LOCAL HAPPENINGS: The 50th annual Southeast Old Threshers Reunion highlights busy week ahead

ASHEBORO — If July 4 is around the corner, so is the Southeast Old Threshers Reunion at Denton FarmPark.

This year’s event will be the 56th annual one — an event that is the heart of the Denton FarmPark as it is what started the family-owned park back in 1970. Today it has grown into a week-long event that takes paragraphs to include what all is happening. And even then, you need to visit dentonfarmpark.com to get into what is exactly happening on each day, but here’s a general preview.

To begin, this year’s event is June 30-July 4, with the 15th Annual Tractor Ride on June 29. That ride begins at the FarmPark and covers 19 miles and is followed by an auction at 6 p.m.

The event is held every year on the week of the 4th of July ... an event that is like stepping back in history. You see old buildings and equipment that’s all running like it did back in its prime. Park buildings like the Plantation, trampling barn, general store with post office attached in the back, shoe shop, gas station, train station, church, the radio museum, and a few others are restored and brought in from Jackson Hill and the Gristmill was moved from Gastonia. The other buildings were built there. You can go inside all the buildings and see what it used to look like and you can even buy an old fashioned coke from the general store.

Through the week, there’s entertainment throughout, thousands of antique tractors, engines and cars on display, live farming and antique machinery demonstrations, helicopter rides, vendors, Southern cooking, fireworks on July 4 at 9:30 p.m., tractor pulls ... the list goes on and on.

Admission is $20 for adults with kids 11-under admitted free with multiple-day passes available. Gates are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

Looking for something unusual? How about a Foam Party?

RANDLEMAN — Feeling like you need to get a little foamy? There’s a Foam Party scheduled next week for the Robin’s Nest Splash Pad at 400 South Stout Street in Randleman. Admission is $5 for kids and adults, with wristbands available onsite. Included: Bubbles, music, water fun and foam games. Call 336-495-7525 to learn more.

Caraway Speedway offers free admission Friday night

SOPHIA — Also on Friday night, Caraway Speedway is hosting its NC Appreciation Night, where fans who are fine sitting in the grandstands can get in free! Otherwise tickets are $20 for adults and free for 11 and under, and those folks can come in to the trackside gates beginning at 4 p.m. Only the grandstands are free, and the grandstand gates open at 6 p.m. The event at 2518 Race Track Road Extension in Sophia (near Asheboro) kicks off at 8 p.m. 

June cruise-in is Saturday, June 27, at C4 Church

ASHEBORO — The monthly Summer Cruise-In Series sponsored by and Grounded Excellence Car Club (Michael Allred) and Brightside Gallery (Mary Murkin) takes place Saturday night at its 2026 home, the large parking lot at C4 Church, 1128 N. Fayetteville St., Asheboro. Besides a car show, food and fellowship, at least once a night Allred leads cars onto Fayetteville Street for an old-fashioned cruise on the drag. All vehicles are welcome and admission is free.

Micro Mania Tour comes to Liberty Saturday night

 LIBERTY — The idea of Wrestlemania takes on a new feel with Micro Mania: Midget Wrestling Tour, which hits the Liberty Showcase Theater on Saturday night, June 27. Wrestlers are no taller than 5 feet, but the action promises to be no less explosive and athletic. The event begins at 7 p.m. Tickets range from $24 to $44.

Walk Thru the Past returns on Sunday

ASHEBORO — Ricky Allred is back to lead interested visitors on a tour of the Asheboro Cemetery where he will bring a batch of new stories about residents there that regular attendees had not visited before. The walk begins at 2 p.m. at the Old Asheboro Cemetery, 180 West Salisbury St. Admission is free.

27th Annual Jerome Davis Invitational this weekend

ARCHDALE — The 27th Annual Boot Barn Jerome Davis PBR Invitational begins a two-night run in Archdale on Friday and Saturday, June 26-27. If you’re into Professional Bull Riding, this is your opportunity to see some of the best in the world taking on the challenge. Davis is a former champion rider who had to give it up after suffering a major injury, so he started his own rodeo and renowned riders from all over the country come there to compete. Tickets are $32 for ages 13-up and $17 for 6-12, with kids 5 and under getting in free. The event begins each night at 8 p.m. with gates opening at 6. See more information in today’s calendar.

Learn about shocking Fanning-Clark connection at St. Paul Sunday

RANDLEMAN — The June St. Paul meeting will occur on June 28, scheduled a week later than usual because of Father’s Day. 

Our speaker will be Ross Holt, Director of Randolph County Public Libraries. The time is 2 p.m.

As part of our series about this area during the Revolutionary War, we are going to learn about Captain William Clark, a Randleman-area Patriot whose story intertwines with David Fanning’s.

In the words of Ross Holt: Clark was a fierce militia leader for whom “the post of danger had a fascination which he loved and sought.” After the war, however, he wrestled with his con science over some of the actions he had taken and ultimately made a decision that would change his life.

Holt continues: Clark was the son of Samuel Clark, whose plantation neighbored that of William and Martha McGee Bell near present-day Randleman. During the war, he fought in both local skirmishes and major battles, and his story intertwines in a shocking way with that of Col. David Fanning and his infamous “Bloody Sabbath” raid in 1782 against the county’s Patriot leadership.

Unfortunately, there are no available sketches or pictures from this time.

We look forward to seeing you. Some disarray still remains from the painting restoration, but the end is not so far off.

St. Paul continues to be at the intersection of High Point and Stout Streets.