THOMASVILLE — Prepare for some “old-timey” family fun with the 36th annual Mule Day Saturday in Calvary.

“I think it is a family tradition and a lot of fun,” Calvary Lions Club President Bob Maxwell said. “We have 450 arts and crafts, syrup making and a variety of other activities. It’s just good, clean old-timey happenings.”

Mule Day is the first Saturday in November each year and is sponsored by the Calvary Lions Club. The event started because the club was looking for a fund-raiser.

“Years ago, the people in this community used mules to help with the cultivation of tobacco,” Maxwell said. “This event is named after that old beast in honor of the history of our farming community.”

The 40-acre lot will feature hundreds of vendors offering a variety of arts and crafts and foods.

“There are 45-50 new vendors and I don’t know what it is, but I know we have 15-20 people selling ‘wooden roses’,” Arthur Tatum, club member said. “I don’t think we have anything new in foods, but we have everything from alligator kabobs to English pub food to ice cream.”

There is also a parade, children’s activities, a sling shot shoot and the popular Mule Show.

Mule Show is held on the grounds and features a variety of categories including best jackass, best horse mule, best cotton mule, best plow mule, best mule driving, and best riding pleasure mule. There is an entry fee and the mule show chairman will award several prizes.

For more information, visit the Mule Day Web site at www.caironet.com/MULE.htm.

The event can generate 60,000 to 100,000 participants each year.

“I can’t explain the sheer size of it,” Tatum said. “We’re one of the few festivals that don’t charge admission. We never have; we thought there was no point when people will come out and have a good time and spend money with the vendors.”

Funds the Calvary Lions Club raises at the event go toward sight conservation, members said.

“The Lions’ main goal as a group is the eradication of preventable blindness, whether it be through diabetes education, providing eyeglasses or corrective surgery,” Tatum said. “We also try to be of assistance and help the hearing impaired.”

There is no set parking for the event.

Tatum said that is up to landowners near the grounds; there is no parking on the grounds except for vendors.

“Come out and get your Christmas shopping done early,” he said. “It’s going to be cool weather and a pretty day.”

Maxwell said Mule Day is something unique.

“There’s all kinds of mules to look at, old-timey activities like cane-grinding, a petting zoo, old history museum and good, clean fun for the kids,” he said. “It’s just a good time for everyone.”