DATE:    8/12/99
CONTACT: Cindy Flowers, (803) 259-3350
WRITER:  Tom Lollis, (803) 284-3343

"Horse Farmers Gathering" Set for 
Sept. 24-25 at Edisto REC

     BLACKVILLE -- "Get-up! Step-gee! Whoa!" That's the language
of the horse and mule-powered farm of years gone by. Hear it
again Sept. 24-25 during the fourth annual "Old Time Horse
Farmers Gathering" at Clemson University's Edisto Research and
Education Center.
     The Agricultural Heritage Center (AHC), located at Edisto
REC, will play host to draft horses and mules from all over the
two Carolinas, Georgia and Florida.
     "Visitors will see Percherons, Belgians, Brabant Belgians,
Clydesdales and maybe a Shire working the land," said Cindy
Flowers. She and her husband Tommy, who work a small farm near
Blackville with five draft horses, organized the first Gathering
in 1996.
     "Since then this has become one of the fastest-growing 
living history and horse events in South Carolina," Flowers said.
     Admission will be $3 for adults, $2 for students and free 
for children 3 and under. Doors will open at 9 a.m. both days.
The AHC consists of a Museum, a Learning Center and a Discovery
Center.
     Proceeds will go to the Learning Center, which has a mission 
of building an awareness of how farmers manage land and animals
to produce food and other agricultural products that sustain and
enhance human life.
     Flowers said learning stations will be set up during the 
Gathering to show products that come from corn, cotton, soybeans
and animal by-products. Visitors will also find out how to shear
sheep, spin wool, milk a cow, churn butter, mend horseshoes and
make soap and candles. 
     "We'll also have a cane squeezing, a display of old farm 
implements, corn shellers, a pea thrasher and a grist mill," she
said. Women and children will be given time to try plowing behind
a mule or draft horse.
     Multiple hitches of 8 and 12 horses and mules will give 
plowing demonstrations. Visitors can build a corn shock, stack
hay or pick cotton by hand. 
     "A mule barn built by the WPA in the late 1930s will be 
full of farm animals of all kinds for the kids to enjoy," 
Flowers said.
     An area for agricultural exhibits, antique vendors and 
local crafters will be set up under the old oaks at Edisto 
REC. A place to sit and listen to entertainment will also be 
provided.
     "One of the highlights will be a parade of horses at 9:30 
both Friday and Saturday mornings," Flowers said.  
     WBAW radio will sponsor an appearance on Friday by Ludlow
Porch, Flowers added. He will broadcast his syndicated radio show
live from the AHC Museum.
     The Calvary Mennonite School will provide a lunch stand
along with homemade bread and baked goods. Homemade ice cream
churned by a hit-and-miss engine and kettle-cooked popcorn will
also be available for purchase.
     Members of the S.C. Draft Horse Association, the Country Boy
Plow Club and the N.C. Draft Horse and Mule Association will
participate in the event.
     For more information, contact Cindy Flowers at (803)
259-3350. Her e-mail address is hannies@sc.tds.net. 
                         END