The annual Cabin Fever Arts Festival, originally set for late February, was postponed due to inclement weather. This year’s event will be held 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 20, at Southern State’s Appalachian Gateway Center, 12681 U.S. 62, Fincastle, Ohio. There will be food, live music, workshops, displays and 35 artisan booths.
A celebration of traditional Appalachian arts and culture, the Cabin Fever Arts Festival is organized by the Appalachian Artists Guild. The event is free and open to the public.

Workshops & Displays
Six workshops will be offered during the Cabin Fever Arts Festival. Each workshop includes a fee and preregistration is required. Participants must be at least 12 years of age. To register, send an email to member@appartguild.com. Payment can be made the day of the festival.
Workshops include:
· Heirloom Egg, 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.: Learn the old Hungarian art of etching designs on dyed eggs. $10 fee.
· Soap Making, 11 a.m.: Create scented liquid soap to take home; workshop will include instruction on the natural liquid soap process; dispensing bottle with pump, liquid soap, essential oil and/or fragrance oil will be provided. $15 fee.
· Sleeping Mouse, 11:30 a.m.: Make one mouse sleeping in walnut shell and take home supplies to make two more. $10 fee.
· Beginning Dulcimer, 1 p.m.: Participate in a one-hour introductory class for beginners; participants must bring their own instruments. $10 fee.
· Silver Clay Jewelry, 2 p.m.: Use blow dryers and Dremel tools to make a five-gram fine silver necklace; class lasts two hours. $25 fee.
· Mountain Dulcimers—Jam with Sue, 2:30 p.m.: Music and instruction will be provided for a jam session adapted to all levels of experience; participants must bring instruments and stands. $2 fee.
On display will be handcrafted quilts by three Highland County quilting groups—Bits and Pieces (Greenfield), Country Quilters (Hillsboro) and Highland County Quilters (Hillsboro)—as well as a Civil War display by the U.S. Grant Homestead Association celebrating the life and legacy of Ulysses S. Grant and the Brown County Civil War soldiers. As part of the display, the association will fill a room with photographs and displays of weapons, maps, equipment and food to illustrate the lifestyle, struggles and accomplishments of the local Civil War solider.

Arts & Crafts Vendors
Arts and crafts vendors for the 2010 festival include: Pike County Farm LLC (woodland products, woodcraft, photography, picture frames, cutting boards and peg boards); Cattail Acres Gourmet (jams, preserves, fruit bitters, specialty baked goods); Sue’s Wearable Art (appliquéd clothing); Strands of Grace (baskets, beaded jewelry, crocheted and knitted items); Mill Branch Soap (natural olive oil soaps and lotions, and cold-process liquid soap); The Wooden Gift Shop (wood scrollsaw items, flowers, boxes, bookmarks, bears, ornaments and keychains); Jaybird Farms (dried florals, homemade jams and jellies, herbal crafts and fudge); Dave’s Welding (barn stars and wrought iron items); Gabby’s Grace (tote bags, purses and angels); Eyes of Wonder Cards (photo greeting cards); Bowman Studio (acrylic paintings of animals, portraits and totem paintings); and Sunflower Sundries Farm (organic soap, jams, mustard and corn meal). Several of the artists will also be demonstrating how they create their work.

More Information
Founded in 1994, the Appalachian Artists Guild is a non-profit organization dedicated to the support of artists and artisans in the southern Ohio River Valley. The organization strives to preserve the traditional handmade arts of Appalachia and to promote the contemporary artistic expressions of regional artists and artisans. To learn more, visit www.appartguild.com.
For more information about Southern State Community College, please visit www.sscc.edu or call 1-800-628-7722.

As the snow melts, creeks run rapidly and we anticipate the greening of the hills and migration of birds to the north once again, we invite you to welcome spring to Highland County. Visit our new calendar of events to see details of spring events, most noteworthy is the Annual Southern Ohio Wildflower Pilgrimage sponsored by Highlands Nature Sanctuary. Southern State Community College campuses continue to offer many and varied cultural events. The redbud and dogwoods will be blooming soon and the hillsides and roadsides will be alive with the haze of color. Rocky Fork State Park and Paint Creek State Park both have hiking trails and are excellent birding sites.
Come see what you have been missing all winter. It’s easily accessible in Highland County! The Highland County Convention Visitors Bureau and our travel partners welcome you to see the spring sites.
Are you an experienced bird watcher or are you just getting started? Either way, visit these sites along with your bird identification book and see what you can find. Remember, quiet will help you not startle the birds, so you can get a better look at them.
Beldon Sauer Bird Observation Site, North Shore Drive, across from the Rocky Fork State Park Campgrounds, Hillsboro, Ohio

Any place around Rocky Fork State Park

Any place around Paint Creek State Park

Highlands Nature Sanctuary, 7629 Cave Road, Bainbridge, Ohio

Please call ahead for access and suggestions between April 1 and October 31, 2008

Call 937-365-0101 or access their email address at their website at www.highlandssanctuary.org

Visit Highland County District Libary at www.highlandco.org or at any of their locations in Hillsboro, Greenfield, Leesburg or Lynchburg or M and W Books at 138 S. High St., Hillsboro, Ohio, 937-393-9845 to borrow or purchase, respectively, a bird identification book, a neccessity for the beginning birdwatcher.
Happy birding!

You can now Rate Pictures in our Photo Gallery.

Greenfield's Historical Society members have worked very hard to bring this project to fruition. Over 50 quilt patterns have been painted on squares and mounted on area barns. Visit their website at www.greenfieldhistoricalsociety.org for more information on the patterns and location of barns. Plan to travel the trail this autumn.