LAURINBURG — The iconic John Blue House was the focal point of the 36th annual Cotton Festival in rural Scotland County, but it was Mother Nature that put the Carolina blue overhead and kept the crowds coming.
Despite warming up into the mid- or upper 80s, visitors began streaming onto the grounds early in the day and, before mid-day, nearly every nook and cranny of the area was filled with people.
“It’s a good crowd and a really good day,” said Clyde Marsh, a volunteer with the Scotland County Historical Society. “We really need to get back on track after the past few years of bad weather.”
The John Blue Cotton Festival was started 36 years ago by Teedie Tuttle, a Scotland County school teacher, as a way to show her students the history of the area. It was also a way to celebrate the cotton harvest each fall.
“I’m not really sure why they stopped bringing students here like that,” said Tish Patterson with the Historical Society.
As grandiose as the circa 1890 John Blue House is from a distance, a tour leaves little doubt the stately structure is in dire need of help.
“It needs a lot,” said Danny Russell, a volunteer tour guide. “It’s kept up as best it can be, but there is a need for a large-scale repair.”
The 12-room home, which includes four closets counted as rooms for tax purposes back in its day, recently had its nine fireplaces repaired. But between the home’s foundation, walls, ceilings and porches there remains about $100,000 worth of renovation.
An area of the grounds that was restored in 1996 was the mule-operated cotton gin — originally built in 1793 in South Carolina.
“It was pretty rotted back then (in 1996); it had almost nothing worth keeping,” said Tom Tucker, who was the lead on the restoration project.” What you see now of the building is maybe 30% original — but the main workings are about 95% original.”
The restoration of the cotton gin took about 10 months, opening two days before the 1996 John Blue Cotton Festival.
Among all the activities on Saturday — which included storytelling, hayrides, old-timey demonstrations, old-fashioned children’s games and a slew of vendors — was a first-time chili cookoff contest.
“We’re hoping to get this to grow,” said Donna Faulk, coordinator of the event.
The contest saw six entries and a trio of judges tasted each one before determining a winner. That winner would pocket $100, with the runnerup earning $50.
At the end of judging, Barbara Wright, a retired home economics teacher at Scotland High School, was declared the grand chili champion.
“I’m very surprised, it’s the first time I’ve entered a chili contest,” she said as she clutched her winnings. “And I must admit, it’s not my recipe … I found it on the internet, touted as a blue-ribbon recipe. I guess they were right.”
Betty Barrow took second place in the chili cookoff.
W. Curt Vincent can be reached at 910-506-3023 or cvincent@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com.
