HISTORY | Period get-together

Clara Irwin’s Strawberry Party at the Elijah Iles House is set for the Fourth of July and you’re invited. No reservations and no admittance fees are required to join the party. The Lincoln Troubadours singing ensemble and storyteller Cathy Mosley will entertain guests. There will be yard games for all ages and food such as strawberry shortcake and sundaes, barbeque sandwiches, strawberry margaritas and more for nominal prices. Named in honor of second homeowner Robert Irwin’s wife, Clara Irwin, who grew prize-winning strawberries, strawberry parties were held by Clara at the home for many years in the middle 1800s. Friends of the home and Elijah Iles House Foundation resurrected the tradition beginning in 1992. The home was place on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.