MAKING THE SCENE

Folk-singing, fiddle-playing and traditional crafts-making are some of the highlights offered by this year's Mississippi River Valley Scenic Drive.

The fifth annual drive, a reintroduction for many residents to the villages and historic sites of Southeast Missouri, will be Saturday and Sunday. The Center for Regional History at Southeast Missouri State University coordinates the event.

Cape Girardeau is the south entry of the drive, Perryville the north entry and Marble Hill the west entry. Copies of the scenic drive program and map will be available at information booths and sites along the route, or can be obtained by calling the Center for Regional History at 651-2555.

Many of the towns on the route have organized their own events to coincide with the drive.

Southwest Missouri folk singer-guitarist Judy Domeny will entertain from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Bollinger Mill Historic Site. Domeny will roam the grounds singing the traditional folk music she first began performing at age 12.

She also will give a free concert at 8 p.m. Friday at the University Center's The Club.

Domeny was attracted to this music at so early an age because these songs were simple and because of the stories they told about people from the 1800s and even earlier.

"Many of the stories I sing are true," she says. "It's a little bit like blowing dust off the years and looking back and seeing people that I couldn't meet through a textbook," she says.

In a high, brilliant voice, Domeny sings about cowboys and Civil War soldiers, and about love gone wrong -- "sometimes tragically so," she says.

Some are obscure songs, others like "Redwing," "Streets of Laredo" and "Grandfather's Clock" are more familiar.

The songs provide a personal look at the lives of people who lived hundreds of years before us, she says. "They really weren't so different from us today."

She said she is happy to sing requests.

Domeny teaches elementary art in Willard, Mo., and works part-time as an auctioneer. She and her husband, David Bowen, recently moved back to the family farm she grew up on in Rogersville, Mo.

The fiddlers will congregate at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Little Ole Opry on Highway 34 outside Burfordville. They will be competing for cash prizes, and the public is invited to bring instruments for a post-contest jam.

All kinds of fiddlers -- bluegrass, country and old-time -- are welcome and are asked to bring one backup player.

Registration for the contest begins at noon. Food will be available.

The Spring Craftsfest will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Black Forest Villages north of Cape Girardeau on County Road 638. Demonstrations of traditional crafts, pony rides and games for children, bluegrass music and concessions like kettle corn and homemade bratwurst await patrons.

A Civil War encampment and living history settlement are being sponsored at the Black Forest by the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau.

More than 200 re-enactors and more than 60 horses are involved.

A Civil War battle will be re-enacted at 2 p.m. each day at the site.

Admission will be free at the historic Oliver House in Jackson, where the theme is "Be our guest and meet the experts." Phyllis Seabaugh will talk about interior design at 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Saturday. At 10:30 a.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday, Dorothy Palisch will give tips on recognizing the value of collectibles and bidding successfully at auctions.

Miriam Wallenmeyer and Bernard Schaper will discuss the history of the area at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. And at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, John Abernathy will speak about repairing and refinishing antiques.

The Oliver House is located at 224 E. Adams St.

In Oak Ridge, the theme is "Salt of the Earth." Antique salt and pepper shakers will be displayed, and demonstrations of

Girl Scout Troop 104 will hold a craft and bake sale, and Daddy Albert's fresh-cooked pork skins will be sold for $1 a bag. Chicken and dumplings, street music performances and living history demonstrations also are in store for those who follow the tour to Oak Ridge.