OKTOC — As Carol Mobley walked Thursday afternoon through the Oktoc Community Club in southern Oktibbeha County, the floorboards in the century-old building creaked with each step, despite the woman”s petite frame.
Sunlight beamed through the windows and old, green church pews formed rows in the clubhouse. Tables and benches lined the nearby kitchen.
These days, the 83-year-old Oktoc Community Club meets monthly at the clubhouse, but the building at Oktoc Road and Robinson Road remains devoid of activity most of the time, Mobley said.
Once a year, however, the Oktoc Community Club transforms into the Oktoc Country Store for the annual Fall Day in the Country event. This year, the event is scheduled to take place Nov. 6 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Fall Day in the Country began in 1970 as a fundraiser to purchase a school bus for local children, Mobley said. Forty years later, the event is going strong and proceeds go to local charities and other organizations, she said.
One of the highlights of the event is the Brunswick stew — a mix of pork, beef, chicken, deer meat and vegetables, Mobley said. Some people make the trip to Oktoc, located nine miles south of Starkville, just to purchase the stew, she said.
Lunch begins Nov. 6 at 11 a.m. Sale of the stew in bulk quantities, such as a quart or a gallon, will begin at noon.
Sponsored by the Oktoc Garden Club, the Oktoc Country Store also will include homemade country kitchen bakery items and prepared casseroles, snacks, local musical talents, Grandma”s Attic with crafts and other items, a handmade quilt raffle, a farmer”s market featuring local produce and “the opportunity to share in the community spirit of Oktoc,” publicity chair Robin Pigg said. Mobley and Pigg are encouraging people to attend the event.
“It”s just a fun day in the country,” Mobley said. “Even when the weather is bad, people still come to get their stew.”
The building which houses the Oktoc Community Club was built in the 1800s, Mobley said. It housed the Vernon/Cumberland Presbyterian Church before the Oktoc Community Club formed and move into the building in 1927.
In 1935, a nearby one-room schoolhouse was relocated to the back side of the former church building and the two structures were connected to form the facility present today.
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