Flora, Oregon—School Days, a celebration of old-time skills, food and music, now encompasses old-time contests and competitions. The annual celebration, held the first Saturday in June, starts at noon, Saturday, June 2, with music, demonstrations and a pie social. Lunch, the “two-handed plate” of food from the Dutch oven, starts serving around 1 p.m.
Blacksmith demonstrations have been popular since the beginning of School Days in 1999. This year, watch several smithies at work during a new competition for blacksmiths. All skill levels are welcome. There are three projects to be made during the time frame from noon to 5 p.m. The finished work will be judged by two judges who are themselves blacksmiths. The finished work will be auctioned off following the competition.
Two other contests have been added—horseshoe pitching for two-member teams starts around 12:30 p.m. Pioneer games revolved around skills that were needed in those days, or involved the use of the tools in a different manner, as in horseshoes. The cost to compete is $10 for the team.
A Camp Chili Cook-off, begins at 2 .p.m. Entry is $5 per recipe. Event attendees will pay a small fee to taste the chili and vote for the People’s Choice winner,
Demonstrations include fly tying, fly shuttle weaving (no relation between the two), roping, and the Morse Code. Animals in the “smell zoo” include yaks, chickens, pigs and horses. The farrier will be shoeing horses, as well as showing how to set them up as pack animals. Demonstrations of household chores include ironing with a sadiron, using vegetable dyes, making butter and grinding flour and corn. Tours of the town of Flora are always popular, as well.
Admission to the event is free, with the Dutch-oven lunch costing $10 and a slice of pie going for $1. For more information on Flora School Days, contest rules and registration, see the FSEC website at
www.floraschool.org or Flora School’s Facebook page or call for more information; 541.828.7911 or 541.828.7010.
