MERCHANTS GEAR UP FOR GOOD OLD DAYS

JACKSON -- Nobody gets really specific about which good ol' days are celebrated each year in uptown Jackson.

Just wear something turn-of-the-century. That's safe.

Jeff Moore, chairman of Saturday's Good Old Days Celebration along with Judy Leist, said declining to specify a period lets celebration organizers pick any decade they want.

It's the third year for the event, sponsored by the Jackson Merchants Association. If the weather is nice Saturday, Jackson's streets should be bustling with people dressed in turn-of-the-century attire. They will sell food and gifts, demonstrate crafts and even rob Capital Bank. (Don't worry, no real bullets.)

"For years we had the Harvest Festival and felt it was time for a change," Moore said. "We wanted to do something that would attract the entire family and that was very inexpensive, and this is it."

"Expect a blast from the past," he said.

There will be games, but don't expect any Mortal Kombat or NHL Hockey. Local clubs will sponsor free games like marbles, jacks and bean-bag tosses.

There will be wagon rides from the Iron Mountain Railroad station and the Oliver House to the events uptown.

And the sound of music -- gospel, country and western, and Dixieland -- will fill the air almost constantly.

Events will begin at 9 a.m. and end at 4 p.m.

"It's good, wholesome entertainment," Moore said. "It amazes people to find out how much fun they can have with really simple stuff."