Azalea Festival booths almost sold out; chamber announces entertainment

Plans for Azalea Festival, March 15, in Jasper are shaping up just as surely as the azaleas are beginning to bloom along the Azalea Trail, according Liz Street, events coordinator for the Jasper Lake Sam Rayburn Area Chamber of Commerce.

She says she finally found the Cajun band she has been searching for; Southern Spice will perform on the Gazebo stage from noon to 2 p.m.

She has also corralled the new Jasper County Cowboy Church Band with Brady Barnett, the "Yellar Dawg" bluegrass band, and the Rhythm Rocker Cloggers from Nacogdoches.

Besides the arts and crafts booths, clubs and local business booths, Jasper Printing will sponsor a classic car show. The Old Jail, which is a museum of early Jasper history, will be open, but the big news is that there will be a dedication and preview of the Jasper County Historical Museum or the northwest corner of the square.

History Society members are scrambling to line up speakers and displays, to be announced next week.

Jasper Junior High School students will repeat the five-mile scale model display of the solar system.

"For the kids, we will have the train rides and petting zoo hosted by the Jasper Lakes Area Humane Society, and Mooney's Moonwalk will set up a giant super slide and obstacle course," Street said.

New this year will be horse drawn carriage rides around the azalea trail. By the time the festival starts, Street says there will be new trail signs and a map available from the chamber's booth next to the Gazebo.

Food vendors will line the north side of the courthouse square, and the Woman's Civic Club will sell chicken spaghetti plate lunches at the historic Beaty Orten House on Water Street across from the library.

The Jasper Public Library will host their semi-annual book sale in the Fire Hall, and the library itself has displays of dolls and toys, and a display by the Pine County Gem and Mineral Society (PCGMS).

PCGMS will host an open house at their club building, 110 N. Zavalla, one block east of the courthouse square with free coffee supplied by club member Don Ramey. The building houses a display of rocks and minerals including petrified wood from Jasper County and an amethyst geode that will be a door prize at their annual August show. Dennis Saylor, a local flint knapper, will demonstrate arrowhead-making techniques.

Street said a few booths are still available. Visit www.jaspercoc.org or call the chamber at 384-2762.