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The 4th of July is a time for celebration — eating
and drinking, relaxation. Whether you plan to
stay in town or hit the road, there's bound to be
something somewhere to suit your fancy.
Across the state there will be music, arts and
crafts, and fairs celebrating both Independence
Day and just the fact that it's the weekend. Most
will serve up plenty of refreshments and fun. If you
plan to make an outing this weekend, here are a
few ideas:
Fifth Luckenbach World’s Fair
This is the last weekend of the
Great Fifth Luckenbach World's
Fair. The fair started off last
week with music and dance,
and gears up for the 4th of July
celebration with a reading of the
complete Declaration of Inde
pendence Saturday.
Guich Koock, the Grand Ex
alted Ringmaster for the fair,
said “America must get back to
the basics. People can rightly
quote the Bible, but hardly any
body has ever read the whole
Declaration of Independence.
On the 4th of July we will re
medy our ignorance at the Great
World's Fair at Luckenbach. We
hope families throughout the
U.S. will follow our example."
Koock, lawyer-columnist
Maury Maverick Jr., and writer
Jack Harmon will take turns
reading the Declaration Satur
day at 4:30 p.m. The Austin Gos
pel Workshop, a black choir
from Austin, will sing Battle
Hymn of the Republic, accom
panied by the University of
Texas Longhorn Showband.
Members of the National Re
storation Society will re-enact a
Civil War battle Saturday.
Besides the patriotic events,
the fair features belly dancers,
an aerial daredevil and an Old
Fiddlers Contest. An arts and
crafts exhibit, domino playing,
mechanical bull riding contests
and continuous music are also
planned.
And a wedding. A couple
plans to tie the knot after walk
ing down an archway created by
Civil War soldiers, Kiowa Indian
Lancers and the world's oldest
unicorn. After the ceremony,
the couple will ride to another
stage for their reception.
Sunday features singer Kent
Finlay (of “When the Mud Dau
bers Come Back to Luckenbach"
fame) and the High Cotton Ex
press, the Fredericksburg Kin-
derchoir and juggler Turk
Pipkin.
Sunday is also the day of the
Prettiest Anything Contest. The
audience is invited to bring
whatever it considers prettiest
to the stage for judging.
The fair is located near Freder
icksburg on FM 1376, five miles
south of 290, and is open from 10
a.m. till dark. Admission is $5
for adults and $2.50 for children
up to 16. Those over 70 and
under 7 are admitted free. Park
ing is 10 cents, and there will be
plenty of food, drinks and re
strooms (so they say).
Ashton Villa picnic, Galveston
If you plan on heading south to
Galveston this weekend,
Ashton Villa is having its annual
4th of July picnic Saturday at 4
p.m.
The restored mansion is at
2328 Broadway in Galveston.
Now in its sixth year, the
event is free and open to the
public. Galvestonians and visi
tors alike are invited to spread
out a blanket and enjoy their
own picnic lunch, or to purchase
barbecue dinners and apple pie
furnished by Rusty's of Gal
veston.
The Strand Street Seven, an
Ashton Villa tradition, will jazz
up the afternoon with dixieland
music, while champagne, beer
and lemonade concessions flow.
At 5 p.m., the second annual
Ice Cream Crank-Off begins.
Hand crank and electric models
are welcome, as are all kinds of
flavors. Prizes will be awarded
for the best batch.
This year a new flavor,
Ashton Villa Vanilla, calls for an
item stocked in the gift shop of
the mansion, Ashton Villa
Vanilla Sugar. The Ashton Villa
Vanilla Gorilla will be doing the
honors of dishing up the ice
cream. No kidding.
At 6 p.m., models depicting
some of America's classic
beauties — Mae West, Sophie
Tucker, World War II pin-up
girls and football queens of the
50s — will visit Ashton Villa for
"Hats with History," an old-
time fashion show. The show
costs $3 for adults and $1 for
children.
Tours of the mansion will be
conducted through the day, and
the gift shop will be open. The
picnic promises to be a cool
oreak from the heat of the beach.
King Arthur feast, Rockport
Farther down the beach, at
Rockport, the First Annual King
Arthur's Court, a Medieval
Feast, offers a re-creation of the
days of knights and kings at the
Black Swan Restaurant.
Their majesties King Arthur,
King Henry VIII, Queen Anne
Boleyn (with her head still in
place,) and Queen Elizabeth I
will be on hand to oversee the
festivities in celebration of the
Equinox and the Solstice.
You can return to Camelot as a
Yankee in King Arthur's Court,
the once and ever time of Excali-
bur with Merlin the Magician,
Morgana and the barons and
knights of the Round Table.
The feast features turkey legs.
beef ribs, roast pork and wild
goat. There will be battle
wagons loaded with fruits and
vegetables, bread from the Black
Swan mill and bakery, and ale,
mead and spirits.
It all happens at the Black
Swan Restaurant Theatre in
Rockport. There will be danc
ing, toasting, and pinching of
wenches, if you're into that. Be
prepared to have a good time,
because there are stocks on
hand for guests who choose not
to participate.
The Black Swan is on High
way 35, south of Rockport. Call
512-729-7604 for information ab
out reservations.
Festival Hill at Round Top
The 1981 Summer Season of
the Festival-Institute at Round
Top will conclude this weekend.
A concert featuring works by
American composers will high
light the 4th of July activities at
the historic village of Round
Top. Festival Hill, the perma
nent home of the Festival-
Institute, is located about Vi mile
from Round Top.
Faculty and student artists
will perform Friday and Satur
day evenings at 8:15 p.m. Reser
vations are not necessary for the
concerts, and tickets go on sale
at 6:45 p.m. each day. There will
be an indoor performance Sun
day afternoon at 4 p.m. Tickets
will go on sale at 3 p.m., and
reservations are needed.
The concerts feature the stu
dent artists of the Festival-
Institute who have studied for
six weeks with some of the out
standing performers of today.
The program on Friday includes
Fantasie in f minor for Piano,
Four Hands, Opus 103, by
Schubert and the Sonata for
Horn and Piano (1939) by Hin
demith. Faculty artists perform
ing these works will be: Thomas
Bacon, horn; Jeanette Haien,
James Dick and Eugene Rowley,
pianists.
Gourmet picnic boxes are
available for $10 each for those
who wish to celebrate the
weekend activities. Reserva
tions are necessary for the
boxes, which will be available
before the concerts on Friday
and Saturday and either before
or after the concert on Sunday.
Reservations are available by
calling (713) 249-3129. Outdoor
concert tickets are $5 for adults
and $2.50 for children under 12.
Sunday tickets are $5 per
person.
Festival Hill at Round Top is
located midway between Hous
ton and Austin on State High
way 237, off of Highway 290.
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Editor Cathy Saathoff publication.
Cartoonist Scott McCullar
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