Old Timer’s Day was rekindled Saturday in historic downtown Alexandria as the smell of cooking and the sounds of gospel music rose from the rural hamlet like it did many decades ago.

“The square used to be full of people and there was an all-day singing at the fairgrounds,” recalled Kevin Bandy as he cracked corn using his turn of the century engine, the one he displays around the mid-state to show how things used to be done before rural Tennessee got electricity. “Old Timer’s Day was around for a long time, as long as I can remember but there was a little lull.”

Saturday marked the second year the event has been resurrected in Alexandria. Crafters and concession booths lined town square, the humid early September weather not dissuading visitors to the quaint harkening back.

“This is something we would really like to restore to how it used to be, when the square was full of people and this was a really big event,” said Alexandria Mayor Bennett Armstrong while singing the praises of the best hotdog he had ever eaten, found at the fire department fundraiser stand. “There’s good music, good food and good conversation.”

The theme of this year’s event was honoring fire-fighters and veterans. Scout troop 757 began the day with a salute to the flag and Bikers for Christ showed up in force. Several musical acts took the stage, adding a background of song for those milling about, visiting the various vendors while others sat around fondly talking about the good old days.

No one was quite sure what prompted the once huge even to fall by the wayside for the better part of a decade.

“Maybe people found other interests,” Bandy suggested, noting that now there is a move toward nostalgia, something that could see Old Timer’s Day restored to where it used to be. “People are starting to get back into touch with how things used to be.”