The Loudoun Archaeological Foundation, Inc. (LAF) exhibited at the 66^th Annual Waterford Homes Tour and Crafts Fair on October 3 to 5, 2009. Over 2700 individuals (Friday 740, Saturday 820, and Sunday 1160) visited our tables to view and interact with exhibits, and to discuss historic preservation and archaeological subjects. More than half of our visitors were pre-school and elementary school-aged children, many of whom have attended Dr. Clarks programs at Waterford Elementary School or elsewhere in Loudoun County.

We were again surprised and honored by the presence of William Jack Hranicky, nationally renowned for his archaeological work on typology and nomenclature of North American Eastern Woodland Indian stone tools and technology and author of numerous books on this subject. During our conversation, Jack generously praised the Loudoun Archaeological Foundation, Inc. for its grass roots efforts in bringing archaeological public outreach to the community. He commented that those efforts should be a future course of archaeology. He was impressed by the broad range of Foundation hands on exhibits to engage the public.

The Loudoun Archaeological Foundation, Inc. will be at the Waterford Homes Tour & Crafts Exhibit on October 2-4, 2009, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., please join us. The LAF will be at the archaeology exhibit, so please stop by and find out what we are doing. We look forward to seeing you there. The Waterford Fair is the oldest juried crafts fair in Virginia and winner of the 2007 Loudoun Convention & Visitors Association Best Event of the Year. In addition to historic homes open for tour, 155 juried heritage craftspeople provide hands-on demonstrations, entertainers provide continuous traditional music and dance, Colonial and Civil War-era militia encamp and demonstrate, and there are children’s activities throughout the weekend.

For more information please check the Waterford website:

http://www.waterfordva-wca.org/index.shtml