ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 26, 1996 TAG: 9604260073
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press WINCHESTER
There was a time when the Apple Blossom Festival parade attracted grand marshals the likes of Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Bing Crosby and James Cagney.
The event must have lost some of its star appeal over the years.
Ten days before the parade caps the 69th Apple Blossom Festival, Winchester's annual spring rite celebrating the blooming of Shenandoah Valley apple trees finds itself with no big name.
``There's loads of talk, because it's late,'' said the Rev. John Peters of Winchester's Braddock Street United Methodist Church. ``People are wondering who it's going to be.''
Last year, the grand marshal was actor Adam West, best known for playing the title role of the ``Batman'' television series in the mid-1960s.
In recent years, the festival has relied on local ties to bring in celebrities. Katie Couric, star of NBC's ``Today'' show and a native of Northern Virginia, was grand marshal in 1994.
The year before that, Mary Tyler Moore got the honor. Her great-great-grandfather had lived in Winchester and owned a home that once served as command headquarters for Confederate Gen. Thomas J. ``Stonewall'' Jackson during the Civil War.
The festival's executive director, Ben Dutton, admits that organizers have never cut the search this close before. The three-hour parade is scheduled for May 4. This year's glossy program had to go to press featuring a gallery of photos of past grand marshals. This year's grand marshal may be printed as an insert in the program.
But there's still no cause for alarm, he said.
``I don't know what's got everybody stirred up,'' Dutton said. ``People are hollering out of cars at me, asking who's the grand marshal. But we're not panicking. We're going to have one, and people will recognize the name.''
Dutton said the festival is negotiating with three possible contenders, and he said he expects to make an announcement by the weekend.
Because the parade is held the first Saturday each May, it has to compete for celebrity attention with the Kentucky Derby, which also is run the same day each year. The Derby and the days of celebrity social events leading up to it always draw scores of the rich and famous.
Perhaps the time has come for the festival to look beyond Hollywood for heroes, Dutton said.
``People want large appearance fees, and this is a voluntary thing. There was a time when people were happy to come for the publicity, but it's getting more and more difficult unless they have a connection with the area."
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