Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 31, 1990 TAG: 9007280151
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
No matter. Almost by instinct, people in Blacksburg know it's coming the first weekend in August, just like last year, the year before, and so on for the past 14 years.
"People say, `Oh yeah, isn't it time for Steppin' Out? It's hot as hell and there's nothing to do'," said Books Strings & Things owner Richard Walters.
Walters, who helped organize this year's festival, said he gave responsibility for news releases to a young volunteer who seemed eager to do the job. The fellow, who Walters did not identify, apparently missed the deadlines.
If anybody needs reminding, Steppin' Out '90 will be held Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
If you forget, just check out the huge banner strung across Main Street and College Avenue.
"We're having this big party, and everyone's invited, and it's all free," Walters said. Steppin' Out is sponsored by the Downtown Merchants of Blacksburg Inc., as a way to promote downtown and just plain have fun during the dog days of summer.
There'll be food, of course, and things for kids to do, and music all day long.
And this year, for the first time, the merchants put down some cash to bring in two headline groups - Egypt, from Washington and Tiny Lights from Hoboken, N.J.
The festival has turned into a sort of homecoming, Walters said, as folks who lived in Blacksburg, probably as Virginia Tech students, come back to see old friends.
Steppin' Out is traditionally held the first weekend in August for two reasons, Walters explained:
One, so Blacksburg's year-round residents can call the festival their own, since most students are out of town;
And two, because back in 1976, he and several other merchants looking for a theme for the first festival decided that the anniversary of the day Wild Bill Hickock was shot to death in Deadwood, S.D., would do.
Hence, the first few festivals were called Deadwood Days, and everyone dressed like a cowboy.
Then the merchants renamed the festival Steppin' Out, with more emphasis on family activities, and it has grown every year since then, Walters said.
Last year's Steppin' Out drew about 20,000 people, and organizers expect that many this weekend. The festival has expanded to the Gates parking lot off Draper Road, with an added 22 vendor spaces.
Mary Riley of Mainstreet Bazaar said about 150 vendors will have booths lining the sidewalks. Some hail from North Caroline, Tennessee and Maryland, and one woodcrafter from Miami has signed up. But the majority are local crafts people and artists from the New River Valley.
The downtown merchants contributed a total of $5,000 this year to pay for the festival, which is run exclusively on volunteer power.
Proceeds from T-shirt sales, as always, will go toward downtown improvements. The merchants hope to raise $10,000 from the sale of 2,000 shirts to help pay for an amphitheater at the Armory parking lot.
STEPPIN' OUT SCHEDULE
Friday
Friday
\ Noon Dental Hygiene Hiptet
\ 1 p.m. Stacy Hobbs with Becky Barlow
\ 2 p.m. Frankie Toler
\ 3 p.m. The Kind
\ 4 p.m. Lou and Laura
\ 5 p.m. Wit's End Comedy Club
\ 5:30 p.m. Ed Hampton's School of Karate
\ 6:15 p.m. Draper Mile Run
\ 6:30 p.m. Electric Woodshed
\ 7:30 p.m. Not Shakespeare
\ 8:30 p.m. Egypt\ Saturday
\ Noon New River Express
\ 12:45 p.m. Paul Sanders
\ 1:30 p.m. Cindy Beeler
\ 2 p.m. The Hollow Men
\ 3 p.m. Past Due
\ 3:45 p.m. Overdrive
\ 4:30 p.m. Restless Planet
\ 5:30 p.m. The Yams from Outer Space
\ 6:30 p.m. The Kind
\ 7:30 p.m. Smalltown Coalition of Unemployed Musicians (SCUM)
\ 8:30 p.m. Tiny Lights\ Kids' Stuff (All events held on Henderson Lawn)\ Friday
\ 12:30-1 p.m. J&A Puppets
\ 1:30-2 p.m. Stories and Puppetry
\ 2:30-3 p.m. Fitness for Children
\ 4:30-5 p.m. Cake Walk\ Saturday
\ 10 a.m. Fun run
\ Noon-12:30 p.m. Kids' karate demonstration
\ 12:30-1:30 p.m. Olden Times and Present Times
\ 1:30-2 p.m. Kids on the Move
\ 2-2:30 p.m. Free watermelon
\ 3-3:30 p.m. Story time and display of children's books
\ 3:30-4 p.m. Confederate Cloggers
\ 4:30-5 p.m. Cake Walk
by CNB