Texian Heritage Festival to feature cannons and re-enactors

MONTGOMERY, Texas -- The Texian Heritage Festival is preparing to bring out the guns and cannons for the annual festival this Saturday at Fernland Historical Park in Montgomery.

The Texian Heritage Festival is a family fun outdoor event that depicts the era of the 1800's with shoot-outs, cannons, re-enactments, demonstrators, dancers, entertainment, and a Children's Corral with hands on activities including stick pony races, potato sack races, tug of war, and crafts with 64% of the proceeds benefitting Montgomery County Emergency Assistance-a United Way funding agency that has been serving clients throughout the county since 1981 with food, clothing, rent and utility assistance.

Fernaland Historical Park is home to 4 cabins from the 1820’s to 1860’s. The cabins-Hulon, Jardine, Crane, and Simonton house will be open for all to visit and see how life was lived in the early 1800’s. Dulcimers, fiddles, cowboy poets, storytellers, and singers will entertain festival-goers on the Frontier stage (back of Hulon House). Craft and food vendors will line up on the East side of the park with slow cooked brisket, corn on the cob, shaved ice, kettle corn, glass stained items, jams, jewelry, natural oils, and services.

Returning this year are festival favorites- the Chicawa Aztec Dancers, the Wolf Creek Pistalero Shootists, and James Drury of “The Virginian” TV series. Larry and Claudia Heidbreder will have Longhorn steers, Liberty and Justice demonstrating the working history of Texas cattle. Not be missed the Lone Star Volunteers will participate in cannon firing. Participants may get the chance to fire a cannon! The Conroe Art League will set up their traditional mix of paintings in oil, acrylics, and watercolor, bronze and copper sculptures, digital photography, and silver jewelry at the Jardine cabin toward the back of the park. In addition, participants may engage in a community 4 x 5 painting “Texas Heritage Garden” inspired by the name of the Jardine cabin. Local artist Joe Kolb will help festival visitors add paint and their names to the mural. The painting will then be auctioned off later to benefit Fernaland Historical Park.

Boy Scout Troop 491 of Montgomery will also be returning this year to participate in their annual flag retirement ceremony. The troop will be camping out with the re-enactors in anticipation of earning additional badges and demonstrating Dutch oven cooking, knot tying, and leather crafting.

Demonstrator activities throughout the day include soap making, wood carving, a blacksmith, cooking a pig in the ground, fabric stamping, coin-rubbing from the Heritage Museum of Conroe, cowboy roping, quilting, and chair caning. At approximately 2:30 pm The Sons of the Republic of Texas will re-enact the insurrection/revolution of Coquila y Tejas settlers and the Mexican Army of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.

The Children’s Corral will have ongoing activities throughout the day. Children can decorate pumpkins, make a stick pony, pan for gold, play ring toss games, learn to rope, and participate in field games. Potato sack races, tug of war, and stick pony races will be scheduled on the grass adjacent to the children’s activities. Volunteers welcome!

Sponsors for the Texian Heritage Festival include the Montgomery Economic Development Corporation, Weisner Automotive, Consolidated Communications, Amegy Bank, the Lake Conroe Rotary Club, Pizza Shack of Montgomery, Coldwell Banker, Ole School House, Fair Claims Roofing, Jim’s Hardware, and a memorial for Jim Price. Volunteer opportunities can be found at www.TexianHeritage.org . The festival will open at 10:00am and last until 5:00pm with free parking and only $3 admission for the entire day!