By Stephen Smoot
For 51 weeks a year, a main committee, a plethora of subcommittees, a thin line of volunteers, and others who support the Treasure Mountain Festival labor tirelessly. They form plans, debate maintaining some traditions while starting new ones, raise money, and figure out how to turn 51 weeks of hard effort into four days of fun for all.
Many worried as rain fell on and off all week that it might interrupt the festivities.
A number of local non-profits and service organizations see TMF as one of their big fundraisers of the year. The South Fork Ruritan holds a regular pork and beef barbeque with all the fixings. Meanwhile, just a few blocks away, the Pendleton County Library transformed their lower floor into a huge bookstore.
The Friends of the Library receives donations of books all year long for both the library and book sale fundraisers. On Thursday, book buyers swarmed the sale for great deals on any non fiction subject, plus fiction and children’s books.
All funds go to the library itself. Proceeds from TMF sales will go to in part to support the summer kids reading program in 2025.
Others saw TMF as an opportunity to showcase a new business. Sofia Wayne received use of a conference room in the community building. She provided a place for kids and parents to cool off inside while showing off her business.
Wayne said, “We’re just getting the kinks worked out” in her business, called Party In a Flash Rentals. She explained that at TMF there were very few things for small children to do. Her business sets up a huge play area with an inflatable castle, a small fence to keep toddlers from roaming free, and lots of balls.
Others took the time to show off their artistry. The Sew and Sews Quilt Guild held both a show and a contest. The main room of the community building was decked out in hanging homemade quilts.
Those who stopped in could see quiltmakers busy at work assembling their art. Also, as guild member Pam Sexton from South Carolina explained, they put together a “challenge display.”
Each member who took on the challenge received four pieces of fabric and the assignment of a log cabin theme.
Across town, Katie and Jared VanMeter played their roles to perfection. They hosted the traditional tea room at the Historic McCoy House, a pre-Civil War mansion located across from the courthouse. During the past year, they have poured their effort and talent into restoring the home into its original condition as closely as possible.
Design and history are the VanMeter’s art and they both donned period costumes to entertain guests and give them a sample of Pendleton County’s old fashioned traditions.
The traditions of neighborly assistance also involved the Pendleton County Sheriff’s Department. On Saturday, they reported the possible theft of “a full body coyote mount and mule deer shoulder mount” from the vendor area near the helipad.
Fortunately, no one stole the items. A helpful citizen moved them under cover when weather threatened. Again, this exemplifies the best traditions of Pendleton County and Franklin – neighbor helping neighbor.
On Sunday, the final events occurred and ended, vendors moved on to the next festival as the smoke cleared from the re-enactment of the burning of Fort Seybert.
And a lot of bellies were filled with amazing food.
Very soon, the Treasure Mountain Festival committee and subcommittees will meet again, discussing what went right, what went wrong, and how to make the 2025 version even better, thus carrying on the tradition for coming generations.
