Despite rain, the show goes on at Prater’s Mill

By Mark Millican

VARNELL — Sonja Hall said she never would have believed it had she not seen it with her own eyes.

“Back when I was a girl this place was infested with copperheads,” she said on Saturday while taking a break from serving food in the old store at Prater’s Mill, scene of the 39th annual namesake country fair. “My Aunt Clora lived here on the property and had one of those old washing machines with the ringer and she was washing clothes. This porch was about three feet off the ground, and my cousin, Mack, jumped off the porch and then came back in mid-air. I saw it and Aunt Clora saw it and she said, ‘What in the world?’ Mack said, ‘Mama, there’s a big copperhead out there and I would have landed right on top of it.’

“He tried it again later and could never get back on the porch like he did that time. A hand from above helped him that day.”

An overnight rain did little to dampen spirits and memories at the fairground — even though talk at the venue touched on the property lease that runs out at the end of the year and could mean no more fairs.

Some attendees who ventured behind the mill seemed mesmerized by the volume of muddy water in Coahulla Creek running over the dam, furnishing power for the grinding of corn meal inside.

“The most interesting part of the fair, to me, is the mill itself,” said John Singletary of Fayetteville. “The beginnings of it, the fire and the restoration — it’s a real piece of Georgia history.”

His wife, Sharon, said she liked the crafts and the food.

“It’s a pleasant and entertaining atmosphere ...,” she said.

“... of all sizes and shapes,” he finished the thought.

Felipe Bibiano, 12, of Dalton, said he liked the food best — hot dogs and barbecue — “and the country music,” as he toured the fair with his family. There were also pony rides, music, antique cars, Civil War re-enactors on bivouac, chenille bedspreads, and folk arts and crafts, among other exhibitors.

Lamar White of Ringgold is with the Dixie Relic Recovery Club, and showed off a Civil War minié ball that had been flattened by a Union or Confederate soldier and made into the replica of a brogan boot, replete with a heel and the lace holes. Also on display was a “three-blade bleeder,” a spring-loaded knife that was used to “bleed” people in the days when it was thought the free flow of blood allowed afflictions to escape the body.

“They say that’s what killed George Washington,” he said.

Valerie Silva, whose obstetrician tells her she will deliver a baby on Wednesday, sat placidly beside her jewelry booth.

“I was hoping I wouldn’t have him early, because I wanted to be here,” she said. “I also hope he’ll be able to go to the fair like I did growing up. I’ve been coming since the early 1980s.”

Her husband, Edward, not as placid, stood beside her. He was asked what he would do if his wife said, “Honey, I think ...”

“We’ll probably call her mom to come get her really quickly,” he said, then added, “There are paramedics nearby.”

Prater’s Mill Foundation director Judy Alderman said she would not know attendance figures until late today, but said it was obvious there were “thousands” already in attendance judging by the parking areas.

“There’s a different feeling here this year because we’re facing change,” she said. “People are coming to reminisce and they’re telling us what the fair means to them. There’s also an air of lunacy among the volunteers. You have to have that to help put on a fair outdoors in the middle of a flood plain when it’s raining.”

Jeff Clawson of Spring City, Tenn., is a blacksmith with the Choo Choo Forge out of Chattanooga.

“I think it would be a very big loss if the fair closes,” he said between hammer strikes on a red-hot piece of iron being formed into an intricate leaf for a key chain. “It’s a great venue to share crafts and people get to see a lot of the lost arts that are not used much anymore. I think it would be a tremendous loss for the community.”