The Lampasas County Chamber of Commerce will host the 14th annual Herb & Art Fest on downtown Courtyard Square Saturday starting at 9 a.m.

The all-day event features informative speakers and vendors selling a wide selection of herb- and art-related goodies and food.

A children's area, "Kid's Thyme," will be offered with moonwalks, face painting and demonstrations on recycling and composting. There also will be free handouts and seed packets.

Pumpkins and cookies will be available for children to decorate and enter in the best-dressed pumpkin and cookie contests.

Children also will be invited to gather in front of the bandstand to dig in a haystack for prizes and treats. The Kiddie Express Train will be on hand for youngsters to ride.

Keystone Square Museum on Western Street will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and this year, museum members will host the Little Wrangler Round-up beginning at 9 a.m. for those ages 4-8. Participants should gather at the museum for a trip to the library.

Young cowboys and cowgirls are invited to dress in their western duds for storytelling, traditional cowboy songs, cooking over an open fire and lasso tricks.

Guest cowboys will include Jerry Nelson singing cowboy songs and playing the guitar; Malcolm Dickinson as Bill Pickett, the first bulldogger and a famous early African American cowboy; and Kerry Raish cooking biscuits over a campfire.

Portrait photographs on "Ole Splinter" will be offered.

The wrangler event is free.

Herb & Art Fest featured speakers will begin presentations at 9 a.m. with "Lawn and Garden Nemeses and How to Deal with Them," given by a Lampasas County Extension agent.

At 10 a.m., Rowena Fogel will offer "Sweeties: Four Herbal Delights to Make for the Table and Body."

"Natural Remedies for Pain Management" will be presented at 11 a.m. by Shari Anderson Kilman, a clinical herbalist who will share the history of herbal medicine that uses respected plant remedies for a wide array of health challenges.

She also will give the 3 p.m. presentation, "Old Thyme Remedies from Your Kitchen and Garden." Ms. Kilman is the owner of Omni Star Farm in Boerne, which is dedicated to the cultivation, study and teaching of herbal healing.

At noon, Leah Crawford, a Wildtree Herbs independent consultant, will offer "Herbal Cooking with Wildtree Herbs." Products contain no preservatives, additives, MSG, dyes or artificial flavors.

Judy Barrett will offer "Herbs 101: Back to the Basics" at 1 p.m. She is the publisher of "Homegrown Magazine," which features information for Texas gardeners on how to garden successfully while having a positive impact on the environment.

At 2 p.m., "Contain Yourself," a seminar on growing herbs and vegetables in containers, will be presented by Randa Daude, owner of Oma's Garten Pflanzen, a plant nursery in Killeen. Ms. Daude, a master gardener with a wide knowledge base, is dedicated to organic gardening.

At 4 p.m., Organized Chaos, a children's choir from First Baptist Church, will perform under the direction of D'Ann Willis.

The festival will conclude at 5 p.m.

A variety of arts and crafts, herbs, Texas native plants, antique roses, herbal foods, demonstrations, gardening items, grasses, seminars and musical performances will be offered throughout the day.

For festival information, contact the chamber office at 556- 5172, or send an e-mail to lampasas chamber@sbcglobal.net or visit www.lampasas chamber. org.