Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 16, 1995 TAG: 9506160030
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: DONNA ALVIS BANKS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Pearisburg is where you'll find Mayberry and its colorful characters Saturday. A new feature this year at Pearisburg's annual Festival Around Town is the Andy Griffith trivia contest.
Put on your thinking cap for questions like these:
What was the only dance Andy Taylor could do?
How did Howard Sprague sleep?
Who sang "Never Hit Your Grandma With a Great Big Stick?"
What gift did Barney purchase from Newton Monroe to give to his girlfriend, Thelma Lou?
The trivia contest is open to grown-up kids as well as little kids, and prizes will be awarded to the top finishers. The grand prize is a framed print by artist Ron Harris. It's a lovable depiction of (who else?) Barney Fife.
Saturday's festival starts at 9 a.m. at the Pearisburg Community Center. Attractions include crafts displays, children's activities, lots of good food and live entertainment on the mainstage. Vic Baker and the Boogie Band, Gold Rush and River's Edge are in the line-up.
Admission to the festival and parking are free. In addition, a free shuttle bus will run from Giles High School to the festival every 15 minutes.
Say you can't wait for the fun to start?
You can get a jump-start tonight at the official festival kickoff. It begins at 6 p.m. with a picnic-style barbecue dinner served by the Pearisburg Lions Club. At 7 p.m., you can sit back and listen to Reckless, a new country band from Roanoke. It's happening at the Pearisburg Community Center and admission is free. Bring blankets or lawn chairs for the outdoor seating.
Festival Around Town is sponsored by the Pearisburg Business and Community Association. First Virginia Bank sponsors tonight's activities.
P.S. Still scratching your head? You'll find the answers to the trivia questions at the end of this column. Keep reading!
FARTHER DOWN THE ROAD: After the festival in Pearisburg Saturday, you're invited to check out the monthly Fiddle & Banjo Festival just down the road in Narrows.
Three bands will perform, starting at 7 p.m., at the Old Narrows High School.
Hickory Wind from Holly Ridge, N.C., will get the ball rolling. Two West Virginia Bands - The West Virginia Bluegrass Connection of Ronceverte and Nathan Lawson and His New Grass of Wilcoe - will keep it bouncing.
Along with live bluegrass music, the festival offers handmade crafts and food concessions.
Admission is free, but donations will be accepted.
APPALACHIA ON MY MIND: The 18th annual Highland Summer Conference - a two-week study and appreciation of the writing and culture of the Appalachian region - gets underway Monday. Several guest artists will give public readings and performances as part of the conference.
Dori Sanders, author of "Her Own Place" and "Clover," will read from her work Tuesday. Both books were Literary Guild Selections. "Clover" was also on the Washington Post's best-seller list and earned Sanders the Lilian Smith Award for literature.
Sanders has lived and worked on a peach farm in York County, S.C., for the past 50 years.
Actress Anndrena Belcher will perform Thursday. She has appeared in several productions, including the movie, "Next of Kin."
Belcher, a native of Pike County, Ky., now lives in Scott County, Va. A popular storyteller and Appalachian writer, she frequently takes her talents to regional festivals. Historian Studs Terkel has called her "one of our secret national treasures."
The public performances start at 7:30 p.m. in Heth Hall's Highland Room. Admission is free.
LIVING HISTORY: The Wilderness Road Regional Museum in Newbern is the site of a Civil War camp this weekend. Re-enactors will pitch camp on the back lawn of the museum today.
The museum will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today and Saturday and from noon to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. This is your chance to see displays of Civil War artifacts, photographs and more.
Special events include an informational exhibit about the use of herbs during Civil War times. Master gardeners Alice Slusher of Floyd and Nancy Mignone of Blacksburg will present it.
Barbara Sullivan of Pennsylvania will exhibit and sell Civil War paintings and photographs, too.
Local author Patricia Givens Johnson will be available Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m., to autograph copies of her book, "U.S. Army Invades the New River Valley (May 1864)." Other Civil War books will be available at the museum, as well as T-shirts commemorating the Battle of Cloyds Mountain.
The museum has many items of interest to Civil War buffs and other displays of New River Valley artifacts. One display features items found at the homestead of Mary Draper Ingles, the pioneer heroine who inspired "The Long Way Home" historical drama.
Admission to the museum is free. To get there from Interstate 81, take Exit 98 and follow the brown signs.
LIKE CHIRPING BIRDS: Woody and Marcia McKenzie make happy music together. The duo will perform Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Radford's Bisset Park gazebo.
The free concert is sponsored by the Radford Parks and Recreation Department.
The McKenzies play a musical melange of traditional and contemporary folk, swing, jazz, ragtime, children's songs, novelty tunes and original numbers.
Bring your blankets and lawn chairs for the outdoor seating. If it rains, however, the show will go on. It will just move to Bisset Park shelter No. 2.
GIVE UP? As promised, here are the answers to "The Andy Griffith Show" trivia questions:
Two-step
On his stomach
The Darlin's
Pineapple skinner
by CNB