Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 10, 1994 TAG: 9408100056
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
The date will be Oct. 15, moving away from the first Saturday of the month to avoid conflicting with Newbern Days activities elsewhere in Pulaski County. And members of the Pulaski Business Alliance will have the main role in setting it up, rather than Town of Pulaski employees.
Dave Hart, the town's recreation director, told Alliance members that the coordination of the celebration had fallen to him and his department for the past several years, "and I just can't do it and do my normal job."
That is especially true now that the town's June 11 Depot Day was so successful that it may become an annual event, he said.
He could still arrange such things as blocking off streets or placing a stage, he said, but would like the Main Street businesses to take the initiative in organizing and planning the day.
"So I'm glad to see that you guys have the interest in doing that," he said. "I'd like to see it continue. I don't want to see it dropped, because I think it would be nice to have a fall festival."
A committee of the Alliance will meet at 8:30 a.m. Monday to start organizing the annual celebration.
Hart suggested the group name a chairman and spokesman. Someone should also be in charge of coordinating the entertainment, he said, and someone should be named to handle setting up the food and crafts booths. A publicity person is also needed.
He said he hoped merchants would "not just bring some ideas, but bring some energy to put those ideas into play But I think you have to have some defined areas for people to work on."
The central area for Count Pulaski Day has been Jackson Park, but the event will now move, perhaps to three blocks of Main Street. The celebration, named for the Polish nobleman who fought and died in support of the American Revolution, began as a celebration of the area's cultural heritage but in recent years has become more of a general festival.
Businesses along Pulaski's Main Street and its side streets are continuing to spruce themselves up, most recently with plants in whiskey barrel planters in front of stores.
Other merchants can arrange to have one of the flower barrels for their stores at a price discount by calling Alliance President Marlys Flynn at Upstairs/Downstairs (980-4809) or Vice President Debbie Jonas at the Colony of Virginia (980-8932).
Flynn said 14 of the barrels have been ordered so far.
by CNB