Five-year-old Christian Chandler of Vicksburg uses his all to swing a sledgehammer at the River Stage Plaza on Washington Street. (Brian Loden The VIcksburg Post)

[10/03/04]Vicksburg’s downtown was jammed Saturday as vendors hawked everything from funnel cakes to pork rinds to egg creatures at the Old Court House Museum Flea Market and Downtown Vicksburg Fall Festival.

“It was very well attended,” manager John Bobb said of the flea market, which, as well as the festival, charged no admission. Food sales were especially high this year, he said.

Gordon Cotton, curator of the Old Court House Museum, said museum attendance had increased fivefold this year, which he called “tremendous.”

“A lot of it could be attributed to the Carr Central reunion,” Cotton said. About 730 people had registered for the weekend’s all-alumni reunion.

The downtown and near-downtown events were just a few of the happenings that included a Walk for Diabetes, the kickoff of the Fall Pilgrimage tour of 12 historic homes and landmarks, today’s Fall Tour of Homes and the Vicksburg Regional Blues Challenge. On top of all that, more than 200 bicycle riders were expected to compete in the MS 150 Bike Tour beginning at the Vicksburg National Military Park at 8 this morning.

A food vendor at the Fall Festival, which was held on Washington Street, said new attractions for children increased his business.

“I’m glad to see more booths for the kids because that’s what it’s really all about,” said Carlos Baker, who owns the Hot Dog Man on Monroe Street.

Susie Payne of Vicksburg has been selling egg creatures at the Old Court House Museum Flea Market for 15 years. The biggest sellers were the Halloween-themed ghosts and witches, she said.

“I used to paint furniture and big stuff, but this was what was selling,” Payne said.

Payne, an art teacher at Beechwood Elementary, said business was brisk this year, but making and selling egg creatures was just a hobby.

“I see a lot of my students here,” she said. “It’s fun all the way around.”

The Vicksburg Warren Humane Society’s Adopt-A-Thon on the lawn of the Warren County Courthouse yielded “remarkable” results, said humane society president Georgia Lynn.

Twenty animals found homes, including five full-grown dogs, which are the most difficult to place, Lynn said.

Austin Hasty of Vicksburg was helping Debbie McGehee of Coffeeville sell parakeets, rabbits and Beanie Babies at the flea market.

Austin, an 11-year-old fifth-grader at Warren Central Intermediate School, said he was browsing McGehee’s both when she offered him a job.

“I was looking at the birds. She asked me if I would help her fix the cages. I said, sure,'” Hasty said.

McGehee said she hires a local child wherever she sets up her booth. Hasty’s payment for a day’s work will be an as-of-yet-unnamed rabbit.

The two were busy, McGehee said, because Vicksburg was “a very good show.”

“Sometimes you’ll have a big crowd, but it won’t be a spending crowd,” McGehee said. “This is a spending crowd.”

This was the first time McGehee had been to Vicksburg in eight years, but she said she’ll be back next year.

Country, bluegrass and Civil War-era music could be heard from the Old Court House Museum lawn as RebStock brought the fiddles, mandolins and guitars of The Occasional Saints, the Mississippi Old Time Music Society and Briarwood during the day. Harmony, of Mountain View, Ark., drew about 150 to a performance Saturday night in the Old Court House’s historic courtroom.

Sandra Melsheimer of the Mississippi Old Time Music Society said they were “real pleased with the crowd.”

“We even sold a few CDs,” said the Vicksburg native Melsheimer, who plays fiddle, banjo and ukulele and sings.

The Fall Festival hosted a number of bands as well, including Vicksburg Rising Stars, Grandpa’s Scarecrow, Dreamer, Greg Osgood & Cee Blaque, Thundercreek and Ole Vicksburg Friends Jam.