Published Saturday, July 04, 2009

Barbecue, Puckett Station fest today in Moreland

The Times-Herald

Fourth of July morning in Coweta has all eyes on Moreland, where a barbecue tradition of some 60 years joins the Puckett Station Arts and Crafts Fair.

From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. festival-goers will enjoy booths spread among the trees, along the town's main thoroughfare and in the historic Moreland Mill.

Lines begin forming around 10:30 for the 11 a.m. start of serving for barbecue and Brunswick stew at the Lewis Grizzard pavilion.

Moreland is known as the hometown of Grizzard, the late humorist and Atlanta newspaper columnist whose works have been compiled in several books. It is also home to the Erskine Caldwell Birthplace Museum, in the home moved from the nearby countryside to the town's square.

Visitors will also enjoy a collection of turn-of-the-century and early 1900s household, merchant and doctor artifacts and machinery in the Old Mill Museum.

Janice Sibley, who has been playing Mother Goose since 1995, will be a special attraction at the 2009 Puckett Station fest. Sibley will be in the Moreland Mill -- where she will be joined by writers, artists and craftsmen exhibiting their wares. Sibley also does magic tricks and paper-cutting crafts for the children. Her main purpose is to encourage children to read more.

The centerpiece of the July 4 celebration in Moreland is the barbecue, which is mounted annually by members of First Baptist Church of Moreland, Moreland United Methodist Church and White Oak Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.

Plates are $8.

Each year volunteers from the three churches prepare 2,200 pounds of pork -- which yields 4,000-5,000 plates.

The Puckett Station Festival -- sponsored by the Erskine Caldwell Birthplace and Museum in conjunction with the Moreland Community Historical Society -- focuses on handcrafted, one-of-a-kind items. The festival's moniker recalls a bit of history -- the Moreland area community's name before the railroad arrived.

Puckett Station will begin with a patriotic bike parade at 8:30 a.m. followed by a dog walk. People bringing dogs to the event should be prepared to keep them on a leash and to clean up after them, said Josh Evans, the town's mayor and president of the Moreland Community Historical Society. MCHS is coordinating judges and prizes for the bike and dog competition.

Opening ceremonies are set for 9 a.m. and will include raising of the flag by Boy Scout Troop 48.

Moreland's Independence Day festivities usually end by early afternoon. Neighboring Grantville will offer a dramatic re-creation of events surrounding the nation's birthday.

The Grantville Playmakers will present David Wilson as George Washington in "George Washington: A Patriot Speaks." Millie Sells will appear as Betsy Ross.

The drama will be staged at the John C. Meadows Log Cabin, a structure dating to Coweta County's pioneer days, at the County Little League Park in Grantville. The play will start at 7:15 p.m.

Wilson said the time was set to give people a chance to see the play and still get to activities in Newnan later in the evening.

Admission will be free. "We are in some bad economic times and a lot of people are hurting," said Wilson, who also wrote the play, "and we want to give people a chance to have some free entertainment."