Published: October 09, 2008 06:38 pm            

Parke County Covered Bridge Festival kicks off

Rockville — It’s time again for the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival. This 10-day countywide event always starts on the second Friday in October and this year it runs through Oct. 19.

The festival offers activities and events countywide and the shining stars are Parke County’s 31 historic covered bridges. With headquarters on the courthouse lawn in Rockville since 1957, patrons will find food served by many of the not-for-profit organizations of the county that use funds from the festival to promote their organizations throughout the year.

A large tent and streets around the courthouse filled with crafters and vendors are open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Some have been here since the festival began. Free entertainment will be scheduled on the south side of the courthouse throughout each day. Bus tours leave the square daily from the tour booth on the northwest corner of the square. Guided tours take riders through the county to make stops at communities in the county and to see covered bridges along the way. Tickets are $10 for adults, under 12 is $7 and lap sitters are free. For reserved tickets, call (765) 569-5226 or e-mail pci@ticz.com. Choose from one of three routes: red, yellow or brown. Each is unique and different. The red tours the southern part of the county with stops in Bridgeton and Rosedale. Yellow travels north through country farm communities, Turkey Run State Park with a stop at Tangier where they serve the famous “Buried Beef” and a stop at Bloomingdale, a Quaker community. The Brown Route travels west where one learns the history of the Wabash & Erie Canal with a stop in Montezuma and historic Mecca with a one-room schoolhouse and a tent filled with all handmade products. See four or five bridges on each route.

Antique stores and shops are all around the brick-lined streets of Rockville. The Covered Bridge Art Gallery on the north side of the square is open daily for viewing of local artists’ works on display. The Historic Ritz Theater is home to the Parke Players. Located a half block west of the square, they provide entertainment or the traditional melodrama for the entire family during the festival. Tickets are $6 for all seats and the doors open an hour before curtain time. The presentation this year is “Lily, the Felon’s Daughter” and will be presented each evening of the festival except Tuesday.

Billie Creek Village is a turn-of-the-20th-century village two miles east of Rockville on U.S. 36. Thirty historical buildings and home of three covered bridges are open daily with attractions and special events. Admission is $5. Take the tractor shuttle from the Old Jail (tourist information center at 127 S Jefferson) to Billie Creek and leave your car parked. The tractor shuttle runs continuously and is included in the admission to Billie Creek Village.

Bridgeton offers a wide array of crafters and vendors, a grist mill, 1878 House and Case Log Cabin, Crafters Row and of course the Bridgeton Bridge, rebuilt in 2006.

The historic Mansfield Roller Mill, Mansfield Bridge and hundreds of vendors and crafters are open daily in Mansfield. Visit the Old Jail at 127 S. Jefferson is Parke County’s Tourist Information Center or the Old Railroad Depot at 401 E. Ohio (ample bus parking and restroom facilities) for Parke County information. Contact Parke County Inc. at P.O. Box 165, Rockville, IN 47872 or e-mail pci@ticz.com for a map of the county with marked covered bridge routes, lodging listings and events schedule so that you may plan your visit during the festival or throughout the year, or visit www.coveredbridges.com for more information about Parke County.

For more information, call (765) 569-5226.

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SCHEDULE

Today

9 a.m.: Apple Butter Making/Bloomingdale

2-3 p.m.: Brittany Ledford/Rockville

8 p.m.: Parke Players Melodrama at Ritz Theater

Saturday

9 a.m.: Apple Butter Making/Bloomingdale

9 a.m.-4 p.m.: Used Book Sale at Presbyterian Church/Rockville

11 a.m.: Welcoming Ceremony

1 p.m.: Lighty Music Studio/Rockville

2 to 4 p.m.: Gospel Sing/Montezuma

3 to 4 p.m.: Brittany Ledford/Rockville

4 to 8 p.m.: Rosedale Fish Fry, Rosedale Fire House

8 p.m.: Parke Players Melodrama at Ritz Theater

Sunday

9 a.m.: Apple Butter Making/Bloomingdale

10 a.m. : Colleen Coble author of “Anathema” book signing/Big Tent Rockville Authors, relatives of Cubs pitcher “Mordecai Brown” will sign books at Parke County Historical Society

3-4 p.m.: Brittany Ledford/Rockville

4 p.m.: Koon Holler Kids/Rockville

4:30 p.m.: Fonda & Band/Rockville

7 p.m.: Parke Players Melodrama at Ritz Theater

Monday

6 p.m.: 1812 Overture/Billie Creek Village

7 p.m.: Parke Players Melodrama at Ritz Theater

Wednesday

11 a.m.: Military Ceremony/Dane Bailey/Rockville

5-6 p.m.: WTWO Live at Five Broadcast/Rockville

7 p.m.: Parke Players Melodrama at Ritz Theater

Thursday

9 a.m. : Apple Butter Making/Bloomingdale

7 p.m.: Parke Players Melodrama at Ritz Theater

Oct. 17

9 a.m.: Apple Butter Making/Bloomingdale

2-3 p.m.: Brittany Ledford/Rockville

8 p.m.: Parke Players Melodrama at Ritz Theater

Oct. 18

9 a.m.: Apple Butter Making/Bloomingdale

9 a.m.-4 p.m.: Used Book Sale at Presbyterian Church/Rockville

11 a.m.: Style Show/Rockville

1 p.m.: Judy Green Band/Montezuma

12:30-1:30 p.m.: Brittany Ledford/Rockville

2 p.m.: Auction to Benefit Covered Bridges/Rockville

4 p.m.: Judy Green Band/Rockville

8 p.m.: Parke Players Melodrama at Ritz Theater

Oct. 19

1-2 p.m.: Brittany Ledford/Rockville

2:30 p.m.: Parke County 4-H Cloggers

Entertainment is still being scheduled and all is subject to change of date and time. There are events in Mecca and Tangier, as well.





Montezuma schedule

The following events are scheduled for Montezuma during the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival:

Today

n Canal tours, all day

n 6 p.m. — Montezuma Idol Registration at the new community center on Jackson Street.

n 7 — Montezuma Idol, cash prizes, $5 entry

n Tractor Show Registration Begins

n Hog Roast and Bean Dinner

Saturday

n 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. — Communitywide yard sale. Each person or group who wishes to conduct a yard sale on this day during the festival should call Anita Allen at (765) 245-0419 or 245-2303. A registration fee of $5 for one Saturday and $8 for both Saturdays will place your yard sale on a map to be distributed throughout the area for advertising.

n Antique Tractor and Engine Show — all day. Downtown on Washington Street.

n 1 p.m. — Parade and games. For more information, call Jack Wilburn 245-2703 or Paul K. Bartlow 245-2728

n 3 p.m. — 4-H Cloggers perform on Washington Street

n Canal Tours All Day

n Hog Roast and Bean Dinner

Sunday

n Antique Tractor and Engine Show — all day. Slow Tractor Race downtown on Washington Street. For more information, call Jack Wilburn, 245-2703 or Paul K. Bartlow, 245-2728

n 1 p.m. — Coon Holler Kids

n 2 to 4 p.m. — Gospel sing with local talent, downtown in the tent. Bring lawn chairs. For more information, call Diana Bartlow 245-2728.

n Canal tours all day

n Hog Roast and bean dinner

Oct. 17

n Canal Tours all day

n Hog roast and bean dinner

Oct. 18

n 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. — Communitywide yard sale

n 1 p.m. — Coon Holler Adults

n 2 to 5 p.m. —Car show

n Canal Tours — all day

n Hog roast and bean dinner

Oct. 19

n Canal tours, all day

n Hog roast and bean dinner

The Country Store and all vendors will be open daily throughout the 10 days.

A guided Wabash and Erie Canal history tour of Montezuma will be held daily and throughout both weekends. Admission is $3. Anyone who wishes to help with the history tour, call Diana Bartlow at 245-2728.

An Arrowhead Display can be viewed at DeMeter Enterprises, downtown on Washington Street.

The Annual Hog Roast will be sponsored by the Montezuma Masonic Lodge No. 89 F & AM throughout the 10 days. For more information, call Les Scott at 245-2576

The Girls Softball organization will host its Annual Beans and Cornbread Dinner downtown. See the beans cooking in a huge cast-iron kettle on an open fire.

Montezuma Eastern Star No. 537 will again sell their delicious hot crullers in the shack on Crawford Street. Craft vendors are wanted. Anyone interested in setting up as a vendor should call John Mattson at 245-2448.

For Country Store space, call Penny Cox at 245-2045. For entertainment or Montezuma Idol, call Anita Allen at 245-0419. Car Show Information can be obtained from Eric Summers at 245-2390 or Wayne and Debbie Baldwin at (765) 592-3643.

All entertainment will be staged under the tent downtown. In case of rain, nightly events will be staged in the new Community Center at 800 Jackson St. Visit the town of Montezuma Web site for registration forms and information at www.montezuma.in.gov/ or call 592-0829.

The Annual Montezuma Christmas Celebration is 5 p.m. Dec. 5, downtown.

        

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