ARTHURDALE — The New Deal Festival is held annually on the second Saturday in July to celebrate the history of the nation’s first New Deal Subsistence Homestead Community of Arthurdale.
The event is sponsored by Arthurdale Heritage, Inc., the nonprofit organization that formed to “restore yesterday for tomorrow” with the mission of preserving the history of Arthurdale for generations to come.
This 1930s-’40s-style festival features artisan demonstrations, craft market, children’s activities, new exhibits in the New Deal Homestead Museum, tours of the Arthurdale Historic District and more.
This year, Arthurdale Heritage Inc. and the Community Presbyterian Church of Arthurdale have collaborated and the church will host a quilt show titled, “Wrapped in His Love.” The show will be held during the New Deal Festival, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. July 14 at the Community Presbyterian Church.
A call for quilts is offered to any quilter who would like to share their quilts with the festival goers and the community. Quilts will be accepted from 2-8 p.m. July 13 at the church.
All bed-sized quilts will be displayed and identified by quilter, designer, long-arm quilter as applicable, and approximate year of creation.
Quilts will need to be picked up from 4-7 p.m. July 14 at the church unless other arrangements are made. The show this year will be free to the public and it is a show only. This will not be a juried event and every quilt entered in the show will be a special work of art.
Arthurdale was founded in 1933 as the nation’s first New Deal Subsistence Homestead Community by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration.
The community provided jobs, education and modern housing for impoverished, unemployed miners living in destitute coal camps in West Virginia. It also served as a laboratory for new educational, industrial and farming techniques.
The Christian faith was important to many homesteaders in Arthurdale. In the beginning many of the families gathered together in homes for prayer and Bible study. The group then met in the school building from 1936 until 1963, when the current church was built. Mrs. Roosevelt returned to the community for the dedication of the church in 1963.
Arthurdale Heritage, Inc. was formed in 1985 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring and preserving historic Arthurdale.
Questions concerning the quilt show may be addressed to Kathy George at msginwv@gmail.com. To volunteer to work at the festival, call Darlene Bolyard at 304-864-3959.
