[10/6/02]Bobbie McCool was one of over 200 vendors on hand at the 20th Annual Old Court House Fall Flea Market Saturday on the grounds of the Old Court House Museum.

Vendors had many different products for the crowd of about 2,500, from t-shirts to arts and crafts to Happi Crabs to McCool’s specialty, homemade jellies.

“We’ve been pretty busy, I don’t how many people we’ve seen, but we’ve made about $300 so far at $4 a jar. That’s not bad,” MawCool’s Homemade Jellies owner McCool said.

McCool, 69, said she started making jellies as a hobby after she retired from Simpson Dura-vent in 1996.

“I started making the jellies and giving them as gifts, and it just blossomed,” McCool said.

McCool makes 26 different flavors, some of which are not traditional.

“We have the strawberry, the grape and the apple jellies, but we also have purple hull, rose petal, pepper and kudzu jellies,” McCool said.

McCool, who makes the fresh jellies out of her Manor Drive apartment year round, said she has made many friends through making jelly.

“I love people, I love meeting the people,” McCool said. “God gave me this to do when I retired and he has blessed me. I owe it all to him.”

Dennie and Harlena Parsons of Parkersburg, W.Va, said they came to Vicksburg to visit their son for the weekend and he took them to the flea market.

“My wife makes quilts out of old handkerchiefs and Tim said she’d be able to find some good ones here and she did,” Dennie Parsons said. “This is a really nice town, we’ve really enjoyed visiting.”

Other activities in the city Saturday included:

The Fall Pilgrimage, a tour of structures, many of which are listed on the U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Register of Historic Places. The tours will run through Oct. 26.

The Downtown Fall Festival events included performances by bands in Crawford Sqaure, pony rides and a red train that circled the downtown area.

Mississippi Walk for Diabetes had 150 walkers in downtown Vicksburg raising money for diabetes.

The Old Court House Museum hosted Rebstock. Harmony, a three-member group from the Ozarks, performed for a crowd of a little over a hundred people.

Warren Central High School hosted the Red Carpet Invitational marching band competition at Warren Central Viking Stadium.