By Andy Diffenderfer
Correspondent
LaFAYETTE, Ga. – An award-winning cook, living history demonstrations and a long list of entertainment will highlight the sixth annual Heritage Day here.
“I would like for people to come and enjoy the historical district of LaFayette. We have so much history here and so much to see,” said Mary Smitherman, Marsh House events coordinator.
ON THE WEBFor more information on Heritage Day, visit www.marshhouseoflafayette.com.
The festival is Saturday at the Marsh House. Vendors will sell antiques, collectibles and handmade crafts starting at 9 a.m. The day’s events are scheduled from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and admission is free.
Frank Wood, the “Cow Camp Cook,” will be on site with a menu that includes beef, pinto beans, rice, cornbread and peach cobbler. Wood, who lives near Albany, Ga., has cooked at festivals all over the Southeast and been featured on The Food Network.
Festival visitors also can choose from funnel cakes, kettle corn and baked goods. They need to bring their lawn chairs, organizers said.
The master of ceremonies will be LaFayette native Phil Scoggins, a news anchor and video producer in Columbus, Ga.
Though he has lived in Columbus since 1976, Scoggins said he maintains “extremely strong ties” to LaFayette and produced a video about the Marsh House five years ago as part of fundraising efforts for house projects and renovations.
Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the Marsh House was built in 1836 by Spencer Stewart Marsh, a prominent merchant and statesman. On North Main Street, the building sits across from John B. Gordon Hall, where Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg planned the Battle of Chickamauga.
According to the Marsh House website, Union soldiers occupied the home during the war and left behind blood-soaked floors and their horses’ hoofprints in the main hall.
Andy Diffenderfer is based in LaFayette. Contact him at andydiff97@comcast.net.