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WINONA LAKE - Part festival, part conference, the first annual Billy Sunday Festival should appeal to both the scholarly and the fun-loving.
The legacy of America's baseball evangelist, Billy Sunday, will be observed June 7 and 8 at the Billy Sunday Historic Site Museum, 1101 Park Ave.
The two-day event features Sunday authors and researchers, free tours of the Sunday Home and re-enactment performances by Billy Sunday impersonators.
Billy Sunday was a famous evangelist during the early part of the 20th century and resided in Winona Lake from 1911 until his death in 1935.
Leaving a successful professional baseball career, this fiery evangelist preached to nearly 100 million people during his career.
Just up the hill from the museum, Sunday's beloved Winona Lake home has been restored to its original 1911 appearance and is open to the public.
On Saturday, a 19th-century style baseball game between the Hobart Deep River Grinders and the Elkhart Bonneyville Millers will be played on the Tabernacle lawn from 1:30 to 3 p.m., followed by a "feats of strength pentathlon" - a base race, sawdust shoveling, water chugging, fast talking and ice cream sundae eating from 3 to 4 p.m.
According to museum director Bill Firstenberger, the festival will be an opportunity for people familiar with Billy and Ma Sunday to learn more and for those unfamiliar with the couple and their ministry to become acquainted.
Local actress Kathleen Allison portrays Helen "Ma" Sunday from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Friday and from 10 a.m. until noon Saturday at the Billy Sunday home. During these performances, admission to the house is free. At all other times there will be the usual $2 per-person fee or $3 for five people to tour Mount Hood.
Allison stars as Ma in the local production of "Down the Sawdust Trail" with Steve Grill as Billy and Brent Wilcoxson as Homer Rodeheaver. Another Sawdust Trail performance is planned for late summer.
Firstenberger said the festival provides Sunday authors and researchers with a place to present their findings.
In Rodeheaver Auditorium, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Friday, Craig Bentley of Columbus, Ohio, will speak on new research about Sunday's conversion; Craig Bishop, a member of the Billy Graham Ministries, will talk about the Billy Sunday film project; and Firstenberger will discuss the landscape interpretive stations on the assembly grounds.
"There are people, independent scholars, who like to pursue Billy Sunday their own way," Firstenberger said. "There is no established conference to present their work. They may never publish a book about him, but they are really dedicated. This is an outlet for their work and study."
Friday evening the visitors center will host authors, biographers and filmmakers, including Rachel Phillips, Jim Lutzweiler, Craig Bently, Craig Bishop, Lyle Dorsett, Roger Bruns, Robert Allen, Pete Mucher, W. Terry Halin, Robert Martin and Larry Harrison.
Martin, of Iowa, has the newest Sunday book being published (IU Press), this one regarding Sunday's childhood in Iowa.
Saturday, three Billy Sunday performers with three distinctly different approaches will perform in Rodeheaver Auditorium. Admission is free.
Brent Grosvenor's program is from noon to 1:30 p.m. Firstenberger said. Grosvenor, from Connecticut, includes video, music and costumed extras in his show.
Gregory Schmidt of Iowa performs from 4 to 4:30 p.m. Schmidt has a background in theater and conducts his piece in and out of character.
Florida native Russ Williams is "pure Sunday" Firstenberger said, a man who has been deeply affected through his study of the evangelist.
Hosting the Billy Sunday Festival, The Village at Winona is a revitalized community listed on the National Register of Historic Places. For more information, call 268-0660.
The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
On the Net: www.villageatwinona.com
