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Cheryl English, right, organized the Outdoor Living festival. |
BY JIM MASON
FOR THE FREE LANCE-STAR
An Outdoor Living street festival looms this Saturday, Sept. 29, in Bowling Green. This will be another first for the Caroline County town--like Mayberry Days in April, but something apart from the popular, crowd-drawing Harvest Festival in October.
Sponsored by the Bowling Green Farmers Market, Saturday's event will spotlight a wide array of fruits and vegetables for sale on the lawn of Union First Market Bank on Main Street. Outdoor Living will kick off at 10 a.m. and wrap up at 4 p.m. In the event of rain, the festival will be held 1-5 p.m. Sunday.
A food court in the EVB Bank parking lot across from the historic county courthouse will include Bryan Farmer of D&J Meats grilling hot dogs and hamburgers. On the courthouse lawn, Southern Explosion, led by drummer Art Singer of Sparta, will be rocking out. A fish fry will be held on Chase Street, a half block east of Main Street.
A "chicken swap" will take place beside the courthouse green. What's that? Farmers will bring their chickens in cages to "buy, sell or trade," said Cheryl English, who came up with the idea for the festival.
On Milford Street, just off Main Street, hunting and fishing enthusiasts will find gunsmith and fishing gear shops open. A representative of Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries will be on hand to answer questions. You can count English and her husband, Sam, among those outdoor enthusiasts--they both enjoy hunting and fishing. The couple run the English Acres Nursery off State Route 2 north of town.
"Think of this event as if you were walking through the September issue of Southern Living magazine," she said. "This is a great way to get a jump start on the fall season and fall harvest. We want to offer folks the opportunity to buy what they need for fall decorations and dining. We hope to make Outdoor Living an annual event and we hope it will be even bigger next year."
Jim Mason is a freelance writer who lives in Caroline County.
