PAINT A PUMPKIN, make a scarecrow or browse the more than 70 crafts and food booths during the weekend at Festival on the Ridge, Mount Airy's annual celebration of fall.
The festival will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, with most activities held on Main Street, which will be closed to traffic.
"We really are aiming to entice families, young and old," said Ellie Bonde, a member of the planning committee.
The festival will offer live entertainment on two stages, a children's area and contests, including pet competitions, a beautiful-baby contest, and pie- and spaghetti-eating tournaments.
Free train rides for children and free hayrides for all ages will be offered both days.
A fantasyland for children and adults can be found on Prospect Road, a short walk from Main Street.
Mount Airy native Jack T. Raines and his wife, Lois, have transformed part of their back yard into a traditional English garden, with a miniature landscape traveled by six trains on more than a quarter-mile of track.
"All the work is worth it when you hear the oohs and aahs and see the smiles on people's faces and the looks on the faces of the kids when they see it," said Jack Raines, a retired carpenter.
His love of trains began when he was age 7.
"I was at a yard sale with my mom and dad, and we saw this American Flyer Train set for $50. Well, they said, `Jack, we just don't have the money for that,' and I said right then and there, `One of these days I'm going to have trains,'" said Raines.
Ten years ago, the Raineses created the 3,200-square-foot area where small electric trains wind through hills and valleys, villages, a dairy farm modeled after the one where Jack Raines grew up, and past a rowhouse like the one in Baltimore where Lois Raines' parents lived.
"Oh, we have circus tents, a hospital, a coal mine and a lot of depots and train stations, and even a tiny Camden Yards with Cal Ripken there," said Lois Raines. "But the thing that makes it feel real are the sounds, the chugs and puffs from the diesel and steam engines."
The Raineses have a playhouse made to resemble the Mount Airy train station for their grandchildren, Jacob, 5, and Danielle Riley, 2. The playhouse, and a motorized train big enough for children to ride, will be part of the festival.
The train garden is at 14119 Prospect Road, past the American Legion. Look for the red caboose mailbox.
