It’s that time of year again for the Homesteads Apple Festival at the Historic Homestead Tower just outside Crossville.  The Apple Festival is in its 15th annual celebration of the history of the Cumberland Homesteads. The event features live music all day, home-made arts and crafts, story-telling, quilt shows, rides for the kids and lots of food.  The purpose of the Apple Festival is to raise money to keep the Homestead Tower and Museum open year-round for visitors along with the Homestead House Museum on Pigeon Ridge Road. Typically the Apple Festival attracts 3,000 to 5,000 festival-goers each year.  This year, a controversy has arisen among locals concerning the initial invite from the Apple Festival organizers to the Sons of Confederate Veterans reenactors in Crossville.  That organization, Sgt. William A. Hamby Camp #1750,  had requested to attend the Apple Festival and demonstrate the life-of Confederate Soldiers with the uniforms, campsites, gun displays and more.  Initially, the Apple Festival, which is run by the Cumberland Homestead Tower Association, had welcomed the Sons of the Confederate Veterans to set up at the Apple Festival. Then recently reversed their decision stating it probably wasn’t a good idea given the ‘current political climate’.  A Facebook Post on a local Cumberland County historical page, Crossville Then and Now, has quite a few people upset.  James Lovelace, a member of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans, Sgt. William A. Hamby Camp #1750  , wrote a post describing the disappointment of the Troop when they were told they could not set up at the Apple Festival. CNF has made many attempts to contact the Cumberland Homestead Tower Association for input from that organization but as of this writing, no one has returned our call.  We were able to speak to some former organizers of the Apple Festival who told us they felt the only conflict they saw was the Confederate reenactors could distract from the main focus of the Apple Festival which is honoring the ‘New Deal” era in which the Cumberland Homesteads was created. The Civil War-era is not the correct period of time which the Apple Festival is highlighting for its purposes in keeping the Homestead Tower and Museum operating was one possible reason given to us.  The Cumberland Homesteads was developed under the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration to provide jobs and housing all across the U.S. in the mid 1930’s and included many Homesteads Projects.

However, since no one with the CHTA has made any attempts to return our calls, we have no idea what the actual reason for their reversal is other than what Mr. Lovelace included in his message that it was due to the ‘current political climate’.  There have more than 280 comments made on Mr. Lovelace’s Crossville Then and Now post regarding the Apple Festival reversing their decision to have the Confederate reenactors attend the festival.  Here is a portion of the post:

JAMES LOVELACE – CROSSVILLE THEN AND NOW POST

Cumberland County was split right down the middle during the War of Southern Independence. On the War Monument across from the court house one can see just how split it was. 98 Confederate names and 93 Union names. The folks of Crossville are a diverse group of people. Yet we have never let anyone from outside tell us what to do.

I found out in the past few days just how much outside influence has on our local politics. I am a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans here in Crossville. You can see us in the paper helping folks by taking up food and donating it to the food bank or teaching classes about the war. Our doors are open to anyone at any time.