[SEPT. 27, 2000]  The festivals of fall continue, with New Holland's anniversary celebration this weekend and the Barry Apple Festival. There are many more to come in this area, including scenic drives where thousands of visitors are expected

Parade, entertainment, carnival, antique machinery/autos, combined church service on
Oct. 1.

217/732-8687

Celebrate the apple, as thousands of people do each year at this event. Enjoy the fall fruit, made into cider, dumpling, fritters, pie and a host of other treats. An apple-theme quilt will be raffled, and activities include a parade, entertainment and queen contest.

217/335-2108

The third annual event offers a real treat for music fans, with a line-up of bands and jam sessions, plus arts and crafts, food, pie-eating and cutest pumpkin "baby" contests.

www.tuscola.org

800/441/9111

Events for kids and adults, food, live entertainment, pumpkin-decorating contest and craft show.

217/422-7300

Oct. 7-8

Enjoy the autumn air and beautiful surroundings, while sampling food and listening to live entertainment. Crafts and children’s activities are also on the schedule.

An intertribal powwow where you can test your tomahawk throwing skills, eat some fry bread and pick your own pumpkin. Also featured are Native American dance, arts and crafts, an appearance by "Cody" from the movie "Dances with Wolves," stories about the white buffalo, a corn maze test your skills, pony rides and petting zoo.

Fulton County’s 33rd annual fall festival is along more than 130 scenic miles, through the towns of London Mills, Avon, Middle Grove, Farmington, Bernadotte, Table Grove.

More than 100,000 people are expected to pack the traditional event, so be prepared for lots of traffic. Flea markets, entertainment, historical sites, good food and beautiful fall leaves are all part of the fun. Watch apple butter made, eat butterfly pork chops at Mount Pisgah or a plate of chicken and noodles at Smithfield’s Red Brick School. Re-enactors encamped on the grounds at Dickson Mounds Museum will recreate the life of colonial Illinois in habit, cooking and eating, blanket trading, and demonstrations of black powder shooting and knife throwing.

www.spoonriverdrive.org

www.misslink.net/scenicdrive

309/647-8980

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Get both your face and your pumpkin painted at this event, which includes the Wildlife Prairie Park traveling zoo, a bungee run, a bake sale, magician, puppet shows and plenty of food. Admission is $1.

309/347-YWCA

Pick-your-own pumpkin patch, arts and crafts, pony rides and entertainment.

217/854-3514

Pick your own pumpkins, take a hayrack ride, enjoy live music, play pumpkin games and eat pumpkin treats.

309/ 243-1012

Native American Living History, hot air balloon rides, chili cook-off, flea market, craft fair, old time music, Halloween window-painting contest, car cruise.

217/438-3405

Come and see who wins the apple pie bake-off, and enjoy the crafts, entertainment and food available.

217/245-9917

Pet Clydesdale horses, walk through three-acre corn mazes, take a horse-drawn wagon ride, have your own broom made while you wait or tour the 100-year-old Pike County Courthouse at this event. Hundreds of crafts and antiques are for sale at booths throughout the drive and demonstrations include doll making, basket weaving, chair caning, stained glass and rope making. More than 25,000 visitors attended the popular event last year.

217/335-2670

Take a step back in time and watch villagers prepare for Thanksgiving, by making apple butter and shucking corn. Parade and demonstrations.

217/632-4000

[Penny Zimmerman-Wills]

[SEPT. 22, 2000]  The days at the local swimming pool are a faded memory. The crisp, clean air means sweater weather is just around the corner. Ushering in the new season, trees will soon turn autumnal shades of red and gold, and pumpkins have already started popping up on every front porch in town.

But one of the best things about fall in central Illinois — besides the pumpkins — is the abundance of activities, festivals and special events. Nearly every local community has a festival of some kind, and some of the area’s largest, like the Spoon River and Knox County scenic drives, draw 100,000 people each year in October.

The season for fall festivals has already begun, but there are still a ton of festivals on the calendar well worth taking a drive in the country to explore, including the Clinton Apple and Pork Festival this weekend. The town of Clinton rolls out the red carpet in celebration of pork and apples for this favorite local event. Although in recent years the event has become very crowded, it’s still a fun way to spend the day in DeWitt County.

This annual event, always held the last weekend of September, celebrates harvest time on the grounds of the C.H. Moore Homestead (DeWitt County Museum). The event, which draws more than 70,000 people to the city, serves up a variety of food, but taking center stage is pork in all its forms — cutlet sandwiches, pork chili, pickles and pork sandwiches, pork sausage sandwiches, BBQ pork ribs, hog legs and even pig ears. There's also a big emphasis on apples — taffy apples, apple cake, apple and corn fritters, apple Danish rolls, fried apples, caramel apple wedges, apple pie, apple cider and apple butter.

There is also a juried craft show, with artists making everything from dulcimers to carousel horses; a flea market; scarecrow contest; art show; and antique tractor exhibit.

More information is available by calling 217/935-6066.

And, just when you think you’ve had your fill of pumpkins, gourds and Indian corn during all the fall festivals in September and October, another local event comes along the first weekend in November and wins the prize for the most unique — the annual Persimmon Party in Taylorville. The historic fruit is celebrated in a big way at the Christian County Historical Museum.

What has now become a popular annual event all started when Taylorville resident Mary Anne Durbin decided to put to good use all that messy fruit falling off the old persimmon trees on the grounds of the historical society. Her friend had brought back some frozen persimmon pulp, which was quite expensive, from a festival in Indiana, and it gave her the idea. Durbin, a member and past president of the Christian County Historical Society, said the event has turned into a fun fund-raiser for the museum and a way to spread the joy of the native American fruit. Members of the historical society pick the fruit, process the pulp and freeze it. The frozen pulp, which resembles pumpkin when spices are added, she said, is then made in a variety of foods, including bread, pudding, cake, cookies, fudge and even ice cream.

"It’s a good fruit. But only pick them when they’re ripe," Durbin said. "If they’re not ripe, you don’t want to touch them. People pucker up when they try one that isn’t ripe. I think that’s why a lot of people don’t like them — because they had a bad experience with one that wasn’t ripe. You have to wait until they fall off the tree."

Area residents bake a variety of food items using the fruit, and it’s all available for sampling during a tasting party. "People have a lot of fun with these persimmons and tasting all the different foods," Durbin said.

The native fruit was used by pioneers and Native Americans, according to Durbin, and not only do people enjoy eating the native American fruit, but during the party they also learn how to use the fruit to forecast the weather. "People come year after year, buy cups of frozen pulp, taste samples and really have a good time," she said. "We also have persimmon seeds. If you split the seeds open, you see a little white sprout in the shape of a spoon, knife or fork. If you see a spoon, which is the most common, it means there is a lot of snow in the winter ahead. A fork shape means the winter will hold light, powdery snow, and a knife shape means cold, winter winds."

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The event draws about 800 people each year, from Illinois, Missouri, Indiana and Kansas. A recipe book, first published during the city’s 150th birthday celebration in 1989, features 147 persimmon recipes and is also for sale during the event.

This year’s event will be Nov. 4 and 5, from noon to 4 p.m. each day. More information is available by calling 217/824-6922.

Other local events include the following:

Sept. 22-24

Springfield Septoberfest

Fifth and Washington streets, Springfield

This second-annual event offers crafts, antiques, entertainment, scarecrow building and a children’s area. Food from local restaurants and farmers market produce will be available. 217/544-1723.

Sept. 23

Petersburg Harvest Fest

Downtown Petersburg

A parade, craft sale, talent show, soapbox derby, carnival rides, antiques and crafts, food and entertainment. 217/632-7363.

Peoria Octoberfest

Festival Park, Peoria

This annual festival is full of German food, music and culture. Polka dancing, crafts and food and beer catered by Jumer’s Castle Lodge are on the menu. There is an admission fee.

Sept. 23-24

Beardstown Fall Fun Festival

City square, Beardstown

A combination homecoming and festival, with parades, flea markets, arts and crafts booths and entertainment. 217/323-3273.

Steam Show and Fall Festival Days

Prairie Land Heritage Museum, Lincoln and Michigan streets, Jacksonville

Equipment, flea market and crafters present three days of activities. 217/243-7262; 800/593-5678.

Fort Crevecoeur Rendezvous

Creve Coeur

Experience life in 1680 to 1835 at this 86-acre historic park with a 30-acre nature preserve. French voyageurs, trappers, buckskinners and traders re-enact a fall rendezvous in the woods, between French settlers and the area’s Native Americans. Silversmithing, beading, fife and drum music and dancing. 309/694-3193.

Jordbruksdagarna (Agricultural Days)

Bishop Hill

Traditional harvest festival featuring 19^th-century crop-processing demonstrations, traditional music, children’s games, farm produce and colony stew served throughout the historic village. 309/927-3345.

Annual Taste of Illinois food and
beverage fair

Apple Basket Farms, Barry

Snack on apples, wine and cheese, among other food items, while learning all about herbs, during Herbfest 2000. The Illinois Herb Association convenes its annual fall meeting at the apple business, so seminars and other educational features on how to cook and make crafts with herbs are on tap.

[Penny Zimmerman-Wills]

(More fall festivals)

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