Cribbage Contest at Hopeville music reunion

The annual Hopeville Rural Music Reunion will be held Sunday, Sept. 7, in the ghost town of Hopeville, located south of Murray. This free musical gathering will start at 11 a.m. with old-time gospel music. Music continues all afternoon in the Hopeville Square County Park.

At noon, the 13th Annual Jim Overholtzer Memorial Cribbage Tournament will begin in the northeast corner of the park. With old-time music in the background, each cribbage player will play five games to determine an overall winner, and a trophy will be awarded. Just like the music festival, the cribbage tournament is free.

Jim Overholtzer was the former Postmaster in Grand River, which served the Hopeville community for decades. Overholtzer was an avid cribbage player, and his descendants fund the tournament trophy annually. His son, Chris Overholtzer, will be visiting from the state of Washington to compete this year.

Winning all five games of cribbage gets the perfect score of 605. But it is not necessary to win all five games to win the tournament. The high combined score of all five games wins. It is mathematically possible to lose all five of your games and still win the trophy by having the highest overall five-game score. The 2024 winner, Fred Stewart, of Creston, won four of his five games with a score of 600.

This will be the 46th year of the Hopeville Rural Music Reunion. Rural music musicians are invited to come play any genre of music on stage. Musicians change about every 20 minutes. Visitors should bring a lawn chair so they can move as the trees’ shade slides around the park.

There is no paved road to Hopeville. The closest paved road is R15, which is the county highway south of Murray. Signs are posted from that highway to direct new visitors. The population of Hopeville fluctuates around 15 people. Several hundred music lovers are expected to attend. Music will be played until 5 p.m. In addition to stage performances, jam sessions of musicians occur spontaneously around the wooded park.

A lunch will be served by the Hopeville Community Church.

Hopeville was the first town settled in Clarke County in 1850.

For more festival information, contact Cheryl German at (641) 447-2699.