It all started with “The River Binds Us.”

The book chronicled the history of Crittenden, Eclipse and Hobson and told the stories of the men and women who lived in the three North Suffolk villages.

It was an effort that consumed more than two years and required the work of 18 volunteers who wrote, researched and collected data.

While the book was coming together, those same volunteers saw the opportunity to make the book come to life.

“We thought we would start out by having a day where we can collect more stories and share what we have with the community,” said Karla Smith, chairman of the Village Heritage Day. “To us, it’s really a chance to collect more stories and share the village’s heritage. That’s the goal. It’s sort of a follow-up to the book, but in person.”

The event will be held Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in three locations: Chuckatuck Creek, Ebenezer UMC Family Life Center and the C.E.&H. Community Hall. The event is free and open to the public, and a mini-bus will shuttle between the three sites, because each site will have its own set of activities.

A seafood soup and chowder cook-off will take place beginning at 10 a.m. at the Family Life Center. At the same time, there will be an oyster-shucking contest at the creek and children’s crafts at the community hall.

Throughout the day, there will be live music from Bob Zentz, Buddy Thomas and Richie Nierman, along with games, watermen’s exhibits and time to record stories from attendees who may be featured in another book.

“We have great plans,” said Barb Bass, chairman of the cooking committee for the event. “Our thinking was, having this the day after Thanksgiving a lot of people that used to live in the area who have moved away would be visiting family, and this would be the chance to tell their stories.”

Smith said she already has heard from people who plan to attend the event just to catch up with old friends and family.

“I do know that several people are coming back to be with friends and see the school house and just to sit down and chat with people they grew up with,” she said. “They’re excited and looking forward to coming back to the community. It’s more or less a homecoming.”

The Village Heritage Day is sponsored by the Crittenden-Eclipse-Hobson Heritage Foundation. For more information on the foundation, visit www.cehfoundation.com.

“Everyone is pretty excited about it,” Bass said. “This is a tight-knit community. It’s a great place to live; people look out for each other out here. It’s wonderful to have people come out.”