A Floyd First
Downtown Floyd was abuzz with the sound of weed-whacking and lawn mowing. As I made my way through town yesterday hanging flyers for our next Spoken Word event, I couldn’t help but notice the smell of freshly mowed grass wafting through the air. Everywhere I went, up and down Locust and Main Streets, people were sprucing up their businesses, getting ready for the first annual “Floyd Homecoming and Harvest Festival” the following day.
Inspired by the County’s upcoming 175 year anniversary, the festival was planned for Saturday, September 16, to coincide with The Harvest Moon’s second annual “A Taste of Floyd,” a slow-food event that features locally-produced food. In conjunction with that, a first ever old-fashioned County Fair is planned, complete with contests for best garden produce, plants, food, and more.
The Floyd County Historical Society will be hosting a Walking Tour of historical sites. History exhibits, heritage demonstrations, live traditional music, children’s games, and animal shows are also on the agenda.
The day’s events are set to cumulate with a reading and a discussion, hosted by “The Friends of the Library,” featuring acclaimed author Barbara Kingsolver, who currently lives in Southwest Virginia.
“Do you know what time the Walking Tour starts in the morning?” a friend stopped to ask while I was at the Harvest Moon posting a flyer on their community bulletin board.
“See you tomorrow night at Barbara Kingsolver’s talk,” another friend said as she was walking to her car and I was gazing at the colorful tents set up on the Harvest Moon lawn and along the driveway.
Further up the road, a woman in front of The Floyd Beauty Shoppe was trying to unclog a weed-whacker. Across the street, Rick, from Whisker’s Roadhouse (upstairs at Mama Lazardo’s Restaurant), was up on a ladder changing the sign that announces the weekend’s entertainment. His big grille was set up, ready to fire, to feed the “Friday night Jamboree” crowd that night and festival-goers on Saturday. I was just about to push a tack into the Plexiglas encased bulletin board in front of the New Mountain Mercantile when I heard someone shout, “Hey, gorgeous!”
“I’m up here,” she had to shout-out twice before I looked up and saw her. It was Kanta, director of Alpha Learning Center, just above the Mercantile. “Got a second?” she asked, inviting me up. I got a brief tour of her digs, where she teaches, makes art, holds workshops, and now lives. I was impressed!
I still had one flyer to hang, so I headed to the Café Del Sol where our spoken word open mic takes place every third Saturday night from 7-9. Because most lovers of the word wouldn’t want to miss meeting Barbara Kingsolver this Saturday, the event was re-scheduled for Sunday 5-7, the following day. In front of the Winter Sun building where the café is housed, I passed a trailer filled with tree limbs, part of the day’s landscaping efforts, I wondered?
“Did a tree fall?” I asked a group of familiar faces who were gathered in front of the café.
“It’s for the play. They’re decorating the stage,” someone answered. The Magic of Midsummer Nights Dream, a play written by 12 year old Cameron Arie Woodruff and presented by the Young Actor’s Co-op was to be performed that evening.
Now I was on roll. A theme had formed. I drove back down to the Harvest Moon to get some photographs of the gardener I had seen landscaping 20 minutes before, but I was too late. I saw David, a Blacksburg musician in town for Irish Night at Oddfella’s Cantina, standing in front of the Moon on his cell phone. He took the time to say hello before making yet a second call. “Get an office!” I called out playfully.
At that point my friend, Katherine, who works at the Harvest Moon, whizzed by on her way to the slow-food big top city. She was carrying something.
“What are you doing back, just taking pictures?” She asked, and I nodded.
I tried to stay out of her way.
Post Notes: Photos – 1. The Old Church Gallery, which is currently featuring “Whittlin Through Time,” an exhibit of Floyd Folk art. 2. Farmer’s Supply Building. 3. A few tents in front of the Harvest Moon.
The Walking Tours begin at 11:00 and 1:00, Barbara Kingsolver will be at the Floyd High School at 7 p.m, and the Spoken Word Open Mic is Sunday from 5-7 p.m.
September 16th, 2006 9:55 am
Ms. Kingsolver was the opening night keynote speaker at the Festival of the Book in Durham this year. She spoke and took questions from a rocking chair on a front porch-like stage for over an hour, and by all accounts, it was brilliant. I missed it, which I’m still kicking myself for, but I did hear the taped replay on our local NPR station. You won’t be disappointed.
September 16th, 2006 2:15 pm
Lovely! I hope you enjoy the good spirits of the season! Wish I could, too…
September 16th, 2006 2:29 pm
What a beautiful vignette of a beautiful day in a beautiful place. If anyone ever needed convincing that there’s magic in places like Floyd, this entry should do the trick rather nicely.
Wish I could be there.
September 16th, 2006 2:36 pm
Sounds like a hot time in old Floyd this weekend! If you don’t watch out, even more tourists will decide to move there to the perfect little town, and before you know it you will have two traffic lights (and maybe even a Wal-Mart)!
September 16th, 2006 3:07 pm
Writing does have a way of making something appear picture perfect. In reality, all places are what you make of them. As a writer, I don’t know how to not write about place.
I have heard that Floyd was more populated at the turn of the century than it is now. I’ll learned some good tidbits on the walking tour today. It will take me weeks to process this weekend and it’s only just started!
September 16th, 2006 5:14 pm
Oh, Colleen, how fortunate you are. Barbara Kingsolver’s novel “The Poisonwood Bible” is one of my all-time favorites. I literally couldn’t put it down. What a wonderful area that you live in. Please tell me that there’s a little unoccupied house in the vicinity and I’d move in an instant!! (I love your posts.) Ginnie
September 16th, 2006 5:15 pm
It does sound like quite a weekend there in Floyd.
When will there be time for some rest?
September 16th, 2006 10:17 pm
Your love of your town shines through. The weekend festivities sound excellent indeed. A wonderful way to welcome fall.
September 16th, 2006 11:37 pm
Susan is right! Everytime you post about the “doins” in Floyd, I get an urge to simplify my life and move there! I envy you the Kingsolver lecture. I would love to hear that!
September 17th, 2006 6:40 am
oh how lovely. that reminded me of a milly molly mandy book i loved as a child.
beautiful. i wish i was there 🙂
and yes the poisonwood bible was amazing.. i really should read some more by her.
lucky you babe. hope you are having a wonderful time.
September 17th, 2006 8:51 am
Lots going on. What a model community.
September 17th, 2006 10:02 am
I felt like I was going right through the town with you! What a beautiful day for it….
We had lunch in the Honduras Coffee shop here in Stuart Friday and the owner Dale was loading up some coffee to serve at the Harvest Moon event and told us a little about it. I would’ve enjoyed the drive up had we not been going to Shelton’s Vineyards.
September 17th, 2006 2:53 pm
This is something I don’t get to experience living in Charlotte. A community that comes together like that is something that escapes cities for the most part. Michele says hi Colleen.
September 18th, 2006 1:48 am
It is absolutely amazing the amount of wonderful things one can partake of in and around Floyd! More creative stuff is going on there than almost any place I have ever heard of!(Except Los Angeles, and it’s HUGE…so a lot should be going on…(lol)..Also I love that you know so very many people involved in these doings and happenings–incuding yourself, Colleen. I think it is wonderful, beyond words!
September 20th, 2006 7:43 pm
I must say…Floyd is always buzzing with activity! I can’t wait to finally visit there in two weeks.
Now I’ll mosey on over and read your post on Kingsolver.
September 28th, 2006 11:30 am
Thanks for the direct link to this post!!! SOunds neat! Spoken Word Open Mic…wish we had that here! YEARS ago we had poetry night every other friday while I was in college at a nearby coffee house. I loved it. I’d read some of mine but even better there was this scottish guy who recited his orginal poems that were like 30 minutes or even longer! He was amazing! All from memory!!! 😉