanoke River Trading Company, Flambeau, Massey Funeral Homes, Food Lion and Blue Flame Fuels. The event also received a generous grant from the Halifax Arts Council.

For information, contact the Roanoke Canal Museum and Trail at 537-2769.