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The Kenan's Mill Fall Festival and Bluegrass concert kicks off at 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 7.
Get ready for bluegrass music with 8-year-old fiddler Caleb Bryant and the Hurricane Creek Bluegrass Band from North Alabama. Music starts at 10 a.m.
Kids will enjoy tractor-pulled wagon rides down the dirt road, party inflatables, hands-on pottery and face painting.
Watch the wheels turns as the mill grinds corn, and purchase a few bags of cornmeal to take home. You'll also enjoy a trek across the swinging bridge to the old beehive charcoal kiln and a tour of the mill house. "Libba's Barn," the newest mill structure, is located just behind the house, and be sure an check out the kitchen garden as well.
Bring your lawn chairs and enjoy the whole day. Food vendors will be ready with your lunch!
Above, children make 3-D butterflies at the Selma-Dallas County Public Library Open House Art workshop. Below, several children turn paper plates into faces. The next Open House Art will be July 6 from 10 a.m. til noon. So come on and join the fun!
(Click the brochures to view larger images.)
The Alabama Tale-Tellin' Festival is an annual event that you won't want to miss! Soooo...since the brochure is here, I'm posting it well ahead of the October 9 & 10 dates.
Bill Harley, Tersi Agra Bendiburg and The Dill Pickers will entertain the evenings away along with Selma's own world-famous storyteller Kathryn Tucker Windham.
Bill Harley is a well-known, family-friendly entertainer, and if you have children and/or would like to remember what it's like to be a child, come listen! From stories about swamp monsters to songs about "There's a Pea on My Plate," Harley brings the early years back to life with his unique sense of humor. Oh yes, he's a regular on NPR's "All Things Considered" and has been nominated for a Grammy award. Tersi Agra Bendiburg will add a Latin American flavor to this year's program. Her stories come from her native Cuba and her travels to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. A naturalized American citizen, she has lived in Georgia since age 10, and at the 22nd Tale-Tellin' Festival, her "Red Clay, Scarlett & Fried-Green Tomatoes" story about coming to America received a standing ovation.
The Dill Pickers from Birmingham is a music group that plays and sings a variety of tunes from bluegrass to show songs and old-time string band numbers. The group played last year and will return by popular demand.And of course, our own Kathryn Tucker Windham will be there, and I bet she'll share a ghost story and more!
There's even more to do in town that weekend. Riverfront Market Day features arts and crafts along Water Avenue on Saturday, Oct. 10.
The parking lot of Selma's First Baptist Church was the final rest stop of the Old Howard Bike Ride on Saturday. The "Ride through Alabama History" included Selma this year on a tour that began in Marion. 
Thanks to Elaine Stewart for sending the pictures! The ride benefits Sowing Seeds of Hope, an effort to improve the quality of life in Perry County.
Spring has sprung in Selma and Dallas County, and the weekends are full with activities!Tonight is the annual Elkdale Baptist Church Ladies' Banquet at the Carl Morgan Convention Center, and I have posted a photo from last year's banquet that fits this Easter time of year. Our speaker from the Nashville area will be talking to us from the "Girlville Diner," and the stage decor is Retro 1950s. I've seen it, and it's cute!The Hunt is ON this afternoon amid the charms of Heritage Village as children in the Old Town Neighborhood gather Easter eggs. This evening, the Parrish High School Class of 1967 gets together to reminisce at a local restaurant. I bet they can't believe it's been 42 years since graduation!This morning, my neighbor who is the Interim EMS Director, headed out to Lion's Club Park for The Citizens' Corps Council of Selma-Dallas County and its First Be Ready Volunteer Drive. It's all about training citizens to be ready to lead in the event of a community emergency or disaster. Ah, no I didn't make it to that, but I've got a banquet tonight! Anyhow, it amazes me the way she and other staffers have stayed up nights down at the EMA center to man the radar, radios and storm warning sirens. We've had a bunch of storm systems this spring and another one tomorrow! I also hear that Concordia College alumni are having a big to-do today! they have a Spring Blast going on with a yard sale, barbecue, music and games. Sounds like fun!Old Cahawba was busy this morning too, with hopefully a lot of volunteers who helped clean up the park. The annual cleanup day is sponsored by the Civil War Preservation Trust and History (formerly the History Channel). Hope you are having a great weekend!
Get out your gloves and bring some rakes and shovels. It's National "Park Day," an annual historic preservation event to clean up our Civil War parks.Cleanup begins at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 4 at Old Cahawba Archaeological Park, 9518 Cahaba Road, Orrville. The park is located 12 miles west of Selma, and volunteers are needed to clear brush and remove invasive plants from historic sites. For more information call 334-872-8058.In case of rain, the cleanup day will be April 11.
Old Cahawba, Alabama's first permanent capital, was the site of a Confederate prison during the Civil War. The chimney in the above photo may be have been a chimney in the structure.
Balsora Plantation attracted large crowds this weekend, and although this photo was taken on Day 1, the 1820's Federal-style house was open all three days. I thought it especially interesting that all the owners of this home took precautions to preserve not only the structure but the natural wildlife habitats surrounding it.
The Foundry tour took visitors along a timeline of Selma's industrial ironwork history since 1869. I was surprised at how many women took the tour and asked questions that I never would have thought about!
This breathtaking photo of a wooded autumn scene won first place in the photography division of the Arts Revive Art Show. Its photographer/artist
is Gena Clements. 
Look closely, and you can spot a young girl peering out the window of Kenan's Mill, a gristmill that once supplied area grocery stores and on special occasions such as Pilgrimage, becomes operational once again.
The red barn is the newest structure on the Kenan's Mill property and houses restrooms that are handicapped accessible. In the foreground is a kitchen garden, and I believe there might be greens over in the corner. 
Here's the beautifully restored mill house, where the Kenan's Mill miller lived. 
Visitors who toured the Vaughan-Smitherman Museum were delighted to listen as Steve Smitherman shared a son's view of his famous father, Joe T. Smitherman, who served as Selma's mayor for more than three decades. "Joe T" was the newly elected, young mayor when the Civil Rights Movement became active here. His original office furniture and accessories now fill a room in the museum. 
The weather and spring flowers could not
have been more beautiful for Pilgrimage Weekend.
Please come back next year! Selma enjoyed having you!The Historic Selma Pilgrimage is sponsored by
the Selma-Dallas County Historic Preservation Society.
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