LOWELL | With his eyes on the eggs, 8-year-old Sam Turpin, of Hobart, watched closely as the turn-of-the-century Philadelphia Egg Grader machine separated the eggs according to size.

"It's interesting," said Turpin before turning to study a woodworker.

Turpin was one of hundreds of visitors Saturday who enjoyed sun-kissed skies and a return to the simpler times of yesteryear at Buckley Homestead County Park's Fall Festival.

The festival continues from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at the living history farm.

"It's been quite an adventure," Sue Gajewski, of Munster, said of the festival as her husband, Tom, and their friends, George and Fran Jungkunz, of Chicago, talked of the hayride they had enjoyed.

"The apple dumplings (at the Rangeline Presbyterian Church stand) were out of this world," Tom Gajewski added

Nearby, Jeremiah Jamrose, 6, of DeMotte, used two sticks to keep the beat as the Oxcart Ramblers played their toe-tapping version of "Shortnin' Bread." His cousins Alex and Nathan Faldzinski, of Winamac, and grandparents Doreen and Wayne Faldzinski, of DeMotte, have made the Buckley festival an annual tradition, Doreen Faldzinski said.

"We brought our daughter here since she was 8 or 9," she said.

The charm of a family outing was what brought Sandi Petee, of St. John, to Buckley on Saturday. "It's a nice hometown event and a perfect day," she said.

Watching the farm's pigs, Petee's daughter, Kylie Petee, 7, reached between the slats. "I touched a piggy," she cried, then observed to her grandmother Nancy Wells, of Crown Point, "They walk on tippy toes."

Turpin and his 11-year old brother Clay Turpin took their aunts Debbie Tucker, of Munster, and Pam Ryder, of Hobart, through the Buckley corn maze.

"It was fun. It was huge," Clay Turpin said.

The traditional crafts, entertainment, historic buildings, and more are never missed by Shelby's Carolyn Winandy, who visits the festival annually. "It would be nice to go back sometimes," she said, adding, "It would be a better world."

Buckley Homestead County Park is 4.5 miles east of the Interstate 65/Ind. 2 interchange at Ind. 2 and Hendricks Road. Admission is $3 per person with children 7 and under free.