Don’t miss Goat Day this weekend

at Sam Atkins Park in Blountstown

http://www.cljnews.com

by Teresa Eubanks, CLJNews.com

BLOUNTSTOWN, FL – The 38th Annual Goat Day and Pioneer Day is set this Saturday at Sam Atkins Park in Blountstown.

Gates open at 8 a.m. Central Time for Goat Day in the main area of the park. Pioneer Day begins at 9 a.m. at the Panhandle Pioneer Settlement in the back of the park. A $5 cash admission fee covers both events. Kids age three and under are admitted free.

The event is a great time to kick off holiday shopping, as vendors from throughout the area gather to showcase and sell a variety of goods. There’s always an array of fall holiday decor for sale along with many gift items as well as some goat-themed goods at the booths surrounding the track at the park. This year features 113 vendors taking part in the festivities, selling food, gifts and many unique items.

Kids will be taking part in the goat show and goat milking demonstrations starting at 9 a.m. There will be live entertainment by the band Flabbergasted beginning at 10 a.m.

Other events include games, costumed characters roaming the grounds, rides on the Rotary Club train and a coin dig for kids.

There will be many chances to make special family memories, with Photo Boards set up to take your own pictures as well as opportunities to have photos made with the llamas from Redemptive Love in Tallahassee.

PIONEER DAY

First-time visitors who make their way to the Panhandle Pioneer Settlement for Pioneer Day will see how our ancestors really lived as buildings that once served as homes, churches and businesses have been moved to the site and restored to preserve the spirit of previous generations. Volunteers in costume will be on hand to guide visitors and answer questions about the settlement.

There will be demonstrations of old-time skills as well as vendors selling food and gifts. Visitors touring the settlement’s General Store will find many old-fashioned goodies that would make wonderful holiday gifts. Those looking for a unique holiday gift for an adult should browse through the selection of W.S. Duck Knives, designed by settlement founder Willard Smith, which feature a blade that looks like the profile of a duck’s head. The store also sells cane syrup, blacksmith hooks, arrowheads, antler handle utensils and oven rack push-pulls. The store is also marking “National Bigfoot Awareness Day” with 25 percent off Bigfoot-related items!

Goat Day is sponsored by the Blountstown Rotary Club. Funds raised are used to provide scholarships for local students. This year, the club plans to fund at least seven scholarships, including two $4,000 scholarships, two $1,000 scholarships and three others at $1,000 each. “Funds raised are invested primarily to award scholarships to talented, local students that may be applied to trade/technical school, two-year college, or four-year university,” said Bruce Davis, President of The Rotary Club of Blountstown.

“Additionally, we assist in community enrichments such as Calhoun County Senior Citizens Association’s Hot Meals for Seniors, Trees for Depot Park, and Calhoun County EMS – Video Laryngoscope Equipment. Nationally/Globally, we partner with Rotary International to provide clean drinking water and continue the fight to eradicate polio,” he said.

Sam Atkins Park is locate one mile west of Blountstown off SR 20 at Silas Green Road.

Since its establishment in 1947, The Rotary Club of Blountstown meets the first Wednesday each month at noon at the Calhoun County Senior Citizens Center, 16859 Cayson Street, Blountstown. Rotarians are led by the Rotary International guiding principles, the foundation upon which our values and tradition stand. The Four-Way Test, Object of Rotary, and the Avenues of Service express our commitment to service, diversity, integrity, and leadership.