Countdown to Saturday for Shepherdstown Street Fest 2012

There's just under four days until Shepherdstown Street Fest 2012! Looking for a day of relaxation and celebration? Thousands will visit Shepherdstown for the daylong arts, crafts and music festival, and you should too! As in year's past, Street fest will play host to artists and vendors selling a variety of wares ranging from artwork, to jewelry, pottery and more: http://www.shepherdstownstreetfest.org/vendorGallery.html

Shepherdstown's unique local shops and boutiques will also be open to the more than 6,000 expected patrons. The weather will be warm, but fest-goers can stay cool and full with an assortment of refreshments being sold throughout the day, including a beer garden and local restaurant venders.

As always, talented and eclectic group of musicians will perform on both the main stage and the library stage including local acts, Chelsea McBee, and the Danny Tait Trio among others. And there's even a kids camp full of fun activities for children including, "Magic T." the Magician,  face painting and arts & crafts!

Event Schedule: 9:30 AM Shuttle Service Begins 10:00 AM Festival Begins 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM Artists/Vendors Open Visit the 2012 Artist/Vendor gallery. 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM Morgan Academy Kids' Camp Open 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM Martial arts demonstration with Master Jong Lee's students of the Jong Hap Mu Sool Martial Arts School 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM Beer Garden Open – MUST SHOW ID 11:30 AM - 12:40 PM Main Stage The Boatmen.

Street Fest will donate proceeds from this year's event to the WV Eastern Panhandle Free Clinic and will give a special birthday gift donation of benches and bike racks to the town, in celebration of its 250-year anniversary.

For more information visit http://www.shepherdstownstreetfest.org/index.html or find Shepherdstown Street Fest on Facebook.

What

Shepherdstown Street Fest 2012

When

 June 30

10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Where

Shepherdstown, WV

Cost

Free admission

Shepherdstown Rotary Remembers 25 Years of "Service Above Self"

Friday, June 8, The Rotary Club of Shepherdstown celebrated 25 years of serving the local community with a black tie dinner at The Bavarian Inn. This was an especially fitting venue as The Bavarian was the site of the very first Rotary meeting in 1987.

The evening kicked off with the pledge, a prayer, and tales of an infamous plaid sports coat, which left the crowd still chuckling even as dinner was being served. For the first course of the dinner, guests enjoyed a fresh field green salad tossed with apples & walnuts, and drizzled with a plum balsamic vinaigrette. The featured entree for the evening was beef brisket with a fig & onion confit that was so tender if flaked onto your fork and melted in your mouth. Paired with the brisket were roasted potatoes and neatly bundled batch of crisp haricot verts. Complimenting the savory, yet sweet combinations of the evening, dessert was a ginger maple crème brûlée that was just sweet enough, but with a hefty dose of fresh ginger to give it a just a little kick.

It was a night of recalling fond memories, proud moments, and remembering those who had passed. From the Rotary's newest (or future) additions, to those that were there for that very first breakfast meeting, all members shared an overwhelming sense of pride for not only what they've accomplished in the past quarter century, but what they hope to achieve in the next 25 years and beyond. For more information on The Shepherdstown Rotary visit: http://shepherdstownrotary.org/

 

More pictures from the Shepherdstown Rotary 25th Anniversary Dinner after the break....

Are You Ready for the Second Annual Unistock?

Have a spare sofa sitting around your house, garage, or front porch? Well you, my friend, have earned yourself a free pass to the second annual Unistock! This year's festival will be held June 29-30 at the site of O'Unison's Pub in Round Hill, VA, and feature two days worth of local talent, that I promise you'll love.

In addition to festival staples like solar showers and bonfires, this festival will also feature fireworks, a Mr. & Miss Unistock pageant (shoes nor teeth required), and a slip 'n' slide (or sit 'n' scoot as we called it in college). Basically, Unistock is like the prom you wish you attended.

Tickets to Unistock are $35 for the weekend, $20 for one night, or FREE with the aforementioned piece of furniture. More information on tickets and camping can be found at: http://www.theacousticburgoo.com/unistock.html

As if the slip 'n' slide wasn't a big enough selling point, here's a peek at this year's lineup:

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FRIDAY JUNE 29th 3 pm - gates open. free admission if you bring a couch. 6 pm - The Acoustic Burgoo 7 pm - The Clear Blue Sky 8 pm - Jake and the Burtones 9 pm - The Hot Seats 10 pm - The Woodshedders 11 pm - Jonathon Livingston Pteradactyl (at the party lights)

SATURDAY JUNE 30th 3 pm - Warren Campbell 3:30 pm - Ric Rain 4 pm - The Musty Mountain Plank Stompers 5 pm - Chelsea McBee and the Random Assortment 6:30 pm - Hard Cider plays for Mr. and Ms. Unistock Contest... this year will be "Best Hillbilly Outfit" 8 pm - Gallows Bound 9 pm - Acoustic Burgoo 10 pm - The Fox Hunt

What

Unistock

When

June 29 & 30

Where

20943 Furr Road

Round Hill, Va  20141

Cost

$35 - Weekend

$20 - Daily

Free - With Couch

Treads Night Out: Fun is Mandatory, Shoes are Optional

Meet, run, eat--starting this Friday, June 22, Two Rivers Treads of Shepherdstown, WV, will be organizing a monthly running event meets supper club, called "Treads Night Out."

The fourth Friday of every month Two Rivers Treads will designate a TNO location in or around Shepherdstown. The group will meet-up at 7:00PM, run a chalk-marked 5K (3.1 miles), and then meet back at the designated location for some well-deserved dining and socializing.

The debut TNO will be held at The Blue Moon, where I highly recommend trying the bowl of black beans paired with a frosty brew or two.

For more details, visit Two Rivers Treads on Facebook.

What

1st Monthly Treads Night Out

When

Friday, June 22, 2012

7PM to 9PM

Where

The Blue Moon

200 East High Street

(Corner of Princess and High)

Shepherdstown, WV  25443

Shenandoah Riverside Festival Starts Friday!

Pack your pup tent and shake the stink bugs out of your sleeping bag--this weekend, June 15 & 16, Watermelon Park Campground in Berryville, VA, will be home to the 3rd Annual Shenandoah Riverside Festival! Not only is this festival sure to be fun, it's also a fundraiser with 100% of the proceeds going to help clean up the Shenandoah River via Earthkorps.  

All of the bands for this event sound amazing, so I'm super excited for two full days of some top-notch tunes! Headliners Rhonda Vincent (Queen of Bluegrass) and Iron Horse will be first time shows for me, so I'm definitely looking forward to seeing them perform live. Pretty Picks for this fest are Holy Ghost Tent Revival, Acoustic Burgoo, Circa Blue, Drymill Road, and Lonesome Highway: I've seen these bands before, I'll see them this weekend, and I look forward to seeing them at future festivals. As for the other bands, I have a feeling I'll have some new festival favorites to rave about in my post-fest write up. 

Tickets are available at the gate: $55 for the weekend, $35 for Saturday, and tent camping is FREE!

For the full band schedule visit: http://earthkorps.wordpress.com 

To follow my "adventures" throughout the festival, follow me on Twitter @richelecole and I'll be using the hashtag #shenriverfest


Now if only I can figure out how to set up my new tent...

What

Shenandoah Riverside Festival

When

June 15 & 16

Where

Watermelon Park Campground

3322 Lockes Mill Road

Berryville, VA  22611

Cost

$55 - Weekend Pass

$35 - Saturday Only

WV Wine and Arts 2012

 

Vu ja de Vineyards from Spencer, WV

The 2012 West Virginia Wine and Arts Festival, may have been one of the hottest to date--the temperatures were sky-high and Boydville was bustling on both Saturday and Sunday.

     
Thanks to the hard work of The Arts Centre, this Memorial Weekend mainstay is quickly becoming one of Martinsburg's main attractions. It only takes a little eavesdropping to quickly catch on that the crowd comes from near and far to spend an afternoon (or two) lounging on the spacious lawn, sampling some of West Virginia's finest wines.
     
I'd be quite remiss if I didn't mention the music at this year's festival. This was my fourth fest, and from what my wine-soaked memory recalls, the bands this year were the best thus far. I was especially impressed with the nice young men that make up Joe Taxi. The band was high energy, easy on the ears, and their song selection was spot-on with a perfect mix of original numbers and classic covers. This mix ensured that toes were tapping even to the songs you were hearing for the first time--definitely an act I would see again.
    
In addition to the tasting and the tunes, this event also showcases a series of hand-painted banners from the 2nd Annual Banner Project that will later be on display on the streets of downtown Martinsburg. See something you fancy? These banners will be auctioned off at the end of the summer with proceeds benefiting The Arts Centre.
    
 More information on The Arts Centre can be found at www.theartcentre.org

For more pictures from WV Wine and Arts visit Pretty in the Panhandle on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/PrettyinthePanhandle

Go for the Gold: Posh Pets Beach Party and Doggie Olympics

Is your mutt medal-worthy? Think your Golden can retrieve the gold? Well this Friday, LET THE GAMES BEGIN! In the spirit of the upcoming Summer Olympics, Posh Pets Boutique in Winchester, VA, will be hosting a Beach Party and Doggie Olympics complete with games for dogs and owners to play together and compete against other teams.

Starting at 5pm, Dakota's Dream Animal Rescue & the Virginia German Shepherd Rescue will have animals available for adoption (perhaps a new recruit for the next Olympic games?).  At 6:30 the fashion show will heat things up by debuting the HOTTEST summer pet fashions including life jackets, bikinis, and travel gear.  Then at 7:00pm, stick around for our inaugural doggie Olympics debut!

Fee to participate is $10/dog. Show up by 7pm and be ready to win! Wondering how you can prep your pup? Word on the street, is there will be bobbing for hotdogs, but "mums the word" on whether it's the people or the pets that will be doing the bobbing...

What

Beach Party and Doggie Olympics

When

Friday, June 8

5PM to 8PM

Where

Posh Pets Boutique

16 South Loudon Street

Winchester, VA  22601

Cost
Free to Enter

$10 Per Pup to Participate

P.S. Check out these great door prizes and samples that will be given away as well!

Door prizes include:
*A Poochie-Bell
*A matching Lupine leash and collar set
*Full-sized bags of holistic foods and treats
*Many more!

Free samples of holistic food and treats including those by:
*Sojos
*Simply Pawesome
*Lotus
*Zignature
*Tuscan Natural




Image: http://craigrutman.activerain.com/

Morgan's Grove Market Grand Opening this Saturday

Morgan's Grove Market in Shepherdstown, WV, will kick-off their second farmer's market season this Saturday from 9AM to Noon. 

Located just past Morgan's Grove Park, the market will run every Saturday from June through September. Morgan's Grove Market features farm-fresh local produce in addition to baked goods, arts & crafts, and live music. New to this year's market, will be on-site chefs preparing tasty eats, so you can take it on the run (baby), if that's the way you want it (baby).*

Saturday's grand opening festivities will include a free running clinic hosted by Two Rivers Treads, outdoor Zumba, and lots of fun activities for the kiddos. Music at the market will be provided by Steve Warner and The Rolling Coyotes. As an extra special treat, there will be a limited number of reusable tote bags given away on a first come basis, so set your alarms, make your shopping list, and head to Morgan's Grove Market -- I'll see you there bright and early!

What

Morgan's Grove Market Grand Opening

When

Saturday, June 2, 2012

9AM to Noon

Where

Next to Morgan's Grove Park
3988 Kearneysville Pike

Shepherdstown, WV  25443

*Sorry for the REO outbreak, I couldn't resist.