Auxvasse's Loafer's Week began 57 years ago as a chance to come in from the cold and catch up with neighbors. Today, it's still exactly that.
It'll take place from Feb. 20 to 25 in the Auxvasse Community Hall.
"The winter's a dead time for people," said Barb Huddleston, curator at the Kingdom of Callaway Historical Society. "They'd get together and play cards."
February has always been a down time for farmers, after the harvest but before spring plowing. The Loafer's Week tradition got its start in 1960, Huddleston said.
"I think it was a couple of guys at the grain elevator," Huddleston said. "One was Homer Norris of Auxvasse."
At the event's beginning, the grain elevator supplied free peanuts to those that gathered. Today, the Auxvasse Community Hall still provides the traditional peanuts, coffee, iced tea and lemonade for free.
Playing cards remains an integral part of the Loafer's Week tradition.
"I don't know if they have as many card groups as they used to," Huddleston reflected. "There used to be a group from Fulton and one from Mexico."
Aside from the refreshments and cards, the other important element of Loafer's Week is the daily lunch.
"Different organizations and groups do the meals," Huddleston said. "It used to be the extension groups."
The organizations provide the meal for a modest price and keep the profits. This year, several Relay for Life teams, along with the North Callaway Senior Center, the Auxvasse Lions Club and the Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy will benefit. Check the "Community Calendar" for a full schedule.
The Loafer's Week also helps support the Auxvasse Community Hall through a 50/50 raffle. Each day two $25 cash prizes and car wash tokens will be given away. Meal tickets serve as entry slips.
Visit daily between Monday and Feb. 25 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Lunch is served starting at 11 a.m.