Saturday will be a big day around Robbins.

The weather forecast for 2009 Robbins Springfest looks absolutely perfect -- sunny with a high of 75. Events start on Bear Creek at the Pottery Highway access and continue all day.

It's time for the return of the boxcar derby, the decorated hat contest, and the Adventure Bear-A-Thon, rain or shine. Last year's wet weather didn't keep an 80-year-old man from taking home the derby trophy, and skies cleared in time for canoes, kayaks, and muddy hill scrambles on Bear Creek.

This year, downtown merchant Middleton Mercantile hosts the 2009 Race Day Decorated Hat Contest as part of the RobbinsAlive! Spring Festival.

"Get out your glue gun and start decorating," said owner Claire Matthew. "Entry forms can be obtained at Town Hall or downloaded off of the town of Robbins Web site (http://www.robbinsnc.us/MainSite/userfiles/image/Hat%20contest(1).jpg)."

The fee to enter is $3 per hat, and all entries must be turned in at Middleton Mercantile between 10 a.m. and noon Saturday. Winners will be announced at 1 p.m., with the Robbins Red Hat Society providing judges.

The high point of the day is likely to be the Bear Creek Adventure Bear-a-Thon, starting with its mile-and-a-quarter trail run followed by a one-mile paddle up and down the Bear by canoe or kayak, and culminating with a half-mile final leg with six stream crossings.

"You'll run through Bear Creek (30 yards across) and climb up the muddy bank onto a trail," said Randall Moore of Deep River Coffee Co. "You'll encounter five more creek crossings and a killer hill before a thrilling and spectator-friendly finish. Bring your camera -- and a change of clothes."

Entrants compete either solo or as a team of two or four. They have to register and check in from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. The youth race (ages 7 to 12) takes off at 10 a.m. The adult race (12 and up solo, or 7 and up with an adult teammate) starts at 11.

Mid-afternoon is time for the boxcar derby. Racers 12 and older the will first have their four-wheelers certified for safety, then take turns two-by-two competing in elimination runs downhill from the Old Elise Depot. A $20 entry fee is required for race day entries. The starting signal will sound at 3 p.m.

Just below Robbins, down Mount Carmel Road, is the annual celebration of pioneer times, Clenny Creek Day at McLendon Cabin and Bryant House.

Joel McLendon's cabin (built about 1760) is the oldest structure on its original location in Moore County. The Bryant House next door (built about 1820) is in its original location, unaltered save for necessary repairs made from time to time.

"Clenny Creek Day" celebrates old times when Bryant children went swimming in McLendon's Creek, calling it "Clenny Creek." It is a day of fun, food, refreshments, crafters and re-enactors. The grounds surrounding these two historic homes will be busy with vendors of pottery, plants, handmade baskets and soap, wrought-iron yard furnishings, handmade jewelry, and wood creations.

Visitors will see how early pioneers cooked on an open hearth back in the 1700s and hear Civil War stories from the re-enactors in authentic period costume.

The Moore County Historical Association sponsors the event, which runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the site of the Bryant House and McLendon Cabin at Harris Crossroads, about a 30-minute drive from the Southern Pines area.

It is a day of bluegrass music by Clyde Maness, Jerry Garner, Teddy White, and Eddie Ingram followed by a second group, the Hoe Cakes, playing on the Bryant House front porch.

From Robbins and Carthage, go south on Mount Carmel Road from N.C. 24/27. From the Pinehurst Traffic Circle, take U.S. 15-501 north, then west on N.C. 73 and right on Beulah Hill Church Road through two crossroads.

Contact John Chappell at 783-5841 or by e-mail at jchappell@thepilot.com.