AUBURN - Sterling isn't the only place to lay claim to a piece of the Middle Ages this summer.

For many years, the Booker T. Washington Center has hosted a summer field days, with food and games, but this year it was a time to try something a little bit different.

With the help of members Angels Keep, of the Society for Creative Anachronism, locally based in Auburn, the center brought a little bit of the Renaissance to the annual field day celebration.

"We just wanted to try something a little bit different," event coordinator Rebecca McLaurin said. "A couple of people from Angels Keep worked here with our summer program and when we were talking about the field days they brought up the theme and we thought it would be something fun to do."

June Lathrop, seneschal (officer) of the Angels Keep group, explained what the group is all about.

"We pick a time period and reenact parts of it the way we thought it should be," Lathrop said. "We do this with all the pageantry and none of the things like the plague and the oppression of peasants and things like that. It is all about celebrating the time period."

Janet Goss and Judy Hill, both took part in the center's summer program, and being members of the Society for Creative Anachronism; they were inspired to propose the idea of introducing some Renaissance-style attractions into the field day.

"We were a little bit inspired by the festival in Sterling," Goss said. "And we thought this might be something fun, something a little bit different to do here at the field days."

With several members of the group dressed in period costumes, the group put on numerous demonstrations throughout the day Saturday.

Demonstrating things like fencing, weaving, calligraphy and illumination (the ornate drawing that accompany Medieval texts), as well as dancing, food of the timer period to go along with the chicken barbecue and hot dogs and hamburgers and games.

Taniya Williams, 10, and her friend, Abigail Venskus, 10, were both immediately drawn to the calligraphy and illumination demonstrations.

"That was pretty cool," Venskus said. "It was really amazing, they are so talented."

Williams said that she has been coming to the field days for a few years, but this added a whole new twist.

"It is really different," Williams said. "That is the only word I can think of for it. It is really different and really cool to see."

Children attending the field day also had the chance to spend time playing in a castle bouncing room and to take part in a little bit of jousting in another inflatable room.

Others, like Tyler and Taylor Stanton, both 11, were drawn to the sword-fighting demonstrations.

"That looks really cool," Tyler said. "They let you hold the swords too, that was really cool. It looks like it would be pretty tough to do, but it looks like a lot of fun too."

While the focus was definitely on fun, Lathrop also wanted all the attractions to be of interest on a deeper level as well.

"We are an educational group," Lathrop said. "We hope everyone has fun, but we also hope that they learn something about the time period. That is why we have things like weaving and spinning. We want the kids here to learn that history can be fun and interesting that it isn't just something in books that they have to study, but that it really is something that can be a lot of fun."