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Crawford Barn Raising: Saturday Morning Raising PreparationsContinued Preparations More Preparations Saturday's events Part 2 Sunday's events | |
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The raising crew and all the support staff with Longaberger and the Timber Framers Guild arrived on site before dawn – to eat breakfast and, more importantly, to avoid the huge crowds expected to arrive. And arrive they did. When the gates opened to the public at 8 a.m., a stream of folks sprinted, trotted, and ran to the retail area to get the limited edition glass horses, baskets and other collectibles. Throughout the morning, as more and more people arrived, the line for their prized baskets grew longer and longer, till it snaked back and forth across the field to mean an unbelievably long wait (up to 4 hours) in the hot sun for those at the back of the line. We heard estimates of 40,000 or more people passed through the gates.
The day's events officially opened with a horse-drawn carriage procession, including draft horses and carriages, Darla's Dancers and the Tri-Valley High School Marching Band. Dave Longaberger and his daughter Rachel welcomed everyone, followed by the ceremonial driving of the first peg by the daughters of Bert Crawford, who is in the hospital and unable to attend. That morning, the first two bents were raised by some 35 members of the Longaberger construction crew and a similar number of timber framers. Rudy Christian called the raising, and Mike Goldberg was in charge on deck. Dick and Dan, the dappled Percherons, led by their owner, Chuck Darkes, provided the horse power.
Key: (1) Lines of people snake across the fields as they await patiently for their commemorative Longaberger basket. (2) Future home of the Crawford barn. (3, 4) A horse-drawn carriage procession officially opens the festival. (5) The youngest of Darla's Dancers perform to the crowd's amusement. (6) Bert Crawford's daughters arrive by carriage and are greeted by Anita Rector, who planned the event. (7) Dave Longaberger and Rachel greet the crowds. (8, 9, 10) Rudy Christian, Rachel, and Bert Crawford's daughters, Connie Shaw and Barb Cellnis, drive the first peg. (11) Chuck with Dick and Dan move into position for the first raising. (12, 13) Everybody lifts the first bent into place. (14, 15) The second bent goes up. 
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