Loose Leaf Notes

Floyd writers and bloggers each fill a unique niche when they chronicle life in Floyd. In some cases, we may all be writing about the same story but seeing it through different lenses and zeroing in on different angles. Our town’s yearly roots music festival, FloydFest, in which 10,000 or more festival goers have been known to attend, is a good example of this. Blue Ridge Muse’s Doug Thompson, who also writes for the Floyd Press, covered the event with the seriousness of a journalist (which he is) looking for a hard edge. Ripples’ David St. Lawrence saw FloydFest through the eyes of a post-corporate businessman with an upbeat focus on festival vending, while I covered it from the local poet’s performance stage and from the windshield of my festival volunteer husband’s golf cart that he used to zoom around the site while directing parking. Floyd’s first blogger, Fred First, who was at an Appalachian Writer’s Convention, was out of earshot entirely this year.

 
But there are others in this creative melting pot of storytellers who have weighed in on FloydFest’s 6th incarnation, “In the Mix,” with spoofs and goofs in keeping with the festival’s sense of play.

 
My banjo playing friend Amy Adams, who has a website titled “Mimi’s Adventures,” recently posted about Mimi’s adventures at FloydFest. From what I can tell, Mimi is a small red doll who likes travel, meet new friends, and pose for the camera in fun and interesting settings. Besides her FloydFest adventure, Mimi has infiltrated the Republican Party, met her twin sister, went the Roanoke Symphony, and was a stow away on a trip to California, according to the website.

 
Tom Ryan, Floyd’s version of Will Rogers meets Robin Williams, who rarely bites his tongue and is more often known for getting it stuck in his own cheek, hit a stand-up note in his most recent online publication “The Floyd Enquirer: The Floyd Fest Issue.”

 
Regarding the overzealous Park Police “Crime Interdiction Team” out of Asheville on the first two days of the four day festival (who Tom characterized as “stalking” Floyd Fest celebrants), he writes about a new law supposedly passed at the request of the Department of Homeland Security to combat “DWH” (Driving While Hippy).

 
“The “Driving While Hippy” law was necessitated by the high volume of lawlessness displayed over the past 6 festivals. Reports indicate that as many as 3 arrests have occurred on the site during those six years. If not nipped in the bud, it is feared, the Festival could degenerate to the level of a Shriner’s Convention,” Tom reports.

 
Under the headline “Business Community Irate,” Tom had this to say: “Responding to complaints from local businesses, the County is considering editing the Bill of Rights. Having grown accustomed to the distressed economy in South West Virginia and Floyd’s “open by chance” & “running on Floyd time” style of business, many local establishments are complaining that Floyd Fest is upsetting the local economy. Stated one Chamber member, “dag nabbit, the B&B’s are forced to stay booked solid for 3 to 4 days, the restaurants are packed to capacity, gasoline sales peak and the grocery stores do record business.”

 
Other stories covered in the Enquirer’s Floyd Fest issue include “God And Park Service Ink Deal,” and “Fall Leaf Season Canceled.” They can be read in their entirety at Floyd County in View HERE.

 
Post Notes: Adam and Tara of Blue Nova Computing, who host FloydFest’s cyber cafe, have some FloydFest photos on their Floydvirginia.com website worthy of viewing. Thanks to all who make FloydFest happen!