A giant mural welcomes us to Cherryville, NC with scenes of the the town’s historic milestones.
When German, Dutch and Scotch-Irish pioneers first began to gather her in 1792 they named this place White Pines. I asked several of the locals if there might be fields of cherry trees somewhere that we had not seen. Nope, railroad engineers began to call this stop “Cherryville” when a local yokel planted cherry trees along the tracks and the name stuck in 1881.
The C. Grier Beam Truck Museum is full of fire-engine red classic beauties and free to see.
During the Great Depression Mr. Beam could not find a job, so he created his own. He started his fleet fresh from college with a 1931 Chevy truck and a load of debt. In the 1930s truck drivers augmented their pay by delivering whiskey. Mr. Beam gathered his drivers and told them, “If you’re hauling whiskey you better stop. Starting next week I’m searching all trailers.” Beam’s enterprise was the town’s financial cherry until 1994.
Judging from the number of Baptist Churches we passed on the way, Cherryville still leans toward the dry side.
The Festival included an antique car show across the street from the truck museum.
Karen’s view of car shows is different than most folks.
Karen entertained the staff at the Cherryville Historical Museum from atop their LaFrance fire engine.
At only $1.39 the package says you could use this dress for, “Shopping, Dancing, House Cleaning Partying…” and our favorite, “FUNNING!” A true find in the Cherryville Historic Museum.
The museum would not sell Karen this vintage Disposable Dress.
Main Street had lots of booths selling unhealthy foods and cheap goods, but the carny rides gathered on the corner kept the smaller kids busy and discombobulated.
This kids caged in this carny wheel convey a broad range of reactions.
The Hogway Speedway used NASCAR references for their racing animals. We’ve seen lots of racing Pigs, but these guys also had dashing Ducks and Go-Fast Goats!
Pigs crowd the fence on the third turn pressing to get at the plate of cheese puffs on the finish line.
The charging Goats were not as evenly matched as the porkers, but decimated the cheese puff pile at the end.
Waddling like penguins, these daffy ducks quacked us up. By far they were fans’ favorites.
We were perplexed by this mural of Cherryville’s “New Year’s Shooters” that appear to be working on the railroad with guns. We discovered they are of German heritage and celebrate each New Year with a chant and firing muskets.
We did find Cherry Blossoms in Historic Cherryville and they were beautiful.