November 2006

Cross Creek Festival
Saturday n What: Arts,
crafts, music and a taste of
old Florida

By GARY KIRKLAND
Sun staff writer

Cross Creek Festival offers art, taste of old Florida

It's been labeled the "first" Cross Creek Festival, but Kate Barnes says that's not quite true, because there have been local get-togethers for years.

"We've never opened it up to the public," Barnes says.

But with the Cross Creek Fire Department in need of a tanker truck, a festival was deemed a good way to raise money for the cause. Now those who live outside the community made famous by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings will discover what they've been missing.

"We're going to celebrate firehouse comfort food," says Barnes.

Comfort food with a taste of old Florida, that is. There will be gator tail and swamp cabbage cole slaw, along with chicken and ribs.

"These are the women who've helped cook out here for years," says Cason Hadley, who has helped with the planning. "Our attempt is to make this as authentic as possible."

But food is only the first course. There will be a gallery for artists to show and sell their work. The line-up features artists from the Ice House Gallery in McIntosh, including George Ferreira, Gary Haskins and Bill Shaff. From the Melrose Bay Art Gallery there will be Harriet Huss, Kathleen Wobie, and Ron and Jan Haase. Barnes and Gainesville's Eleanor Blair will be there, too.

"All of these artists paint and sketch out at the creek," Barnes says.

The music will also have a local flavor. The Staley Family from Micanopy, folk singer Dale Crider, and a homegrown bluegrass group, Sweetwater Branch, will all perform. Storyteller J.T. Glisson, the Cross Creek Cloggers, and a group of young storytellers will entertain. And actress Betty Jean Steinshouer, who portrays Rawlings, will be there, too.

"She becomes Marge Rawlings right before your eyes," Barnes says of Steinshouer's portrayal.

The crafts up for sale are made locally, and keep with the theme, so shoppers will find deer feeders, outdoor chandeliers and more. There will be nature walks and airboat rides available.

"We're not hyping the homegrown part, it really is," Barnes says.

Barnes has lived in Cross Creek for 35 years. She learned about the need for the tanker truck firsthand. She looked out through the woods one evening and could see the glow of a huge fire as an old building went up in flames.

"When something goes wrong out here, FEMA isn't going to help us, it's our neighbors," Barnes says.

While many visitors travel to Cross Creek to see Rawlings' home, they may see little else, and may never get a chance to meet the people who call the community home. The festival is touted as a fun way to get to know a little bit more about this quiet corner of Alachua County.

"You'll meet the people because we're the ones who are putting this together," says Hadley.

Gary Kirkland can be reached at 338-3104 or kirklag@gvillesun.com.