A section of Boyce Park in Plum Boro recently became a passageway back into the 1700s and 1800s. The Allegheny Foothills Historic Society surrounded a log cabin there with British Redcoats, Civil War soldiers and musicians, scarecrows, an Indian maiden, hog oilers, and even some people who actually—I'm not kidding here—grew up in that very log cabin.

There were crafts, displays, music, and you could walk through the log cabin on this incredibly beautiful Fall day. It was all part of the annual Plum Harvest Festival held at the Carpenter Log House in Boyce Park every first Saturday in October. Our Local Heritage offers you a glimpse of it here, but you can see it for yourself in the online video, A Plum Harvest Day At The Carpenters', at http://www.allekiskitoday.com/webcasts/1593

Shirley Todero is walking around making sure everything is going smooth. She has served as Coordinator of the Plum Harvest Festival for four years now. Todero, who also serves on the Society's Board of Directors, starts in April contacting people, re-enactors, and performers and works on it off and on all summer. She says the Allegheny Foothills Historic Society works to make it “a family affair. We try to have a lot for the kids…so the family can come out and have a nice day.”

Inside the log home, Mildred Black (also on the Board of Directors) agrees. The Festival is in its 8th year, and she says the Society "thought it’d be a nice way for the community to have a little fun.” Black remembers fondly when Plum used to have something similar in the 1940s: big farm shows at the old high school. "They were a lot of fun for a teenager," she recalls. And now the Society labors to reflect a little reminding taste of those days in its festivals.

The Society maintains the Carpenter log home where the Festival was held. The Cabin stands on property given to Jane Murry Carpenter in 1820 as a wedding gift. The home they built stayed in the family till 1956 when the county bought it and tore it down but briefly reconstructed it at Point Park, then dismantled it and stored it. "Basically, this is the way we think it looked when it was original,” Mildred Black points out. The Society reconstructed the log home from much of the original pieces in the 1970s and 1980s.

Eleanor Carpenter Broome lived in the log home until she went in college, according to Black, who remembers double dating with her. Broome was a co-author of the Plum history book, "Where Wild Plum Trees Grew" (now available from the Society on CD), and a pivotal founder of the historic society. Her daughter, Susan Broome, is on the Society's Board Of Directors. At the Festival, she is busy helping visitors make scarecrows. Susan took time to talk with us for our online video. Her mom also taught history and geography in the Plum School District, and Susan and her brother grew up knowing a lot about the area. She enjoys being a part of the Allegheny Foothills Society, noting, "It's very rewarding to come here to the Carpenter log house where my mom was one of the original family members born and raised here.”

Just outside the log home we meet another family member, Louise Straley, who also grew up in the home. She remembers what it was like growing up in the house. "It was a lot different than it is today, a lot rougher. There was no bathroom. We had to kill our own chickens,” Straley says. Her mom was a Carpenter, and she lived in the log home from age five to 15. "All we had for heat was the fireplace," she notes. "I remember my grandfather laying sleeping by the fireplace." And her brother, Jim Stewart—who is directing cars in the parking lot—recalls there was no running water either. But like Susan Broome, Louise Straley (who also is on the Board of Directors) says, "I love coming back."

On the porch of the Carpenter a nice, homey-if-forlorn sound is coming from a trio called "Home Front". They are made up of Chuck Krepley, New Kensington's Tom Crytzer, and his sister, Nancy Egan. The wispy melodies are authentic period music. "All three of us like history and focus on music of the civil war era," Krepley, who collects original Civil War music, says. "It makes us sort of an oldies band. We do the greatest hits from the 50s and 60s—it's just the 1850s and 60s," he deadpans. "The music from that era is very rich, very memorable…we really enjoy playing that." The crowd on the lawn enjoyed them playing it too.

Dotting the grounds of the Festival are Doug Plants, soldiers, and a Native American woman. Plants is demonstrating Hog Oilers and other turn-of-the-century farm tools used in Plum. Marching nearby (and apparently oblivious to the fact that hogs need oiling) are members of the Gallant 70th and Bloody 11th regiments [as seen in last month's Heritage column –ed]. Silently observing the hoopla from their guard-like posts are two British Redcoats and a colonial soldier, both from the 1700s. The Royal Americans are British soldiers who represent the 60th Royal Americans. And across the field, what appears to be a Native American princess is teaching children how to drill into bark for a round house.

You can see all this and more in the Heritage online video, A Plum Harvest Day At The Carpenters, at http://www.allekiskitoday.com/webcasts/1593, and in December, the fun shifts gears. The Allegheny Foothills Historical Society hosts a Christmas Open House at the Carpenter log home from 7 to 10 pm on December 9th and 1 to 7 pm on December 10th.For more information go to http://www.plumhistory.org. Be sure to check it out.