Super September Saturday

Compiled by Corinne Saunders

With cold weather quickly approaching, it seems that this Saturday, September 19, is a final hurrah for numerous outdoor activities and special events. Whether you have a passion for puppetry, singing, dancing, shopping or exploring local heritage and meeting the neighbors, this Saturday’s happenings will provide everyone with an opportunity to indulge. Review the list, which is organized by start times, gather your family and go to one, or two or three events.

Boone United Methodist Church Fall Bazaar
7:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The Boone United Methodist Church will host the community’s biggest fall bazaar this Friday and Saturday, September 18 and 19. The event takes place from 7:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday and from 7:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

Boone United Methodist has hosted the bazaar for 25 years in the High Country. In 1984, visionaries developed the event to unite church members and the community in fun, work and fellowship, while supporting local missions and reducing the church’s debt on its facility.

The bazaar will feature a silent auction, yard sale, clothing, furniture, crafts, baked goods, a country store, home cooking and more. The highly anticipated silent auction items will include a Ray Harm-signed print “Black Bear,” a $100 Wal-Mart gift certificate, Cleveland Putter, roll top oak desk, two tickets and a parking pass to the WCU vs. ASU football game, a 2009 ASU Football Media Guide and more.

The Boone Police Department will be on the grounds on Friday from 2:00 to 7:00 p.m. providing child identification kits. The church will also host a scarecrow contest for the public. Pictures will be offered in the pumpkin patch for $5.

Boone United Methodist Church is located at 271 New Market Boulevard in Boone. For more information, call 828-264-6090.

5th Annual Watauga Lake Triathlon
9:00 a.m.

The 5th annual Watauga Lake Triathlon takes place this Saturday, September 19, at 9:00 a.m. at Sugar Grove Baptist Church and a nearby family farm about 20 miles from Boone and located across the lake from Pioneer Landing.

Organizer Dr. Scott Vandiver, a Boone physician, said the event is comprised of a 1,000-meter swim, a 35-kilometer bike ride and 8-kilometer run and requires “a pretty high level of fitness.” He said that individuals who would like to take part, but not in all three parts of the triathlon, can combine and register as a relay team.

The triathlon has been listed in Runners’ World magazine and is a USA Triathlon-sanctioned event, with chip timing to ensure accuracy. There are cash prizes and awards. Post-race festivities include a barbecue and desserts. The event donates proceeds to the Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust, the Sugar Grove Baptist Church and other organizations.

The event is a good spectator event, particularly at the transition areas where swimmers take to their bikes and then bikers take to their feet, Vandiver said, but added, “we are always looking for volunteers.”

Volunteers can help with tasks such as parking and body-marking of the participants.

Individual entry fees are $65 per person, $50 for students and $115 for relay team. On-line registration ends Thursday, September 17, at 11:59 p.m. and registration after that will be available at Footsloggers between 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. on Friday, September 18. On-site registration begins at 7:00 a.m. and closes at 8:30 a.m. on race day.

Pioneer landing is located off Highway 321 via Gregg’s Branch Road.

For more information or to register, click to www.wataugalaketriathlon.com.

3rd Annual Ft. Hamby Pow Wow
9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday/9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Sunday

The 3rd annual Ft. Hamby Pow Wow will be held at Ft. Hamby State Park in Wilkesboro this Friday to Sunday, September 18 to 20. Pow wow hours are 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. Friday is Kids Day, and activities for the children start as soon as the schools arrive.

Dancing, drumming, singing, storytelling and music performances will alternate all day throughout the pow wow, and two tee pees will be set up. Dance sessions will take place and when the emcee, Native American Music Award Nominee Dave Trezak, says “Intertribal,” that means all attendees can participate.

Grand Entry—when the Native Americans dress in their finest and have a formal entry—happens at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, 1:00 and 7:00 p.m. on Saturday and 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Ft. Hamby State Park is located six miles north of Wilkesboro on Highway 421 just north of mile marker 293. Turn south on South Recreation Road to the park entrance.

Admission to the park is $1 and then admission to the pow wow is $5 for adults and $2 for children. Friday is Kids Day and children with the schools are only $1.

Holiday Inn Express is the host hotel. For reservations, call 336-838-1800 and ask for the pow wow discount. For information on reserving camping spots, call the park at 1-877-444-6777.

For more information on the pow wow, call Mabel at 813-765-3073. To volunteer to help during the pow wow, call Mabel at 813-765-3073 or Ranger Juanita Souther at 336-921-3390.

Farm Heritage Day at Historic Cove Creek School
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Cove Creek Farm Heritage Day will be held rain or shine from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. this Saturday, September 19, at the Historic Cove Creek High School in Sugar Grove, just eight miles west of Boone. The festival begins with an antique car parade, and continues with events for children, such as face painting, balloon animals and folk toy-making with Billy Joe Ward. Lennis Moody with Healthy Carolinians will take blood pressures and share healthy lifestyle tips. A horseshoe competition, steam engine wagon rides, vendors, displays and food are some of the other highlights.

Live music under the tent by various groups runs from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Inside, a silent auction will be set up in the Red Raider Room and the museum will be buzzing with weavers and crafters, and quilts and other handiworks will be on display. Terry Harmon will provide genealogy information to the public. Don’t forget to pick a little bouquet from your flower garden to place on a table and compete for a blue ribbon.

Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for seniors and children. For more information, call 828-297-2200.

Heritage Day at the Banner House
11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Families will be the focus of Heritage Day, which will be held at the Banner House Museum this Saturday, September 19, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is free, and house tours are available for the regular price of $5 for adults and $1 for children.

The Greater Banner Elk Heritage Foundation, in partnership with the Banner Elk Chamber of Commerce and the Avery County Arts Council, invites families to bring pictures and memorabilia to the event. Display tables will be provided.

In addition to family memorabilia and quilt displays, there will be guided house tours, visits with authors who have written about the Banner Elk/Avery County area, musical entertainment and food.

“Heritage Day will be a community-wide event, supported by the Foundation, the Banner Elk Chamber and the Avery County Arts Council,” said Carol Lowe Timblin, chair of the Heritage Day committee. “The event will provide unlimited opportunities for people to connect with each other through their common heritage. We hope hundreds of people will spend a few hours that day at the museum and enjoy family pictures and quilts, books about the area, entertainment and barbecue.”

Banner House Museum is located at 7990 Hickory Nut Gap Road in Banner Elk. For more information, call 828-898-3634 or click to www.bannerhousemuseum.org.

4th Annual Elkland International Puppet Festival
1:00 to 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

The 4th annual Elkland International Puppet Festival will be held this Saturday, September 19, in the Todd Mercantile gallery and in the old Bank of Todd building next door in Todd. Professional puppeteers Madison J. Cripps, Hobey Ford and Keith Shubert, all from the Asheville area, will give shows from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Ford, based in Weaverville, is the recipient of puppetry’s highest honor, the UNIMA Citation of Excellence and has also been awarded three Jim Henson Foundation grants. Ford will present “Animalia,” a puppet ballet of animal creatures constructed using foam and metal.

The festival breaks from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. to allow attendees to eat dinner and return. At 7:00 p.m., the Elkland Art Center will present a puppet play called “The Runaway,” which is based on a bank robbery that occurred at the Bank of Todd early in the 20th century, said Martha Enzmann, an Elkand Art Center board member. The play, presented by puppeteers Enzmann, Cindy Ball, Lexie Danner and Michelle Hartzog, will last 20 to 30 minutes.

From 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., a puppet jam allows attendees to bring their own puppets and join the fun. Puppet festival admission is $5 for adults and $2 for children 12 and under. For more information, call 336-877-5016.

High Country Hospice Fall Ball
7:00 to 11:00 p.m.

High Country Hospice will hold its inaugural Fall Ball fundraiser at Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. this Saturday, September 19.

The event will feature fine dining, live and silent auctions. Additionally, Master of Ceremonies Barry Woods, the community swing band and dancing will entertain attendees.

Candice Cook, marketer for High Country Hospice said the event has received great support from local businesses and community members.

“We have received enough sponsorships to fund the event, and we have some great silent auction items,” said Cook, “but we need more community members to purchase tickets to the event for it to be a success.”

Tickets to the Fall Ball are $100 per person and can be purchased by clicking to www.highcountryhospice.org or at the High Country Hospice office. All proceeds from the Fall Ball will go to High Country Hospice patient care.

High Country Hospice is a nonprofit agency serving the needs of terminally ill patients and their families during the last days, weeks and months of their lives. Hospice care is designed to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the patients and their loved ones, but the needs are often difficult to meet due to limited funding

To show your support by attending the Fall Ball, click to the High Country Hospice website at www.highcountryhospice.org, or call 828-265-9443.

Barbershop Quartet Show
7:30 p.m.

Let’s Sing! and Finders Keepers, two award-winning North Carolina barbershop quartet groups, will perform Saturday, September 19, at ASU’s Rosen Concert Hall as part of the Watauga Arts Council’s 28th annual Barbershop Show. The show will also feature a new entertainment package by the Triad Harmony Express show chorus from Winston-Salem.

All seats for the show are reserved and cost $15 in advance and $18 at the door, with students and children free at the door pending seating availability. Tickets are on sale and are payable by check or cash at Rydell Music Center on Highway 105 in Boone or by credit card at the Arts Council website by clicking to www.watauga-arts.org. Net proceeds benefit music scholarships.

The featured quartet is Let’s Sing!, whose members hail from Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Raleigh. The current singing combination qualified as one of the top 50 quartets in the world to compete this past July in the annual international competition in Anaheim, Calif.

Finders Keepers, Sweet Adeline regional medalists in 2009, is also an award-winner; it captured the bronze medal at the regional competition this spring in Greensboro. Finders Keepers will lead a harmony-singing workshop for high school girls the afternoon before the performance. The bass of Let’s Sing! will lead a similar workshop for high school boys.

To purchase tickets or for more information about the performance or about the workshops, click to www.watauga-arts.org.