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General Informationwritten by Laura A. Bayless The 26th Annual Heart of Virginia Festival on Saturday, May 1, 2004 has enough variety and entertainment to please everyone! An art show, craft show, live music, a talent show, food, a 10K race, informational booths about our community, a health fair, children's activities and entertainment, fireworks Who could ask for anything more??? The downtown activities for the Heart of Virginia Festival begin on the Downtown stage with the Opening Ceremonies at 10 am. Music performances and a talent show can be found at the old State Theatre stage throughout the day. Craft booths are located all along Main Street and all the way up High Street to Griffin Boulevard. An amazing variety of food booths are positioned throughout the downtown area and all along High Street. The Festival Gazebo on High Street serves as an information center and lost-and-found. WFLO Radio Station in Farmville will be broadcasting live hourly reports from 9 am until 12 noon. Also on High Street, in front of Longwood University, is the 30th Annual Outdoor Art Show. Enjoy the works of artists from Virginia and neighboring states. The Children's Festival, in front of Jarman Auditorium on High Street, offers a day full of activities for children, including songs, skits, puppets, face painting, and much, much more. The Children's Art Workshop is on the lawn of Lancaster. The evening activities begin at 6 pm at the Farmville Airport with live bands and food vendors. A fireworks show will begin about 9:15 pm. Free Shuttle ServiceThe Farmville Area Bus will run free shuttle buses on circular routes from outlying parking lots to Festival sites. Be sure to take the bus and avoid congestion downtown. Buses run at approximately 20- or 30-minute intervals. 10 AM - 4 PM, Shuttle to Downtown 17th Heart of Virginia 10-K RaceThe Southside VA Family YMCA will again be sponsoring the 10-K race, which runs from the intersection of College Road and Via Sacra on the Hampden-Sydney Campus to the First Avenue Field in Farmville. This year will be a category for those who want to run, which will include the entire distance, as well as for those who want to walk for fun as well. The walk route will begin at the halfway point, totaling approximately 3 miles. This is a good course for beginners, asphalt with only a few hills thrown in for a challenge. Registrations are currently being taken at the YMCA at 404 East Third Street and can also be obtained on the web at: www.luna.moonstar.com/~ymca. The cost to run or walk is $15.00 before April 1, after which it will be $20.00 for YMCA members, $25 for community members. Registrations will also be accepted that morning from 7:00-8:00am. Pre-registered participants will also check-in from 7:00-8:00 am and all participants will receive their race packets. At 8:00am, the Farmville Area Bus will transport the walkers to the halfway point, and then promptly at 8:30 both the runners and the walkers will be started. There will be water along the race route and snacks available at the finish line. Trophies will be awarded to the top three male and female runners overall and medals will be awarded to the first place male and female runner in each age category: 19 & under, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, and 60 & up. Walkers will receive a certificate of completion. Transportation will be provided by the Farmville Area Bus from First Avenue Field to Hampden-Sydney so that participants may leave their cars at the finish line. This year, Haley Automotive of Farmville has generously supported this race as a headline sponsor. Centra Health, the Southside Community Hospital, and White Oak Cattle Farm have also shown tremendous support. Call the Southside VA Family YMCA at 392-3456 if you have questions or stop by 404 East Third Street to register. Festival Sponsors - The "Heart of the Festival"The festival would not be possible without the participation and support of the festival sponsors. This year, twenty-three local and regional businesses and municipalities are contributing sponsors. This prominent list includes long-time supporters of the festival for many of its 26 years as well as several first-time sponsors. The major sponsors of the festival are the Town of Farmville, Prince Edward County, Longwood University and MoonStar. Year after year, these sponsors play a key role in putting on the event through their financial support and hard work. This year, four businesses are first-time sponsors of the Festival - Superior Mortgage Corporation, Curves of Farmville, Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Haley Automotive of Farmville, sponsor of the Outdoor Art Show. The Heart of Virginia Festival is a great opportunity for the sponsors to be a part of this important community event, and their role is key to the success of the festival. The Heart of Virginia Festival Board of Directors would like to thanks this year's festival contributors: Benchmark Community Bank THE HEART OF VIRGINIA FESTIVAL - HistoryWritten by Martha [Pennington] Louis and Beverly [Bass] Hines) It all started one cold, windy day in the parking lot behind the Winn Dixie store... Under the direction of Martha (Pennington) Louis, who wanted fine arts to be available to the general public, over 95 artists and craftsmen gathered to display and hopefully to sell their works. People came, some bought art and lots of people looked. The next year the artists and craftsmen moved to the Five County Fair grounds to brave the spring winds on top of that knoll. About 75 artists came and a few more people were attracted to the quality of work they saw presented. The Central Chapter of the Virginia Museum sponsored the event and thus, in 1974, the Outdoor Arts Festival (now associated with the Heart of Virginia Festival) was born. In the third year, with the college's blessings and support, the Arts Festival moved to the campus of Longwood College (now Longwood University) under the shade of the grand old oak trees and under the protection of the famed colonnade. Beverly (Bass) Hines joined Martha in organizing and promoting the festival. The quality of the artwork grew to rival that on display in the gift shop itself of the Virginia Museum. It became a juried show. A museum curator or art professional familiar with a variety of categories was hired to preview either slides or examples of artwork before the show to assure the quality of the art presented to the public. No kits or mass-produced items were permitted. Only one-of-a-kind items of art or craft would be allowed in the Festival. Thus the Arts Festival accepted the challenge to educate the general public of Central Virginia to a variety of beautifully crafted items, blends of colors, spectacular landscapes, and sculpture with fine lines of form. The public could trust that what they were seeing and buying was first quality. The two women sought and found financial support from local merchants to fund the show. The Central Chapter continued to add warmth and a personal touch for the artists by hosting a reception after every show with homemade culinary delights. This was different from most professional art shows. Martha and Beverly made the festivals truly a festival of ARTS by including poetry readings, live music, wandering minstrels, wine tasting, great locally made food, even karate and ballet demonstrations. And the people loved it. Crowds came out in droves on the first Saturday of May to stroll under the trees of the beautiful campus. They liked what they saw and they supported the artists. The artists realized this and soon came from many states on the East coast and from the Midwest. The Outdoor Arts Festival blossomed, and a wide reputation for fine quality art presented in a leisurely atmosphere continued to grow. The first organizers of the Heart of Virginia Festival were wise enough to realize there was no need to develop a new date and time for another celebration in Virginia s heartland. The Outdoor Arts Festival of the Central Virginia Chapter of the Virginia Museum was well established into a date that meshed with other juried art shows and that fell on a beautiful spring weekend that promised sunshine. The Heart of Virginia Festival's goal was to promote unity within the community. The first Heart of Virginia Festival attached itself to the Outdoor Arts Festival to promote the gathering of crowds of people to mix and blend and have a terrifically good time. So the original Outdoor Arts Festival expanded. The first Heart of Virginia Festivals saw the addition of petting zoos, handcrafted items, and awesome fireworks displays. Music that was once limited to strolling minstrels at the Outdoor Arts Festival grew to include stages and bands. Today food can be found from many cultures and pleasing for any discerning pallet. After twenty years of organizing, the two women who so loved the art festival retired. In the custom of the original festival, the artists who come to Farmville are treated by the Festival with love and respect. The Heart of Virginia Festival is recognized as a first rate festival statewide. But most importantly, the Festival has grown into a homecoming for the community, for Virginia's Heartland. In a year when county residents are celebrating the very special 250th Anniversary of the founding of Prince Edward County, the Outdoor Arts Festival is celebrating its 30th year. Compared to many historical events spawned by this county, both the Outdoor Arts Festival and the Heart of Virginia Festival are but a small speck in time, but so noteworthy for the people of Virginia s heartland. Remember your heritage! Remember to take time to enjoy the finer and more carefree side of life. Enjoy this Heart of Virginia Festival with family and friends! All because a few artists and craftsmen gathered in a windy parking lot one early Spring Saturday... Educationwritten by Laura A. Bayless The Heart of Virginia Festival on May 1, 2004 in downtown Farmville will be welcoming many returning non-profit organizations to the Education portion of the Festival this year, as well as welcoming many new faces. The Prince Edward Middle School band will be playing at noon as well as selling water and sodas to raise money for new music and instruments. Look for educational exhibits about this band throughout the festival. A new face this year is the Children's Miracle Network (CMN). Children's Miracle Network, the alliance of premier hospitals for children, is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping kids by raising funds for 170 children's hospitals across North America. Each year these non-profit hospitals provide the finest care, research and community outreach to help millions of children with diseases and injuries of every kind. Education exhibits about CMN can be found throughout the grounds of the festival. The community involvement committee at Wal-Mart will be providing games for children in an effort to raise money for this worthwhile organization. These Wal-mart associates have done everything from selling hotdogs and soda, car washes, dunking booths as well as many in-house activities to raise money for their charity of choice. We look forward to the fun and games they will provide for the festival. As many local organizations are aware a quick note to Wal-mart has garnered many types of donations (everything from an item of merchandise to a monetary grant). Cody and BJ will be returning again this year with performances of their fun-filled singing act complete with Cheyenne and Roxie, their macaw parrots, at 11:00 am and 1:45 pm. Also appearing in their Heart of Virginia debut will be the Front Porch Singers. This family trio plans to share their love of early American folk music in an authentic circa early 1800's with performances at 10:00 am and 12:45 pm. The Front Porch Singers consist of Karen Gibson, daughter Camille Rabon and son-in-law Sam Rabon. Karen and Camille are native to the area and have shared their love of music with the community for years. Karen spent ten years teaching music to the children of Appomattox County. She continues to educate by providing lessons in piano and guitar. Camille, a noted musician while at Fuqua School, taught band and music in South Carolina before moving back to the area. Currently she teaches music at Appomattox Elementary School. Sam participates in his church choir and praise group, where he sings and plays guitar. Locals to Farmville will recognize Karen and Sam as the owner and manager, respectively, of the Pork-N-More restaurant. The Front Porch Singers strive to recreate the community atmosphere of a barn dance. Driven by mandolin, banjo, guitar and other folk instruments the group blends a mixture of folk tunes, jigs and ballads that young and old alike will recognize. This festive event encourages the young and young at heart to tap their foot, sing and dance along. Come out on May 1st and enjoy the musical entertainment and browse throughout the festival and learning about our communities' nonprofit organizations and how we can assist our neighbors. Bicentennial Stage and The Weyanoke Lawnwritten by Laura A. Bayless The Heart of Virginia Festival in Farmville on Saturday, May 1, 2004 offers lots of entertainment during the day. Bicentennial Park will feature several regional groups. 11 am - 2 pm - "The Purveyors" 2 - 3 pm - Farmville United Methodist Church Praise Band You can find the following acts at the Weyanoke Stage. 10 am - Bill Gurley 1 pm - Southside Jazz Quartet Come out on May 1st and enjoy the musical entertainment and browse throughout the festival and learning about our communities' nonprofit organizations and how we can assist our neighbors. Saturday Nightwritten by Laura A. Bayless The Heart of Virginia Festival comes to Farmville on Saturday, May 1, 2004, and following the day-time activities, there is a rockin' night of entertainment planned for you. After a busy day of shopping, eating, and taking in the various talents, plan to spend an evening of fun out at the Airport. Admission to the Saturday Evening Festivities is $1 per person. Parking assistance is provided by the Boy Scouts Troup 6516, who receive a portion of the admission price. The gate opens at 5:00 pm, and the festivities begin at 6:00 pm. Fireworks light up the sky around 9:15 pm, with one final set of music following the display. Food is available for purchase from Mulligan's. The Town of Farmville made the Saturday Evening Festivities at the airport possible. Originally, the Saturday Evening events were held at the Longwood Golf Course. When the evening festivities got so large that the Golf Course couldn't accommodate any more, the Town of Farmville generously built the stage at the Airport. The stage is a permanent structure that is now used for many town celebrations. In addition, the Town of Farmville funds the annual fireworks display. The entertainment schedule for the evening is: 6:00 - 6:45 pm Zero Hour Here is a little information about these groups. Zero Hour Zero Hour formed in the spring of 2000, when Sean and Austin were hanging out at Austin's house and started jamming on drums and guitar. Sean's sister, Sarah, joined the next week, originally playing keyboards before making the switch to bass. Zero Hour was one of the bands featured at the Bicentennial Stage during the 2003 Heart of Virginia Festival. They are featured at this year's Saturday Night performance because of their popularity and musicianship. The thing that sets them apart from other bands is the age of the members. Sean is 16, Austin is 15, and Sarah is 13. But, they consistently amaze audiences with their talent, confidence, maturity, and stage presence. The band is influenced by artists such as Aerosmith and Green Day, but have worked hard to create a "Zero Hour sound". In the summer of 2002, Zero Hour was one of 16 bands selected from hundreds of applicants to play the "Almost Famous Band Series" at a large outdoor venue in Richmond, Virginia. In the beginning of 2003, the band was featured in a segment on PBS TV. Zero Hour continues to play the club circuit in the Richmond and surrounding areas, and are perfecting their sound until they make their break into the national spotlight. Eli Cook & The Red House Blues Band The Red House Blues Band combines the guitar and vocals of Eli Cook with the talents of bassist Steve Riggs and drummer Jason Ward. Cook, a Nelson County teenager, began his performance career playing acoustic blues at Repunzel's Coffee House in Lovingston when he was 15. His repertoire and audience expanded as he began playing gospel shows and revivals in several counties. He formed his first electric trio The Red House Blues Band, while only 16, and performed at the James River Blues Society Festival taking third place. Cook has been called a "blues phenomenon" by reviewers in near by Charlottesville: "Featuring fast fingered guitar and a powerful voice beyond his years, Cook doesn't need any Robert Johnson style pact with the devil to take him to the top" (Matthew Hurst, from a C'ville review). The rhythm section features drummer Jason Ward. Ward brings more than a decade of experience to the trio, having kept the beat for several contemporary bands including Altar Ego and The Neon Kings. Nationally renowned blues bassist Steve Riggs completes the trio. Steve is a veteran musician who has performed with some of the world's greatest, including Muddy Waters and Jimmy Vaughan. Groove Spot Groove Spot is a 7-piece, party-oriented, high-energy, dance band made up of Vocalist David Sullivan, Guitarist Chris Perkins, Bass Player Chuck Harrell, Drummer Thomas Young, Sax Player Steve Bider, Trumpet player Dave Triplet and Trombone/Keyboardist/Vocalist Chris Leitch. Founded in March of 1997, Groove Spot has performed to packed houses up and down the East Coast, fast becoming a fixture of the thriving Richmond music scene. Stripping down the classics to their "booty-shaking basics", Groove Spot combines tongue-in-cheek antics, and pure energy with a world-class horn section. Best described as an undeniably good-time, dance, party, disco band, Groove Spot delivers music that defined an era of nightlife in the 70's and 80's. Bringing it all back, Groove Spot cranks out the energy, showmanship and funky hooks that'll get even the most docile crowd out of their seats and onto the dance floor. Cruise-Inwritten by Laura A. Bayless The Heart of Virginia Festival on May 1, 2004 in Farmville is pleased to welcome back the Heart of Virginia Cruise-In! The Giant Cruise-In will feature cars from all over Virginia and neighboring states. Bring your favorite classic vehicle and spend the day with the family in downtown Farmville. Cash prizes for the crowd favorite and furthest distance will be awarded, along with dash plaques for the first 100 cars and many door prizes. Just come on down and have a prime downtown parking space for a nominal fee of $5 in advance, or $8 the day of the Festival. Festival-goers will enjoy looking at these classic cars in the Farmville Shopping Center. Sponsors of the Giant Cruise-In include Advanced Auto Parts, B&G Auto Repair, Captain Seas Restaurant, Davis Pontiac, East End Chevron, East End Motors, Farmville Auto Parts, Farmville Automotive and Tire, Fisher Auto Parts, Hemmings Motor News, Hitch-in-Post Restaurant, Heart of Virginia Classic Auto Club, Keeton-Soundz, Newman Tire Company, Trade-N-Post Auto Sales, Tri County Motors, and Year One. The Heart of Virginia Festival would also like to extend special thanks to Les Andrews for the use of Farmville Shopping Center. |
Heart Of Virginia Festival |
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