The camp, which began in 1927, is located on 470 acres in Botetourt County. It is open all year for conferences and events, many of which are open to the public.
The Church of the Brethren is a peaceful group, but unlike Amish or similar religious orders, the Church of the Brethren do not dress much differently from other people. My husband calls them "new order" Brethren, though they have been around hundreds of years. You can read a bit more about the religion here if you like. I find it an attractive religion because it is pacifist and it follows the word of Christ, not the Old Testament, and it has no formal creed or rules. "We simply try to do what Jesus would do," it says on the website.
Just an FYI, I was baptized into the Brethren church many years ago. My grandfather on my mother's side was also Brethren and baptized at the same church I was.
Anyway, here are 13 photos of the day.
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| Most of the items for sale were handmade, like these towels. I purchased a few because I like to hang them on the stove handle. |
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| A display of old wood-working tools held our interest for a very long time. |
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| Building stuff was hard work back in the day. |
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| This was a display of "script" used by farmers, particularly tomato growers, long ago. Each had their own coin. This was new to me and I was particularly interested in it because it reflects how the agricultural community worked long ago. At one time, our area was well-known for its tomatoes and other produce. |
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| These are canning labels and original cans from around 1900 or so. The cans were put together by hand, not by machines, using the tools on display. |
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| More woodworking items. |
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| How'd you like to make biscuits with those? |
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| These gentlemen discovered that using a cross-cut two-man saw was no easy task. |
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| Beautiful flowers and autumn decorations. |
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| A nice crowd. |
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| I thought these were lovely. Wouldn't they make a great centerpiece on a Thanksgiving table? |
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| What's a festival without a little cotton candy? |
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| A woman taking a quiet moment on the bridge over the ponds. The water was very low due to our recent drought. |
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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 522nd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
Looks like a lovely hustle & bustle-free afternoon. Wish I'd been there! Thanks for bringing us along!
ReplyDeleteLove that tie dyed person on the bridge. I covered a Brethren celebration for the paper in 2008 and have a lot of respect for the their history, which was very liberal for the times.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos. My kind really being a country girl at heart. I love the farmers' script - oh the history! The wooden rollers and whoa! Cotton candy reminds me of 3rd grade. We had the pink ones <3
ReplyDeleteI see why you like it. Old cans/labels, tools, etc.
ReplyDeleteI feel for you on the drought, having just come through my own.
Church of the Brethren has always been one of my favorite groups. Yes, very pacific, and kind people. Like it was meant to be, imho.
ReplyDeleteLoved the walk along with you in the festival. The old tools are beautiful. I wish i knew where my old hand wrought nail pullers were. DH has them I'm sure. lol
Ouch, the drought is everywhere, even in beautiful Virginia. I'm sorry. We have fires again a LOT closer to my kids, some of whom live part of the time in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
I was baptized brethren also. I love camp bethel!! And recommend the summer camps for kids although I never went to camp when I was a kid. One day I hope to make it to heritage days. I always work on Saturdays. I’ll have to have a talk with my boss about that...LOLl!!
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