The public is invited to experience Foodways and Folkways of a Former Enslaved People at the Willow Hill Heritage and Renaissance Center (WHHRC) on Saturday, April 29, from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. WHHRC is located at 4235 Willow Hill Road, Portal, Georgia.
From 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., attendees can participate in free cooking demonstrations, churning ice cream, museum tours, storytelling, reenactments, basket sewing, and more. There will also be vendors on-site to check out.
Food historian Clarissa Clifton, Chef Cheryl Henry, and Pitmasters John “Bobbie” Robinson and Curtis Clifton will prepare a full meal outdoors over an open pit, as was done during slavery. Guests are welcome to observe the preparation or just come for a few hours.
The planned menu is as follows:
- Whole hog pit barbecue
- Smoked and curried goat
- Smoked chicken with kitchen pepper
- Hoppin John with Carolina field peas and smoked pork
- Hoppin John with Carolina field peas and salt fish
- Collard greens mixed with mustard or turnip greens (V)
- Candied yams (V)
- Roasted beets with olive oil and rosemary (V)
- Dessert: Assorted Homemade pies and cakes, Homemade churned ice cream
- Drinks: Lemonade, Tea, Coffee, and Water
- (V=vegetarian)
Special guests will include Jamal Toure, Sirdeepy Fraizer, Lilian Grant-Baptiste, The Saltwater Players, and Gregory Grant.
That same day, the following exhibits will be open for touring.
- “The Waters of Ghana Reach to America.” An exhibit of the maritime history of Coastal Ghana curated and by Dr. Kurt Knoerl Directory of the Museum and Underwater Archeology at Georgia Southern
- "Keeping Warm": A History of African American Quilt Making. A Collection of Georgiana Byrd Davis (1867-1953)
- “Tragedy at Ebenezer Creek” by Isaac McCaslin
- “Many Thousands Gone” - Prepared by Eric Saul and Amy Fisk in cooperation with The Center for Jubilee, Reconciliation and Healing, Inc, Patt Gilliard Gunn, President.
- “Beyond Property: Slavery in Coastal Plain Georgia 1650-1865” – Prepared by Georgia Southern Museum and Department of History “Slavery in Bulloch County Georgia”
"Your participation in this fundraiser helps in the preservation of Bulloch County African American History at the Willow Hill Center, as well as helping to keep our programs and events, free and open to the public." --WHHRC
At 6 p.m., dinner will be served under the pavilion for those who have purchased tickets. Tickets are $80 for the general public, as well as $50 for seniors (75 and older) and students.
For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit www.Willowhillheritage.org.
