Hay Days Interview wth Festival Founder Linda Holloway - Provided by the Ripon Chamber.

Hay Days is going to be one of Wisconsin's largest living history encampments taking place June 19-21 at in Ripon.  Rumors were flying about bank hold-ups and vintage baseball games with crazy old-fashioned rules, so I sat down with event founder Linda Holloway, owner of Cedar Ridge Ranch, to set the record straight. 
 
How did you come up with the concept of Hay Days?

I was heavily influenced by Ripon's Dickens of a Christmas tradition, and we're hoping to make Hay Days the summertime rural version of Dickens.  I had been to several living history events and loved how they made history and learning more enjoyable.  We had attempted the first event last June and lined up a group of re-enactors to do shows, scheduled a barn dance and had tons of food.  We somehow managed to schedule it on the weekend of the crazy floods we had.  Our two day event only lasted a mere two hours.  Luckily, for me, many of the re-enactors got trapped by the rain.  Trailers were stuck in the mud, tents were soaked, equipment hastily stashed out of the rain.  The group was stuck so they made the best of it and hunkered down in the Lodge and pooled their resources.  One of the re-enactors turned out to be a chef so we were all well fed and in between rain showers we were privy to lots of fun and shows of talent.  Stories were shared and friendships made.  We all had so much fun we wanted to share it with others and Hay Days was born!

What part of the event are you most excited about?

Well, I love to learn, so having the living historians sharing their lore, knowledge and experiences in a setting where you can smell, touch, hear and see is so much more rewarding.  It really sticks with you.  Then there is the wedding!  One of the living historian couples has decided to renew their wedding vows at Hay Days.  We have a preacher coming, a cake in the making and I have heard wind of some cowboy antics in the works!  Oh, and I can't forget the music on the Village Green in Ripon Friday evening with more cowboy shenanigans.  The other thing I'm really excited about is our barn dance on Saturday evening. 

I hear there's going to be a vintage baseball team.  What are some of the differences between 1860's baseball and baseball in our time?

The vintage baseball team is made up of friends of mine from the Milwaukee Public Museum.  Their name is the Cream City's and they play by the 1860's rules, when baseball was a "gentlemen's game".  The "striker", or batter will tell the pitcher how he wants the ball pitched to him so he can hit it.  There is no stealing of bases, sliding or lead-offs, and when a run is scored the runner must ask the score keeper to "mark his ace".  The uniforms are very different from those of today and the player behavior is sedate and mannerly (unless there are cowboys involved!).  Which leads me to the home team.  We're putting together a Ripon home team to challenge the Cream City's.  If anyone is interested they can call me at 920-748-8405.  It will be a hoot!

Where can people go to find out more information about the event?

The Chamber website: www.ripon-wi.com is a great resource, or you can call me at 920-748-8405.  We're also looking for volunteers to help out with the event: parking attendants etc., so if you're interested please call me or email me at Linda@CedarRidgeRanch.net.