Rain fails to dempen festival in Camak

CAMAK - A little rain never hurt anyone.

Fortunately for Camak's third annual Railroad Days Festival on Saturday, people from across the state braved the sporadic rainfall to attend the fun-filled day of food, rides, arts and crafts, and live music.

Margaret Pinion, co-chairwoman of the Railroad Days Committee, wasn't surprised at the good turnout.

"Our music is free, and we offer a lot of free things to the community to get people out," she said. "We're doing pretty well for just three years."

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Activities included face painting, cholesterol screening, rides, and raffles, as well as sampling of lots of quality food.

"I'm here for the food," said Laura Norwood of Crawfordville. "This is my second time here. It's good for the community. Hopefully the rain won't get too bad."

Rain threatened the festival all day, sometimes forcing the crowd to look for cover. Nevertheless, many people stuck around. Pinion said that the festival was created with a rebirth of Camak in mind.

"We started three years ago, and we had the idea of trying to rebuild the town and make an interest in the town," she said. "This used to be a very quaint neighborhood, a very tight knit family neighborhood. Of course with the changing of the times, the stores ended, and with the nature of the railroad, it destroyed the businesses here."

Also present for Railroad Days was a collection of authentic railroad memorabilia, as well as some former railroad workers themselves. Pinion added that at least three family reunions were being held in conjunction with Railroad Days.

"We're just drawing attention to Camak, trying to get a little bit of lifeblood back into it."

Although many of the crafts being sold at Railroad Days were special, hand-made artwork, signs or toys, for Charles Baker of Washington, there was only one thing that truly caught his eye.

"Funnel cakes," he said. "You can't beat those things."