CLINTON - Four decades ago, Shirley Strange wanted to meet people and make a difference in her new town. So, she joined a committee to set up the first Apple 'N Pork Festival.

She had no idea what she was getting into.

"I was new in town and didn't know many people," Strange recalled. "Then I heard about a committee that had been formed to help restore the C.H. Moore Museum. I thought it sounded interesting, so I went."

Those meetings paved the way for the first-ever festival, held in September 1968, and Strange has been an integral part of each festival since.

Also on that first committee was Clinton physician Dr. John Veirs.

"It started as a little thing downtown," Veirs said. "But it was something that just grew and grew. We were hoping for a couple of hundred people that first year, but I think it was closer to 1,000."

With good weather, more than 100,000 people may visit this weekend's festival, says Museum Director Larry Buss.

"Between John and Shirley, that's 80 years of experience with the festival," Buss said. "They are a big part of helping this grow every year."

Sponsored by the DeWitt County Museum Association and held on the grounds of the C.H. Moore Homestead on Clinton's northern edge, the festival has provided the funds necessary to restore and maintain the large, Victorian-era homestead, a neighboring barn and to erect the farm museum.

Moore was a railroad lawyer and friend of Abraham Lincoln. He came to Clinton in the early 1850s.

"There was so much work to be done on the homestead in 1968 and there was no money to do that," Strange said. "It was really in need of repair. It looked gloomy and hadn't been painted in a while and we didn't want it to fall apart. At that time, there weren't many festivals around and one of the closest ones was the Covered Bridge Festival in Rockville, Ind. We threw out ideas on what we could do. Someone had apples on their farm. Someone else an antique cider press and someone thought we could make pork sandwiches. So, we put those ideas together and it worked."

What has kept it working, Buss said, is the commitment to keeping the festival authentic. More than 25 non-profit groups sell food at the festival and workers wear 1850s-style clothing.

"There haven't been too many changes over the years," Buss said. "At the core, it's still very similar to that first one. It's just much bigger."

The festival features ham and beans, cider floats, 19th-century demonstrations and music. This year, the 77th Illinois Volunteer Infantry group will set up a Civil War encampment on the southwest corner of the grounds. A flea market adjacent to the DeWitt County 4-H Fairgrounds features more than 300 dealers.

"There have been so many great memories over the years," Strange said. "It makes me proud that we can offer a festival where we don't charge an admission fee and even families who are struggling financially can come and have a great time. I remember a couple of years ago, talking with a family who couldn't afford to buy much in the way of food, but brought their own food and set up a little picnic on the grounds and used it as their family get-away. What a wonderful learning experience it was for the kids though who were able to witness a sense of tradition. That's what this festival is about - making history and keeping history alive through the museum."

---

GO!

What: Apple 'n Pork Festival

When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Where: C.H. Moore Homestead grounds, 219 E. Woodlawn, Clinton

Info: (217) 935-6066