The Foxfire Fund

During 2023, The museum had over 11,000 visitors, including senior citizen groups, school groups, guided tours, and people attending our heritage skills classes. Improvements to The village including starting a pavilion project, improving The sidewalk and replacing stairs, adding a porch to one cabin, adding new picnic tables and an american flag, as well as finishing a project in The wetlands area on The foxfire/black rock mountain trail The new children's village was completed featuring historically accurate log structures in 1/4 scale to represent a typical log cabin with a fireplace, woodstove, table and chairs; and a typical chapel, with a podium, benches, and a school desk. These new buildings were built using hand hewn logs, both salvaged and newly hewn. The children's village was constructed for The purpose of having an educational, hands-on play area for The children who visit The museum with their families and school groups, and it has developed into a very popular area of The museum.

Foxfire staff completed a new book titled "The Foxfire book of appalachian women", editing and compiling firsthand accounts from 21 women about their lives and experiences in The southern appalachian mountain communities. The new book was published in 2023. Additionally, as mentioned above, two editions of The Foxfire magazine were completed by The students and published carrying on a continuous tradition that started in 1967. The students were very proud of their work and are grateful for The opportunity to be published in a magazine with world wide audiences.

During 2023, The Foxfire summer leadership program had 12 students participate, resulting in their completion of several heritage skills classes and interviewing contacts for publication of articles in The student produced Foxfire magazine. Students completed two complete Foxfire magazine issues. In addition, scholarships for post-secondary education were awarded to 10 students, for a total amount of $21,000. Steps were taken to move toward a Foxfire based class in The rabun county high school to offer cultural history from Foxfire's vast archival collection and The capturing of new stories from local residents. This coincides with our mission of education and preservation through student centered learning. Finally, we hosted many school groups who received a guided tour featuring interactions and hands-on activities from heritage skill artisans. The children enjoy watching The demonstrations, participating in The activities and seeing how mountain people lived and thrived many years ago.