Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Southampton Heritage Village and Agriculture & Forestry Museum will feature its annual family oriented Down Home Day on Saturday, April 9, from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. 

A press release continued by noting that the museum is located at 26135 Heritage Lane in Courtland. 

There are separate prices for admission for adults and school-age children, but preschoolers can get in for free. For more information, call event organizer Lynda Updike at 757-654-6785 or send an email to updikes@earthlink.net.

The nearby Museum of Southampton History will also be open April 9, as well as the Rebecca Vaughan House.

Just like the good ol’ days “down home,” the activities planned for the day include something for all members of the family, offering a chance to enjoy life at a slower pace.  

“For senior citizens, it’s a stroll down memory lane,” Updike said, “and for young people, children of all ages, it educates (on) what life was like with their grandparents coming up on the farm.”

Special exhibits include a collection of old hand tools for hands-on activities.

Twenty-four model trains will be running on three levels. A new feature will remind visitors of Ocean View.

Music will be performed by well-known local musicians, including Jimmy Ricks and his “Shiloh Grass” band.  

Kids are free to “milk” Mattie the plastic cow. 

Another feature being presented will be an old hog-killing scene, photos only.

The 1920s sawmill will saw pine logs. 

While the restored grist mill is grinding meal during the day, several ladies will be frying cornbread — made with some of the freshly ground meal — for visitors to sample. Cornbread used to be an everyday staple. Now visitors can see how meal is made from corn. 

The steam engine will run periodically and blow smoke rings.  

The little country church will feature local singers during the afternoon.  

Children can enjoy the Scavenger Hunt that will be provided. Kids who find all the items on the hunt get a free bag of popcorn.

Face-painting will be offered.

A very old, restored printing press will be working as well. Young visitors can make a “hands-on” bookmark bearing the museum’s logo. 

A local blacksmithing guild will be exhibiting skills in the Blacksmith Shop along with soap-making, broom-making, flintknapping, wood-carving, gourd-carving and spinning on an old spinning wheel.

The dying art of sheep shearing can be seen during the afternoon, and there will be a petting zoo of gentle local farm animals for visitors of all ages to enjoy. 

A miniature train will be available for rides.

The Rebecca Vaughan House, which played a part in the Nat Turner Southampton Slave Insurrection of 1831, is located next to the museum for visitors to see. Experts on the insurrection, including a Vaughan descendent, will be on hand to answer questions.

Antique cars and tractors will also be on-site.  

For those who get hungry, hot dogs, snacks and soft drinks will be available for purchase.

In addition to all the special activities, visitors are welcome to tour the Southampton Heritage Village and Agriculture & Forestry Museum and all of its outbuildings, including a country store, one-room school, country dwelling, doctor’s office, old post office, two outhouses, old kitchen, barber shop and little country church.