QUINCY - Residents can get hands on with history next weekend during the Quincy Valley Historical Society's Harvest Festival.

This group has held the event for more than 10 years as a way to give attendees a glimpse of what life was like in the early 1900s. About 300 people visited the Reiman-Simmons House along state Route 28 during last year's Harvest Festival.

This year's event takes place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 11. Admission is free.

Historical Society volunteers will be on hand to lead demonstrations on a variety of old-time skills including butter churning, candle making, corn shelling and treadle sewing, among others.

There will also be a flint knapping and gold panning demonstration during the event. Participants will be able to play pioneer games, taste food samples fresh from a wood-fired stove and try their hand at washing laundry with a washtub and scrub board.

At last year's event volunteer Lynne Snyder said the laundry station was one of the more popular stations.

This year, the Harvest Festival will also feature hay rides on a vintage Model A truck and tractor.

Live Bluegrass and American music starts at 11:30 a.m. and goes until 1 p.m. An old-fashioned hymn sing will take place inside the Pioneer Church, adjacent to the Reiman-Simmons House, at 1:30 p.m.

Author Karen Murray, who wrote "Lena, Pioneer Girl," will also be at the Harvest Festival to sign copies of the book. Kindra Ankney, who illustrated the book, will be there as well.

"Lena, Pioneer Girl," is book one in the Children of the Quincy Valley series. It tells the story of Magdalena Weber, a real-life pioneer girl who came to Quincy with her immigrant parents.

The book was published earlier this summer.

Harvest Festival attendees can also purchase a German Sausage lunch, prepared by the St. Paul Lutheran Church, during the event.

For more information, contact the Historical Society at 509-787-4685.