Durham’s ‘2nd Saturdays’ Go Back to the Future

Durham’s ‘2nd Saturdays’ Go Back to the Future

DURHAM – American Indian folk tales and games at Stagville Plantation, early lessons in reading and writing along with folklore and history authors at Bennett Place , and a children’s festival with youthful artisans and kid-friendly vendors, make for a fun-filled itinerary at 2nd Saturdays programs on Aug. 14 in Durham . Families on a budget and adventurous travelers will enjoy the music, books, games and costumed interpreters who bring life to practices of bygone days.

This final 2nd Saturdays program at the state historic sites and museums within the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources (www.ncculture.com) will offer arts, history and genuine North Carolina culture at venues all across the state. Each site this summer has created three unique programs that may include fresh local produce from area farmers, music from area musicians, handcrafted foods or textiles, original artworks or books, and all as great gift ideas ready for sale (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncculture/).

“Learning the Land: Native Americans at Stagville” will offer tales from Kay Begay and flute music from Daniel Begay. Breads, baskets, digital art and decoupage will be for sale, along with hot dogs, hamburgers and roast corn. The generations-old Cherokee Butterbean Game, and other games, will bring joy to many.

“Authors of North Carolina ” at Bennett Place State Historic Site will include history, art and authors from the Old North State . Revolutionary and Civil War history, cookbooks and folklore are in store. Stewart Dunaway, Piedmont area American Revolution War authority, and Burt Dunkerly, National Park Ranger and historian of the Revolutionary War Southern Campaigns, will make presentations. Michael Hardy, Civil War historian of North Carolina Confederates and Blue Ridge Mountain area wartime activity, will share personal accounts of Confederate soldiers. Jim Wise, author of “On Sherman’s Trail” and “Durham Tales,” will speak on the Civil War’s final days and Durham history. The history of Civil War music will be explained by members of the popular Civil War-genre band Carolina Fife and Drum, which also will perform.

A “Summer Children’s Festival” at Duke Homestead will be a delight to young and old. The Little River Cloggers will perform. Children will be able to make take-home projects at the mobile Home Depot Children’s Workshop. Costumed interpreters will help young visitors make rag dolls, a “buzz saws” game and cookies. Music will be played on conch shells, cow bells and other odd instruments. A storyteller will weave a spell. The more than 20 vendors include youthful artisans, who will sell items for children. Another crowd pleaser will be engine-churned ice cream!

Partners in the 2nd Saturdays program include “Our State” magazine, the Division of Tourism within the N.C. Department of Commerce, the N.C. Cooperative Extension, and the Tourism Extension Program in N.C. State University ’s Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management Program; with grant support from the Golden LEAF Foundation.

Bennett Place , Duke Homestead and Historic Stagville are within the N.C. Division of State Historic Sites. Bennett Place is located at 4409 Bennett Memorial Road , Durham , 27705; Duke Homestead is at 2828 Duke Homestead Road , Durham , 27705; and Historic Stagville is at 5828 Old Oxford Hwy
Durham , NC 27712 .

The N.C. Department of Cultural Resources is the state agency with the mission to enrich lives and communities, and the vision to harness the state’s cultural resources to build North Carolina ’s social, cultural and economic future. Information on Cultural Resources is available 24/7 at www.ncculture.com.