ELKINS — The Augusta Heritage Center invites the community to take part in an evening celebrating ancient caroling traditions and old-fashioned square dancing Saturday.

The festivities will get underway at the historic Kump House, where caroling and wassailing will fill the apple orchard in the lawn of the Kump home beginning at 6 p.m. The holiday celebration will then shift to Big Timber Brewing for an Augusta scholarship fundraising event slated for 7 p.m.

“This is the fourth year that we’ve run an event of this type,” Augusta Heritage Center Director Seth Young told The Inter-Mountain. “It has grown every year and we started by Christmas caroling through the neighborhoods and that grew to a very large number of people, I think we had over 100 carolers the last time we did that.

“So now we are celebrating an ancient tradition that has made its way over into Appalachia and we are doing so in a way that invites many, many people to come and take part without having to have the logistics of moving from house-to-house in such a large group.”

Augusta’s Lift Your Voice Choir has been practicing songs from the ancient English form of caroling known as wassailing. The tradition dates back more than 1,000 years and was used to bring charity and blessings to rural communities in England. Those making their way to the apple orchard for the wassail event will be provided with songbooks and cider.

“The wassailing caroling tradition is to give back from which you took,” said Madeline Ricks, an AmeriCorps worker with the Augusta Heritage Center. “This September, I used the Kump House apples to make apple butter, so to return and do this tradition at the Kump House is very appropriate.”  

Once the scene shifts to Big Timber, wassailing will continue, along with a square dance featuring callers Mike Miller and Bob Smakula. Jesse Milnes (fiddle), Josh Wanstreet (guitar), Gerry Milnes (banjo) and other guests will be performing during the square dance. 

“We are going to continue wassailing indoors after the very traditional portion of thanking the apple tree at the Kump House,” said Young. “During the second half we will also mix in some older Christmas carols as well as some songs from the season. We will then move right into a square dance from there. So we’re going to have people gathered around the fire singing wassail songs and carols before going into the dance hall to dance the night away.”

All proceeds raised from Saturday’s event will go toward Augusta scholarships. For more information, call 304-637-1209.