                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Wednesday, May 24, 1995                TAG: 9505230105
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN    PAGE: 06   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Cover Story 
SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: SMITHFIELD                         LENGTH: Long  :  142 lines

COVER STORY: PAST MEETS PRESENT FOR OLDEN DAYS THE FESTIVAL GIVES HOMETOWN FOLKS AND VISITORS A CHANCE TO WALK BACK INTO HISTORY FOR A WEEKEND.

GHOSTS DON'T USE umbrellas. That's the decision that organizers of the Smithfield Ghost Walk came to on a cold, rainy New Year's Eve last December.

``We held the Ghost Walk for the first time on New Year's Eve in 1993,'' says Diane Howard, the county's director of tourism and co-chairman this year for the Olden Days Festival. ``And we wanted to do it this year. But at 5 o'clock, it was pouring down rain, and the walk was supposed to start at 6. We had to make a decision. We certainly couldn't use umbrellas.''

So the New Year's Eve Ghost Walk was canceled. That is, until Howard, and her co-chairman, Judy Hare, came up with the idea of letting Isle of Wight County's ghosts lead the way into the Olden Days Festival in Smithfield this weekend.

``We thought it would be very appropriate,'' Howard said, smiling. ``It will certainly get folks in the right frame of mind, won't it?''

That's what organizers of the festival are hoping.

Olden Days, for the fourth consecutive year, gives hometown folks, and those who are just visiting, a chance to walk back into history for a weekend. Every event is planned around the way the town might have been, from the time it was a bustling river port in early Virginia to the turn of the century and just beyond, when the small town was a hub for farming and already beginning to register some degree of fame for its home-cured meats.

This spring, the festival has been selected as one of the top 20 events to attend in the Southeast by the Southeastern Tourism Association. Organizers call the event a ``small town'' festival featuring the best of Smithfield's past and present in a family-oriented setting.

Don't be surprised to see buggy-pulling horses trotting down the streets, antique cars parked alongside. The Smithfield Volunteer Fire Department's antique fire engine has been one of the most popular rides for children every year Olden Days has been celebrated. It's not expected to change this year.

Children will be able to play many of the same games their forefathers played, participate in races, athletic events, tugs of war and seed-spitting contests. For grownups, arts and crafts, including the ``heritage crafts,'' will be expanded from last year's exhibit of old-fashioned printing techniques.

``We're going to have a blacksmith, spinners and weavers, Ukrainian egg decorating, quilters, chair caning, cut lace,'' says Lucky Tekinder, who is in charge of the exhibits.

Now ghosts, in most localities anyway, traditionally appear on Halloween. But then Smithfield always has tried to be a little different in presenting its past, Howard says.

The Ghost Walk is Friday from 8 to 10 p.m., just after the Southern Tradition Band performs on the Main Street green to kick off the Olden Days weekend.

Strolling down the main streets of Smithfield on a Friday night in late May, you could come upon somebody like Charles Walker Warren, a man who died in 1931.

After all, Warren is a gentle spirit, friendly. He knows all of the local characters from years gone by.

Let him tell you about one of them.

``I'll be talking about my good friend, John Beauregard Grimes,'' says Ricks Wilson, the Smithfield man who will portray Warren. ``He lived just across the street from Hayden Hall. He was a wonderful man, a farmer who moved into town because his wife couldn't stand to live so far out.''

One of Warren's favorite stories about his friend involved the man's first purchase of a motor vehicle, Wilson says. It seems that although Grimes bought a Model-T Ford pickup, he continued to cling to his horse and buggy.

``One day, he came home in his pickup truck and stopped in the lane because he had to go to the drug store,'' Wilson says, recounting the story Warren's ghost will tell. ``He forgot to put on the emergency brake, and the truck started rolling backward.''

When Grimes finally realized what was happening, he turned around and yelled, ``Whoa! Whoa!'' The truck drifted on into the drug store's plate-glass window.

And there's Becky Gwaltney, a woman known countywide for her ability to tell a tale. What will she have to say should you encounter her ghostly imaginings?

``Oh, I imagine I'll tell folks about what it was like in this county on court days. We don't get to come into town very often, you know. Court day is just a carnival-like atmosphere. We pack up the whole family, pack a picnic lunch.''

Gwaltney has researched her character, a farmer's wife, by reading local history books. Even the ``Smithfield Cookbook'' gave her a few hints about the lunches that were brought to town on court days.

``We come, whether or not we have business to take care of at court,'' Gwaltney says, getting into character. ``We've got to see folks - see and be seen, you know.''

Jim Abicht, a local antiques dealer and a popular actor at the Smithfield Little Theatre, puts on the guise of an Episcopal priest for the Ghost Walk. During the Revolutionary War, Abicht said, his character was more loyal to the colonists than to England, and he got into trouble because of it.

Kim Norman, also active in the local little theater, portrays a town gadabout who ``loves to talk about her neighbors and her neighborhood.''

Once the ghosts move out Friday night, the rest of the festivities begin at 7 a.m. Saturday with a pancake breakfast at Trinity United Methodist Church. The old-fashioned games begin at 10 and continue until 5 p.m. The games are free and are open to children, young and old.

Many of the old favorites from previous festivals, such as carriage rides and the street bazaar - with everything from antiques to ``whatever,'' says Sandy Hahn, in charge of the event - will be back again this year.

But Lucy and Pete, miniature mules, will make their debut at Olden Days '95.

The two little mules, only about 35 inches tall, are owned by local farmer Buddy Jones, who lives between Walters and Windsor. The mules love peppermint candy, Jones says, so children might want to bring a treat for them.

Many of the weekend events are free and open to the public, but there will be a small charge for parking this year.

Olden Days will end with the 6 p.m. Sunday performance of the Virginia Symphony Pops on the lawn of Windsor Castle, one of the town's many historic homes.

Smithfield Olden Days is sponsored by the Spirit of Smithfield Community Organization and is supported by many other area clubs.

And remember, if you see a ghost on Smithfield's main streets, and you know it's not Halloween, you've arrived at Olden Days. ILLUSTRATION: GHOSTS OF SMITHFIELD'S PAST

ON THE COVER

[Color Photo]

Photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II.

Ricks Wilson will portray the ghost of Charles Walker Warren, who

bought Hayden Hall in 1913, and Becky Gwaltney will be a country

farmer's wife.

Carriage rides around historic Smithfield have become one of the