Several activities on tap this month
By Staff
Melissa Cason
Fall is the season for annual festivals and events throughout the county beginning today.
The fourth annual 11-mile yard sale is being held this weekend along County Road 93 from East Franklin to the Pebble community in Winston County. The Pebble Community Center will be the hub of activity as vendors flock to sell their goods at the community center. The Union Community Center is also a focal point of the sale with small booths along County Roads 93 and 81.
Hodges will also be celebrating their Spirit of Hodges Festival Oct. 10 beginning at 8:30 a.m. The event will feature vendors, concessions, live entertainment, and fun for the kids.
"This year we will be saluting our veterans," Tina Lawler said. "We will have special seating for our veterans under the big tent and there will be a special ceremony at noon to salute our veterans."
In addition to the special ceremony, the festival committee has compiled a book featuring local veterans. The book includes more than 250 veterans, and will be available for purchase along with memory books from the past.
The Spirit of Hodges Festival began in 2007, when the town celebrated its centennial, and has been an annual event ever since.
The live entertainment will feature Briana Lawler Dean, Joseph Baldwin, Kerry Gilbert Band, and Hammer and the B Band.
Festival t-shirts are available at town hall for $10 each, and will be available at the office. For more information on the festival, call 205-4127181 or 205-810-9034.
In addition to the Spirit of Hodges Festival, the Russellville Municipal Airport will be hosting an open house and fly in that same day, on Oct. 10. The event will feature an appearance by the Tuskegee Airmen, and a Flag Retirement Ceremony.
Harry Mattox said the flag retirement ceremony is done by the Boy Scouts and is a respectful way to retire old flags.
"We didn't have this last year, but we did have an open house in 2007, but we didn't have the Tuskegee Airmen at that time," Mattox said.
The event is set to begin at 8 a.m., and hot dogs, hamburgers and chicken wings will be available for a reasonable donation. For more information on the Russellville Airport Open House, call 331-9000 or visit bluediamond32Q@cs.com
Another event in October is Spruce Pine Day hosted by the Spruce Pine Historical Society. This year's festival will be held Saturday, Oct. 17 beginning around 8 a.m. The event will feature a car and tractor show, yard sales, vendors, food and family fun.
There will be a street dance in the evening with live entertainment from various performers including Buford Parker.
The events will held in historical downtown Spruce Pine, near the Post Office.
