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The 31st annual Heritage Day will be Saturday, May 10, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. in  Courtland, sponsored by the Southampton County Historical Society and the Southampton Heritage Village/Agriculture & Forestry Museum at 26315 Heritage Lane in Courtland. 

A historical society news release noted that there will be separate ticket rates for admission for adults and for school-age children at the museum, and preschoolers will be admitted for free.

The sawmill, steam engine and grist mill will run intermittently during the day. Crafts people will demonstrate old crafts, with craft items for sale. 

Lunch will be for sale on the grounds, featuring Steve Ivey’s famous BBQ, Brunswick stew, hot dogs, snacks, apple and sweet potato jacks, water and soft drinks. 

Over 50 model trains will be running throughout the day inside the main building at the Ag Museum. 

While inside, visitors are invited to check out the crafters weaving on an antique loom. One can also watch socks being knitted. Volunteers will demonstrate the old technique of typesetting on the museum’s printing presses, including an 1885 Chandler & Price. Visitors can print a free bookmark bearing the museum’s logo.   

Children can participate in a scavenger hunt to find designated items throughout the museum complex. Complete the hunt, solve the riddle and get a few bags of popcorn. 

Kids can shell corn and have their face painted. Children of all ages will have a ball in a Petting Zoo featuring gentle pet farm animals, including a lamb and ducks. Visitors will have the chance to see baby chicks pip their way out of eggs. They will be hatching on May 10. 

Also, young visitors will have the opportunity to learn the art of milking a cow by practicing on “Mattie,” a replica cow. 

The museum’s grist mill, always a popular attraction, will be grinding fine cornmeal, which will be available for a small monetary donation. Samples of hot cornbread, made from that meal, will be given away throughout the day. 

“After checking out the grist mill, stay to hear Clayton Newsome tell the history of the Franklin basket factory,” historical society officials stated. “You are sure to learn something new.”

Among the crafts being demonstrated and for sale, visitors will find painted gourds, baskets, handmade jewelry, sewn and quilted items, goat milk soap, knitting, crocheting, as well as other types of needlework and woodwork. Artisans from the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia will blend contemporary and traditional art through beadwork and pottery-making.  

Some of the old crafts to see are butter churning (try homemade butter on crackers or hot cornbread), hominy and lye soap-making. Volunteers will be cooking cracklings (similar to pork rinds). Free samples of this tasty treat will be available. See a beekeeper with local honey for sale. The blacksmith shop, too, will be open, with blacksmiths hard at work.  

Music by Shiloh Grass, a local bluegrass band will entertain during the day under the Howell Pavilion, dedicated to founding members William and Helen Howell.

The little country church is always an attraction and will feature music by Drew and Judy Dunn and also Kay Weaver.

Look for storytelling in the one-room schoolhouse and corn-cob pipe-making near the corn crib. 

Many old cars and tractors will be on display.

The Rebecca Vaughan House will be open from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., with John Quarstein answering questions about Nat Turner and the 1831 Southampton Slave Insurrection. 

Mahone’s Tavern, on Main Street, will be open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. with many Confederate exhibits.  

In addition to all the special activities, visitors are welcome to tour the Ag & Forestry Museum and all of its outbuildings and Heritage Village, which includes a country store, one-room school, country dwelling, doctor’s office, smoke house, old post office and two outhouses, among other buildings.

“This 31st annual Heritage Day event promises to provide a wholesome and fun outing for the whole family,” historical society officials stated. “Visitors will see how the older generations lived, how hard they worked to make a living. For the older generation, it’s a stroll down memory lane. Come and learn how they made the items in their homes and on the farm. Farming activities, by the way, included the whole family. We offer something for all ages to enjoy.”

For more information, contact Lynda Updike at 757-654-6785, at LyndaUpdike@gmail.com or at 33335 Statesville Road in Newsoms.