Saturday and Sunday the history and heritage of Santa Rosa County will come to life at Krul Recreation Area. The annual event, hosted by the Munson Community Heritage Festival Committee, is to help raise money for Munson and the surrounding community in North Santa Rosa County. One of the ultimate goals of the event each year is to help educate the younger generation how the ways of life were back in the historical years of Santa Rosa County. Last year over 5,000 attended the two-day event that featured traditional items like basket weaving, syrup making, wood working, grist mill, and so much more. "We are expecting an even better year this year," said Joe Zwierzchowski, who works with the Florida Division of Forestry and is serving as the festival's public information officer. "This is not like a county fair where everything is crowded into a small area. "Every things is spread out so people can enjoy themselves along the winding roads of the park." Once again this year there is a $5 per car fee for the event with shuttles taking you from the parking area to the entrance of the festival. New this year is the 2012 Scott's Outdoor Sports Archery Competition, which is limited to the first 50 entrants. "This is going to be an amazing competition," Zwierzchowski said. "I just saw the targets and this is going to be really neat. "We took and found an old hiking trail and the competitors will walk along the trail and use their bow and arrows to hit the targets. This is going to be in a natural setting just like they were hunting." While it may be like hunting, it will be hard to believe if any of the hunters taking to the woods next weekend will encounter an alligator or a six to seven foot T-Rex, which are just a couple of the targets on the trail. Zwierzchowski feels this would be the perfect tune-up for hunters. "I don't feel you will get the same feel in your backyard practicing as you will get on this trail," Zwierzchowski said. Another big surprise will be the musical entertainment this year as Dread Clampitt will be performing from 2 – 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Dread Clamplitt is a regional act from Grayton Beach, Fla., which draws on influences from bluegrass, rock and roll, bliues, jazz, and Louisiana Bayou funk. they will be headlining two days of country, bluegrass, gospel, and blues acts. "We talked to them about coming last year, but we just couldn't get it worked out with their schedule,' Zwierzchowski said. "A lot of the guys are from the local area and were excited about coming this year. "We are also bringing in some other top quality acts to entertain the public for free." This year the Florida Forest Service will also be hosting a game and activity center for kids with a wildfire prevention theme that features skee ball, a ring toss, basketball game, and much more. The Munson Community Heritage Festival is less than a mile east of the Highway 4 and County Road 191 intersection in Munson. For more information on the festival or any activities call 957-6140 or go to www.munsonheritagefestival.com
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Munson to celebrate heritage