Local Events

The Best Western Berkeley Springs Inn brings the excitement of NASCAR home with a special showing of the Best Western #99 Toyota Camry on Saturday, October 6 at the Apple Butter Festival Parade which starts at 9 a.m. and in the Best Western's parking lot after the parade till 5 p.m.

NASCAR fans will have the chance to get up-close to a car that is decaled like the car veteran Michael Waltrip drove earlier this year in the Bashas' Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. In addition to photo opportunities, visitors will also be able to meet Bill Marrs, the driver, have picture taken with the car, and win some prize giveaways.

Boy Scout Troop 12, will manage a parking lot to the north of town on U.S. Silica Company grounds and the festival will provide a free trolley shuttle into the festival.

Due to heavy traffic expected Apple Butter weekend, October 5, 6 and 7, the following changes in Berkeley Springs streets and parking will be in effect.

Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito will host a local "Academy Days" in Hedgesville, to give young West Virginians an opportunity to learn about admissions to U.S. Service Academies: Air Force, Military (West Point), Navy, Merchant Marine and Coast Guard.

Academy Days will take place at Hedgesville High School auditorium on Sunday, October 21, at 2 p.m.

The Potomac Valley Audubon Society will sponsor a special talk about the songs of insects at Cacapon State Park in Morgan County the evening of Friday, October 12.

The speaker will be local insect expert Wil Hershberger, who is coauthor of The Songs of Insects, a new book and audio CD published last spring by Houghton-Mifflin Company.

Area bands, local businesses, community organizations, and individuals will be busy this week making their final preparations for the 34th annual Apple Butter Festival parade, which kicks off the festival activities on October 6.

Parade organizers are pleased with the variety of entries this year, including the addition of a few more marching bands. "The parade is coming together nicely. We are excited about it," said Nancy Sostaric, chairperson of the Apple Butter Festival Parade Committee. "It should be enjoyable for local residents as well as visitors."

The Morgan County Chapter of Relay for Life will hold their kickoff rally meeting on Tuesday, October 2, in the conference room of War Memorial Hospital at 7 p.m.

The American Cancer Society Relay for Life represents hope that those lost to cancer will never be forgotten, that those who face cancer will be supported and that one day, cancer will be eliminated.

The Berkeley Springs Presbyterian Church's Church on the Hill Concert Series will have Peter Basquin in a Piano Recital on Saturday, October 6, at 8 p.m. Basquin's recital includes works by Hayden, Rachmaninoff and Chopin.

Sensitivity and virtuosity are the hallmarks of American pianist Peter Basquin, who first achieved prominence as the winner of the Montreal International Competition. This launched him on a career that has included recital and concerto appearance in the U.S., Europe and the Far East.

The Potomac Valley Audubon Society's 26th annual fall birdseed sale is underway. The sale is open to all residents of the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia and Washington County, Md. The society is offering a variety of premium-quality seeds and seed mixes, as well as suets. All the seed is the freshest available just harvested in the Great Plains. The seed is competitively priced, and purchasers pay no sales tax since the Society is a non-profit organization.

All proceeds from the sale are used to support the Society's Youth Camp Scholarship program, which provides area school children with scholarships to attend summer nature camps in the region and elsewhere.

Concluding two days in Morgan County schools, Adopt-a-School artists Jo Ann Dadisman and June Riffle, known as Mountain Echoes present a special afterschool adventure at the Ice House on Tuesday, September 25 at 3:45pm. The Morgan Arts Council (MAC) is producing the informal program where Mountain Echoes engage in some old-style storytelling including historical Appalachian fiction, poetry and song, and ghost stories.

"We're inviting the whole community to stop by, students, homeschoolers, parents, grandparents, seniors -- anyone who is interested in hearing stories," said Bibi Hahn who coordinates the Adopt-a-School program for MAC. "Jo Ann and June will also be getting folks to tell their own stories."

Berkeley Springs Council #117, Junior Order United American Mechanics has received notification that National Councilor, James A. Wolfe, of Wilmington, N.C. will attend the local council's regular meeting Friday, September 21, at 7 p.m. This will be the first time that National Councilor Wolfe has visited the local West Virginia Council for a meeting, and this visit is in recognition of the Council's support and growth. Wolfe is a third generation member of the Order.

The meeting will be held at the Lodge Hall, 732 Harrison Avenue, Berkeley Springs, and by special dispensation from the National Councilor, this meeting is open to the public.