Published: October 10, 2008 09:43 am      

‘Hard Times Day’ festival planned as real hard times may loom

Hard times are once again about to fall on Hartshorne, and it has nothing to do with the current economic global crisis.

Instead, it’s the city’s celebration of the spirit of giving and sharing during the Great Depression during the seventh annual Hard Times Days Festival.

Pat Lawson, of the Gowen area, is excited about working during Hard Times Day for the first time at a booth sponsored by the Assembly of God Church in Haileyville.

“We’re baking and we’re making jewelry and we’re going to have a good time,” she said.

Lawson said she heard stories about the Great Depression while growing up.

“My family talked about it, no jobs and things like that,” she said.

Lawson and the group she works with will join other vendors who will fill the streets of Hartshorne when the Hard Times Festival kicks off its all-day event on Saturday.

For those who want to get an early jump on the action, a Poor Man’s Supper is set for 6:30 tonight at Catholic Hall 912 E. Cherokee Ave. in Hartshorne.

It features Depression-era prices with beans and cornbread for 25 cents a bowl.

That’s followed by a Roadhouse Dance at 8 p.m. featuring the Kountry Kowboys, also at Catholic Hall.

The action starts early on Saturday in downtown Hartshorne, with a biscuit and gravy breakfast from 7 a.m. until 10 a.m. at Hartshorne City Hall, sponsored by the Twin Cities Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3085 and the Ladies Auxiliary.

Dozens of activities are planned for downtown throughout the day, including a bubble gum blowing contest for kids, teens and adults at the Hartshorne Sun. Sign-up is at 10:15 a.m., with.the contest at 10:30. A tongue twister contest follows.

Other activities include a Granny Hard Times contest in front of the downtown bandstand at 12:30 p.m. and a Hard Times Show at 7 p.m. at the Liberty Theater.

Lawson said the nation made it through hard times in the 1930s and she believes the nation will make it through the current economic crisis.

“It was hard times, but God saw us through it all — and God’s going to get us through all this again,” she said.

Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.