Mount Crawford’s lawn party was held over the weekend, and the whole town came out to celebrate. The three-day event featured mostly small attractions — bounce houses, a dime toss, Bingo, pony rides, hay rides and a cake walk. Plus food — fried chicken courtesy of the Rurtians, barbecued chicken courtesy of the Boy Scout troop, snow cones and cotton candy.
One of the big names of the event was Jack and Davis Reid — who are the grandsons of the Statler Brothers, said Lexi Campbell, president of the Mount Crawford Ruritans, which organized the event. “All kinds of fun stuff out of here,” she said. Campbell wasn’t sure how far the annual event goes back.
In the early years, this was more like an old-fashioned days event. “Old-Fahsioned Days was centered more around the old days in Mount Crawford. They did butter churning and things like that, that are kind of skills that have fallen by the wayside that most people don’t know how to do anymore.
” Mount Crawford made the transition to a lawn party at about the time that other places nearby started doing lawn parties, she said. The event is a big fundraiser for Mount Crawford. “Everything that the Ruritans do at the lawn party — the money that’s raised goes back into the community through scholarships or donations to FFA, 4-H — all kinds of organizations that we support throughout the year.
The fire and rescue squads, the police department,” she said. The lawn party typically raises anywhere between $10.