A HEE HAW DAY

Winfield is a small city situated in Northwest Alabama about 30 miles from the Mississippi state line.  The area was once a Chickasaw Indian domain.

We were staying about an hour away from Winfield, Alabama and several of our friends suggested we consider going to Mule Day which is held every 4th weekend of September.  This year was the 45th year of the traditional Mule Day Festival, held since 1975 to honor the hard-working mules of the day.  We were two of the estimated 25,000 spectators in attendance.

Winfield, Alabama's Annual Mule Day has been termed "One of the top 20 events in the Southeast" by Travel and Tourism Magazine.  Mule Day is not only a major event in the City of Winfield but also for the State of Alabama.  

Arts and Crafts were spectacular!

Dr. Pepper brought a Fansville Tailgating Booth

Mule Day lasts 3 days

If you have the time there is also live entertainment, car shows and a diverse venue of homemade baked goods sold in a farmer's market setting.  There are organized events for elementary and middle school children at the Mule Day carnival, including many rides.  

The parade began promptly as scheduled at 11:00 a.m., with staging done at the elementary school.   Not only were there mules, wagons, horses,  tractors, cars, but one wagon carried the Mule Day Grand Marshal and Miss Mule Day.  

Grand Marshal - Mule Day 2019

Miss Mule Day 2019

The mules were judged and arts and crafts booths were set up in the main part of Winfield.  There were flea markets set in many parts of town from Friday evening and all day Saturday.  A Civil War skirmish was called "The Skirmish at Luxapalilla", sponsored by Sons of Confederate Veterans. 

The Skirmish was conducted at another location off-site

"We didn't know what we didn't know" is how we went into a Mule Day experience.  We now know a mule is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare).  On the other hand, a hinny is a cross of a female donkey (a jenny) and a male horse (stallion).  A horse has 64 chromosomes and a donkey has 62.  The mule and hinnies ends up with 63.  Mules can be either male or female, but because of the odd number of chromosomes, they can't reproduce.

Mules are reputed to be more patient, hardy and long-lived than horses and are described as less obstinate and more intelligent than donkeys.  The use of mules for farming and transportation of agricultural products largely gave way to steam, then gasoline powered tractors and trucks. 

 

After enjoying an unusually hot but enjoyable day at the Mule Day festivities, we had learned more than we anticipated and think that now we can carry on an intelligent conversation about mules and donkeys.  Just ask.  Hee Haw.