The Cedar Hill Improvement Partnership will hold its first MillFest from noon to 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 27, at the Big River VFW, 1 Lynn Lane, in Cedar Hill.
Admission is free.
CHIP founder and president Laura Massey said the event is a celebration of Cedar Hill’s 150-year-old grist mill on the Big River at 8460 Wolf Road.
She said a portion of the funds raised from the event will be used to help CHIP acquire and renovate the old mill, which has been sitting vacant for the past 40 years.
“We believe that the mill is a big anchor for Cedar Hill,” Massey said. “We want, over time, the mill to really improve in the right direction. We’re trying to bring back some enthusiasm and pride in our small town.”
Massey said the MillFest’s main attraction will be the local artisan fair, featuring a watercolor artist, a potter and a caricaturist.
The MillFest also will be packed with fun activities, food, drinks and vendors. Massey said vendors may apply to participate in the event through April 20 by texting her at 314-691-2580.
The MillFest also will feature live music, with three bands playing throughout the afternoon and into the evening.
GRL PWR, an all-woman country rock band, will play at 1 p.m., followed by Rock bands About Time at 3 p.m. and Flashback at 5 p.m.
“There’s no entry fee, so go spend your money on good food, and a lot of different artists,” Massey said. “There will be a lot of good, clean community fun.”
Also at the event, CHIP volunteers will sell pulled pork sandwiches, barbecued corn on the cob and baked beans. Members of the Big River VFW will sell alcoholic beverages at the post’s bar, Massey said.
She said the VFW is allowing CHIP to use the space for the MillFest at no cost.
A cake walk, pillow fights, gunny sack races and a tug of war for both children and adults will be held throughout the event, Massey said.
“It’s really a day planned for family fun that’s a little different,” she said. “We’re trying to make this different than most events.”
Blast from the past
CHIP is encouraging MillFest attendees to bring their family trees, historic photographs and other memorabilia to the event, and the organization will use the items to create exhibits at the Cedar Hill Mill, once renovations are complete, Massey said.
“Once we do acquire the mill and restore it, the first room when you walk in, we intend for it to be a little history museum,” she said. “We can have all of these pictures displayed there. For example, I’ve got a 100-year-old picture, black and white, of a baptism right on the river near the mill. Any type of memorabilia you have, we want to display that at the mill.”
According to a recent CHIP Facebook post, a family tree template will soon be available for those who want to fill one out before the MillFest. Those who fill out the family trees are encouraged to bring them to the event where a copy will be made.
Massey said the goal of saving the Cedar Hill Mill is to preserve memories and a piece of local history.
“Cedar Hill is a quiet little community, just under 2,000, that in one way or another, we all know each other or grew up together,” Massey said. “We’re trying to keep it in that feel.”
For more information about CHIP and the MillFest, visit the organization’s Facebook page, CHIP in! Cedar Hill Improvement Partnership, or e-mail 016CHIP@gmail.com.