The 12th edition of the Homesteader Days festival kicks off next weekend to once again celebrate the agricultural heritage of the Powell area.

Sponsored by the Park County Travel Council and the Homesteader Museum, the event hearkens to the early days after the Shoshone Reclamation Project of 1909. The project  opened up lands in the Big Horn Basin area to farming, which consisted of lettings in the Powell flat, Deaver/Frannie area, Willwood, North End and Heart Mountain.  

The Homesteader Museum will again be hosting the Farm to Table Dinner on Friday, Sept. 8, beginning at 6 p.m. at The Commons in downtown Powell. The meal will allow you to taste locally grown produce and meat. There will be a no-host bar. The cost is $45 per person, and dinner goers must be 21 and older to attend. Ticket sales will continue through Sept. 1 and may be purchased at the museum, open Tuesdays through Saturdays or on-line at homesteadermuseum.com, with a $3.95 processing charge. 

On Sept. 9, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. the streets surrounding the Homesteader Museum will come alive with bustling steam tractors, smells from fresh popped kettle corn and music from the Rewinders. 

Vehicle Visions car/truck/tractor shows will be hosted by the Eagles’ Aerie #2426. Cars, trucks, and tractors will be parked and ready for visitors to look at and enjoy for the duration of the day. The historic machinery highlights are brought in every year from local families, with honored memories of Keith Murray at this year’s festival. (For more information on the car show, email vehiclevisionscarshow@gmail.com)

Artisans and vendors will be along the edge of the streets for visitors to enjoy and purchase hand-crafted or specialty items. Food trucks will fill the parking lot behind Pathfinder Credit Union and next to the Eagles building (across from the front door of the museum) with a variety of choices for snacks or lunch. 

Demonstrators will show visitors memories of yesteryear, from weavers/spinners to a blacksmith. Information booths for local non-profit organizations and museums will share their events and family-fun activities happening in the Big Horn Basin.

Kids’ games and activities will fill the air with laughter, featuring face painting by St. John’s Episcopal Church, cupcake walk by the Rotary Club, and a barrel train by the Knights of Columbus.

From 8-10 a.m. the Eagles will be hosting a pancake breakfast, open to the public.

Starting at 10 a.m. and ending at 2:30 p.m., the museum will be having a silent auction fundraiser of items donated by local friends and family in the back courtyard of the museum.

Free root beer floats are handed out from 12:30-1:15 p.m. by the Homesteader Museum Association and Park County Museum Board.

Starting at 1:30 p.m., the Ruby Hopkin Commemorative Pie Auction begins raising funds for the Homesteader Museum. The homemade pies are made by members of the community, as well as family members of the beloved Ruby Hopkin who bake her recipes. If you would like to bake a pie for the auction, contact the Homesteader Museum for more information.