The Conestoga Area Historical Society invites you to attend its annual Fall Fest on Saturday, Sept. 24, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 25, from noon to 4 p.m. The event will be free to attend and will take place at the Conestoga Area Historical Society's facility at 51 Kendig Road.

Fall Fest is the historical society's yearly celebration of Conestoga's history, and this year's event will feature several demonstrations depicting various ways of life from days past. Docents will be fully dressed in period-accurate clothing, and demonstrations will include weaving, spinning, blacksmithing, tin-making and carpentry. Lacework items, handcrafted wooden spoons and arrowheads will be available for purchase from a variety of vendors, as well as food from NanaLyn's Full-Filling Feasts. Multiple children's activities such as pumpkin painting will be offered, and a rope-maker will craft ropes that kids can take home.

In addition to its many vendors, Fall Fest will welcome members of the Circle Legacy Center to present an authentic view of Native American history and culture. The Circle Legacy Center will have a table at the event and provide informational materials; past years' festivals have included fur displays and a demonstration of Native American chants.

Fall Fest is a tradition that began over 20 years ago with the purpose of stirring interest in the area's history, even from those visiting Lancaster County. "We get visitors from all over the country that might have had ancestors from Lancaster County and want to search for information. You can't even imagine how much there is to see here," said Jim Kauffman, a member of the historical society since its early days.

The Conestoga Area Historical Society was established in 1990 to preserve the history of the Penn Manor area. Its facility consists of several authentic historical buildings and artifacts preserved in its museum. The museum contains three floors and a collection of Native American displays and artifacts, as well as three original Conestoga wagons that date back to the Revolutionary War. The upper floors are divided into rooms that depict different aspects of life early in American history, including a schoolhouse, living room, dining room and church area dating back to the 19th century.

The historical society's campus also contains a log cabin that was constructed in 1733 and was moved from its original location in another part of the county.

For more information on the Conestoga Area Historical Society and Fall Fest, visit http://www.pennmanorhistory.org.