NEW HOPE - On Saturday, a one-day annual festival took visitors right back to the "good old days" of farming and manufacturing.

Since the late 1960s, Dale Weed, president of New Hope Mills manufacturing, has hosted the festival in hopes of reinvigorating the enthusiasm for "trades of the past" and to "bring back memories" of New Hope Mills, longtime area maker of well-known pancake mix.

The day was certainly reminiscent of old times, with crafters selling their handmade wares, pony and hay rides, and even an old-fashioned dunking booth where participants tossed sacks of flour at the bulls-eye.

Marilee Williams, of Skaneateles, eagerly gave me a quick lesson in spinning wool into thread, joking about the tale of Rumpelstiltskin spinning straw into gold. "This festival is such a good opportunity to sit here and explain our craft," she said.

Molly Stuart, of Auburn, helped with the pony rides, letting children take turns riding Blitz up and down a path. "Last year we gave 80 pony rides," she said, later expressing her thanks for the good weather.

Volunteers dressed in costumes hosted a mini-midway, playing games and taking every opportunity to poke fun at their competitors' pancakes. "These are Aunt Jemima's," joked one volunteer, holding up a circle made of wood. "They're a little sturdier than ours." Crossroads the clown painted faces and made balloon animals next to the petting zoo, and children walked around wide-eyed, many eating maple-sugar flavored cotton candy.

Weed gave tours of the mill itself, which was built in 1823. The last time the New Hope mill was run was in 1996, and has since moved to York Street in Auburn. "The city of Auburn has helped us out a lot," Weed said. And the company has also diversified from making just flour and pancake mix to cakes, pretzels and doughnuts. While pausing a moment to look around the mill and take it all in, Weed smiled and said proudly "It's nice to see something that's a part of history that's still alive."

The good old days, indeed.