John M. Setzler, Jr.

Henry Detter of Maiden tends the grinding wheel in the old Murray’s Mill while corn is being ground into cornmeal and flour at the 23rd annual Murray’s Mill Harvest Folk Festival…

Today was the first of a two-day event called the Murray’s Mill Harvest Folk Festival that’s held annually at the Historic Murray’s Mill in Catawba, North Carolina.  This is the 23rd year of this event, and it’s about my 5th year of attendance.  Some of the attractions at this festival include a tour of the operational mill, live bluegrass and gospel music, antique cars and farm tractors, a petting zoo, molasses making, and quite a bit more.  Boy Scout troops camp on the site during the festival weekend and provide activities and events for people visiting the festival as well.  There are also quite a few civil war re-enactors at this event each year, and they are dressed in era garb, and some are even on horseback.  The people who put on and participate actively in this event are my favorite reason for attending every year.  The above photo, for example, is one of the reasons I love to go.  I love photographing people who are in their own world doing their own thing.  Henry Detter was spending his day grinding corn and narrating the process to all the visitors to the mill.  This is also a location where I occasionally get to add a couple new prints to my inventory.  I added these two today:

Murray’s Mill II