Weekend fall festivities

By CHARLES OWENS
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

October 10, 2008 11:18 pm

— Several fall festivals will be held across the region today and Sunday. They include:
• The Bramwell Oktoberfest beginning today at 2 p.m. in downtown Bramwell.
• The Peel Chestnut Mountain Pumpkin Festival beginning today at 10 a.m. in the Peel Chestnut Mountain community near Pocahontas, Va.
• The Bland County Festival of Leaves begins today at 9:45 a.m. and continues through Sunday in Bland, Va.

BRAMWELL — A full schedule of fall festival fun is on tap for the region today.
The Bramwell Oktoberfest begins today at 2 p.m. in downtown Bramwell. The Peel Chestnut Mountain Pumpkin Festival also begins today at 10 a.m. on Peel Chestnut Mountain near Pocahontas. The Bland County Festival of Leaves begins today and continues through Sunday in Bland, Va.
The Bramwell Oktoberfest is entering its 12th year, and will include musical entertainment and guided outdoor tours of Bramwell’s Millionaire Row Historic District.
The Peel Chestnut Mountain Pumpkin Festival is in its 15th year.
This year’s festival will include Bluegrass and gospel performances, dance cloggers from South Carolina, a special visit from “Roscoe,” the official mascot of the Princeton Rays, hayrides and plenty of pumpkins and homemade applebutter, festival spokesman Russell Synan said.
“We don’t charge anybody for setup here,” Synan said. “We don’t pay any musicians. We don’t charge anyone to get in. Just the only thing we charge for is the food, applebutter and pumpkins. We are expecting a big crowd.”
A full slate of activities are scheduled both Saturday and Sunday for the Bland County Festival of Leaves.
The festival gets underway today at 9:45 a.m. with opening ceremonies that include a military salute and flag raising by the VFW Post No. 7969 and Boy Scout Troop No. 21. Today’s activities will include arts and craft sales, a flea market, a wild game canning demo, a pumpkin cooking competition, a face painting contest, hayrides, a horseshoe tournament, a performance by the Appalachian Hoedowners, a duck run, a performance by the Light of Hope Men’s choir, a performance by the Midnight Ramblers String, a performance by the Hollybook Band, and more.
The festival continues on Sunday with performances by Craig Whitaker, Will Jones, Fescue, and the Captives. A full day of festival activities also is scheduled for Sunday.
— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com