The Upper Cumberland tradition of marbles will be on display Saturday at the 42nd annual National Rolley Hole Marbles Championship and Festival.
Rolley Hole is a simple game where teams of two shoot marbles into three holes in consecutive order on a dirt yard. Local Rolley Hole Enthusiast Kenzie Adams said people in the Upper Cumberland have been playing Rolley Hole since as far back as the early 1900s.
“It’s a time-honored tradition,” Adams said. “Our parents, uncles, grandparents, and on back, it’s just something that we try to keep going because it’s something that was important to our people. It was something they could do leisurely without a lot of money.”
Adams said rolley hole has been a way for local people to stay connected. Adams said rolley hole means more than just a game.
The festival will take place on Saturday from 8am-7pm at Standing Stone. Adams said even if you do not know how to play, you will enjoy the event.
“We help each other,” Adams said. “There have been times that people have had water leaks. We jump in and help each other. If somebody in the community has an ailment or has suffered a tragedy, we can get a little tournament together and get them a little funding.”
Adams said there used to be marble yards all over Clay County, but several of those yards have since disappeared. However, Adams said in 2017, the game saw a local modern resurgence after a small group of friends started playing again at a well-known marble yard in Tompkinsville, KY, called “The Dome”.
“At that point, we were resurrecting people that had not played in years and having them to meet us at four or five o’clock in the evening after work, and we would make the trek to Tompkinsville, which was the indoor yard of the area at the time,” Adams said. “They had a wood stove, and it was completely sealed off from the elements, and you could play year-round. So we would go up there and play till sometimes one o’clock, sometimes 3 o’clock, sometimes five or six o’clock, come back home to Celina get a little shut eye, and go in to work the next morning just to repeat and do it again.”
Adams said the national championship at Standing Stone State Park has also helped the game grow not only locally but nationwide. Adams said people have traveled from places like Virginia and Boston just to compete.
With tournaments constantly popping up and the existence of the Rolley Hole Museum, Adams said Clay County is becoming more of a hub for Rolley Hole.
Rolley Hole is a forgotten pastime in other places, but according to Adams, the game is a staple here in the Upper Cumberland.
