Haysi festival celebrates season
TERESA MULLINS / Staff Writer
Haysi’s three-day Russell Fork Autumn Fest is set to begin Oct. 5 and folks can once again expect lots of music, a parade and plenty of food and fun.
The town’s businesses and streets will again be decorated with fall flowers, pumpkins, old wagons and fodder shocks. The displays will provide unique scenery for events which signal that fall has arrived in Haysi.
This year’s 17th annual festival will run Oct. 5 through Oct. 7. The festival, traditionally held the first weekend in October, offers concerts, a pancake breakfast, food and craft vendors, a Saturday parade and a kiddie train ride.
Games will also be a part of the fun, including a scavenger hunt for adults and one for children ages six to 12. Children who wish to participate must be accompanied by an adult. Registration papers for the hunts can be picked up at Western Auto in the town. Participants in the children’s category must return their completed “hunt” by 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, while adults must return theirs by 4 p.m. on Sunday Oct 7. The winner in the adult category will receive a $100 savings bond, and the winner of the children’s scavenger hunt will receive a $50 savings bond.
Following is a rundown of events.
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FRIDAY, Oct. 5
The festival will kick off Friday night, Oct. 5, with a musical performance by Josh Hill and Bite the Bullet at the shed across from town hall.
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SATURDAY, Oct. 6
The festival begins early with a 7 a.m. pancake breakfast hosted by Haysi Kiwanis Club at the picnic shed across from town hall.
The Haysi-Clinchco Lions Club and the Clintwood Lions Club will host a duck race at 12:30 p.m. Lions Club members will put the rubber ducks in the river behind New Peoples Bank and they will race to the finish line behind Jones and Counts Pharmacy. The first place winner will receive $250, second place will receive $100, and third, fourth and fifth place winners will each receive $50. Ducks can be purchased from any Lions Club member for $5.
The autumn fest parade will start at 2 p.m. Lineup will be at 1 p.m. at Haysi Funeral Home.
Youngsters, and the young at heart, will find games at C&C Farm Supply Saturday.
Organizers are looking for entries such as marching bands, antique cars, beauty queens, motorcycles and horses. Businesses, clubs, churches and other organizations are also asked to enter. How ever, no off-road vehicles will be permitted. Please call 276-865-4677 or 276-865-5565 for more information or to register.
Music will be provided after the parade at the town shed. Among those scheduled to perform are Southern Times and Danny Hackney, and Bruce and Bink Rush.
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SUNDAY, OCT. 7
Festival goers can expect to hear plenty of local musicians play on Sunday afternoon, beginning around 1:30 p.m. Scheduled to perform are Larry Sigmon and Barbara Poole, White Top Mountain Band and the Bluegrass Travelers.
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For more information about the festival, call organizers Carter Branham at 276-865-5148 or Kay Owens at 276-865-5313.
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