Calendar of Events

July

Saturdays May through October -- Marion Regional Farmers’ Market Buy local produce, fruits, meats, flowers, handmade crafts, and more at our own Market on the Town Square Parking Lot each Saturday morning from Mother’s Day through October from 8 until noon, and Tuesday evenings during peak season. (Weather and other events may alter schedule. Please call ahead to confirm details 276-783-4190).

Second Fridays April through December -- “Alive After 5: Downtown Marion Second Fridays ArtWalk 2009” Arts, crafts, jewelry, music, food, and more on the second Friday of each month May – October, starting at the Appalachian Spirit Gallery next to Town Hall and continuing throughout the Downtown District at participating shops and businesses. (Weather and other events may alter schedule. Please call ahead to confirm details 276-783-4190).

Weekly Through August Hungry Mother State Park in Marion, VA offers weekly activities for kids and adults! Activities include all kinds of fun programs for the entire family like canoeing, kayaking, hikes, music, and nature programs. For more information, please call 276.781.7413 or 276.781.7400.

TBA- Community Yard Sale Chilhowie Community Park. Vendors may set up free of charge. For more information, please call 276-646-3232.

July 1 Hungry Mother Park Activities, Wednesday Junior Naturalist 11am-12noon - For ages 5-12. Join an interpreter at the Discovery Center for the second part of Monday's program, which teaches youth about the world around them. Check Discovery Center for pricing. Families in Nature 3-4pm - Come and see how to better enjoy your own backyard and participate in activities and crafts! Cost: $2/person. Meet at the Discovery Center. *Please register with the Discovery Center. Paddling in the Park 6-7:30pm - Meet us at the boat ramp for a quiet evening canoe tour of the lake. Cost: $5/person or $4 for families of 4 or more. Must be 3 years and older. Participants must be accompanied by an adult if under the age of 18. *Register with the Discovery Center.

July 2 Hungry Mother Park Activities, Thursday Trick Your Stick! 4-5pm - Come to the Discovery Center to put your own personal touches on your new hiking stick! Sticks and materials are provided Cost: $3/person. *Please register with the Discovery Center. Kayak In Style 6-7:30pm - Join us at the Dock N Shop to learn the basics of kayaking & enjoy an evening of paddling on the lake! Cost: $5/person or $4/person for families of 4 or more. Participants must be at least 8 years of age and accompanied by an adult if between the ages of 8 & 18. *Please register with the Discovery Center.

July 4 Marion's Hometown Independence Day Celebration Live music and fireworks spectacular at Marion Senior High School Stadium. 6:00pm-10:00pm FREE ADMISSION.

July 4 Car Nuts Car Club Show Chilhowie Community Park. Registration: 8:00am Awards: 3:00pm For more information, please call 276-677-0200.

July 17-19 Hungry Mother Arts & Crafts Festival Hungry Mother State Park For more information, please call Candi Whitt at 276-783-2901 or visit www.hungrymotherfestival.com.

July 17-19 Marion Downtown Days Summer Festival 10 am - 5pm each day plus evening activities. .Park downtown and ride the free shuttle to the Park all weekend! Arts, crafts, and food vendors, live music at the park. Friday night downtown features Chili Championship, Show 'n' Shine vehicle show, and street dance with Phantom! Saturday features sidewalk sales, vendors, and a special evening live music and special menus at downtown eateries. Children's theater at the historic Lincoln Theatre in the heart of downtown. Parking fee at Hungry Mother State Park. Entry fee for booth vendors, chili teams, Lincoln performance, and vehicle show participants. Info: 276.783.4190

July 26 & 27 Salt Fest '09 Saltville Show Grounds, Battleground Avenue Friday 6 pm - 12 am; Saturday 10:30 am - 12 am For more information, please call 276-496-5342 Ext.33

July 31 - August 8 Rich Valley Fair & Horse Show Rich Valley Fairgrounds For more information, please call: Jane Orr 276-624-3263.

August

August 15 & 16 12th War Between the States Battle Re-enactment Old Battlefield on Well Fields Road, West end of Saltville, 2:00 pm For more information, please call 276-496-5342 Ext. 33.

August 20 Town & Country BBQ will be held on Thursday, August 20, 2009 at 6:30 pm at the Chilhowie Land Company's Airplane Hangar. This evening of fun, food, and fellowship is for Chamber members and invited guests.

August 30 Plywood Boat Derby For more information, please call: 276-783-7698.

September

September3 - 7 39th Saltville Labor Day Celebration Main Street, Saltville For more information, please call: 276-496-5342.

September 5, 6,7 23rd Adwolfe Summer Festival 10th Annual Old-Time & Bluegrass Fiddlers Convention Thomas Bridge/Riverside Road Marion, VA 24354 For more information, please call: Ronnie Collins 276-783-8855.

September - November 2009 The 4th Annual Sherwood Anderson Festival and Short Story Contest

Guest lecturers, writers workshops. For more information, please contact Brenda Umbarger at the Smyth Bland Regional Library at 276-783-2323 Ext. 28.

September 11 8th Annual Smyth County Patriots Day Commemoration Town Hall in Historic Downtown Marion. Live patriotic music, special guest speakers, and a tribute to our troops, veterans and emergency services Personnel. FREE! 6:00pm For more information, please call: 276-783-4190.

September 12 Mark Boling Jazz Quintet at the Lincoln Theatre Mark Boling is a jazz guitarist, teacher, composer, and author. He is a veteran sideman with pianist Donald Brown, having played in Brown’s Knoxville based band for many years, and recorded with Brown on two records for the French label Space Time Records. Boling has also enjoyed a creatively rewarding 25 year collaboration with drummer Keith Brown and bassist Rusty Holloway in the Boling, Brown, & Holloway (BBH) trio. This trio has been at the center of Boling’s recordings as a leader (Evidence 2000 and Tune Me 2004) as well as several collaborative projects with other bandleaders. Boling is author of Creative Comping Concepts for Jazz Guitar (Mel Bay), The Jazz Theory Workbook (Advance Music), Elements of the Jazz Language software (CPP/Belwin), and Curriculum for Aural Training software. He has been a Senior Artist-in-Residence at the Banff Center International Jazz Workshop, a visiting artist at the Brubeck Institute and has taught at the Berklee College of Music summer guitar program. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Berklee College of Music in Boston (1981) and a Masters in Music Theory from the University of Tennessee (1984). Mark Boling is an Associate Professor of Music and Coordinator of the University of Tennessee Jazz Program.
For more information and music samples, visit www.markboling.com.Time: 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $20.00 general admission. For tickets, more information or box office hours, please contact the Lincoln Theatre at 276-783-6093 or visit www.thelincoln.org.

September TBA Chilhowie Community Apple Festival Kickoff Main Street, Chilhowie 5:00 - 10:00 pm.

September 25-27 56th Chilhowie Community Apple Festival For more information, please call: 646-8213 or 646-3958.

October

October 2 12th Annual Civil War Troops Memorial Service Dedicated to 5th & 6th US Colored Cavalry Buckeye Street, Saltville For more information, please call 276-496-5342.

October 4 3rd Annual Oktoberfest Downtown Marion For more information, please call 276-783-4190.

October 11 Heritage Day Settlers Museum of SW VA For more information: 276-686-4401

October 17 Song of the Mountains at the Lincoln Theatre

Showtime is 7:00pm

Rhonda Vincent and the Rage

**For more information on Song of the Mountains, visit www.songofthemountains.org For tickets, more information or box office hours, please contact the Lincoln Theatre at 276-783-6093 or visit www.thelincoln.org

October 25 Fall Fear Bike Race 8:00 am For more information, please call: 276-783-3161.

October 31 Halloween Madness Trick-or-Treating Historic downtown Marion. - 11 am - 1 pm For more information, please call 276-783-4190.

November

November 6 Simple Gifts Trio at the Lincoln Theatre Three women plus twelve instruments equals one good time when Simple Gifts takes the stage. Drawing on an impressive variety of ethnic folk styles, this award-winning trio plays everything from lively Irish jigs and down-home American reels to hard-driving Klezmer frailachs and haunting Gypsy melodies, spicing the mix with the distinctive rhythms of Balkan dance music, the lush sounds of Scandinavian twin fiddling, and original compositions written in a traditional style.

Combining tradition with innovation, Simple Gifts creates some of the finest arrangements in folk music today: swing fiddle creeps into a Romanian dance, spoons show up in an Irish reel, and the concertina ventures far beyond styles considered traditional for that instrument. Based in the hills of central Pennsylvania, these women play an amazing array of instruments. Linda Littleton, Rachel Hall, and Karen Hirshon switch with ease among two violins, concertina, mandolin, banjolin, recorders, bowed psaltery, hammered dulcimer, baritone fiddle, guitar, piano, and percussion.

Simple Gifts is frequently complimented on their stage presence, which is warm, personal, and accented with humor. These women deliver their music with rare intensity and contagious enthusiasm. It’s obvious that Simple Gifts loves the music they play and knows how to share their excitement with the audience. This is an act not to be missed!

This performance is made possible by a grant from the Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour. Time: 7:00 p.m. Tickets: general admission; special $5 student discount. For tickets, more information or box office hours, please contact the Lincoln Theatre at 276-783-6093 or visit www.thelincoln.org.

November 10 Veterans Day Celebration Program & VFW Wall of Honor Celebration

November 11 Smyth County Humane Society Christmas Auction For more information, please call 276-677-3996.

November 20-22 Shop at Home Christmas Preview in Marion Special sales, evening hours, live caroling, hotel packages, The Lighting of Main, and special foods at participating businesses. Parade on Sunday, Nov. 22 at 3 pm. For more information, please call 276- 783-4190.

November 7 Song of the Mountains at the Lincoln Theatre

Showtime is 7:00pm

IIIrd Tyme Out, Michael Cleveland and the Flame Keepers

Williams and Clark Expedition

December

TBA Chamber of Commerce Annual Christmas Decorating Contest For more information, please call 276-783-3161.

TBA Tours of Homes Chilhowie, Marion and Saltville Check Newspapers for Dates.

December 5 & 6 Christmas Open House Special sales, live music, food vendors, Smyth County Museum and Historical Society House Tour. For more information, please call 276-783-4190.

December 5 Saltville Christmas Parade 2:00pm For more information, please call 276-496-5342.

December 6 Rye Valley Christmas Parade For more information, please call 276-677-3318.

December 12 The Platters at the Lincoln Theatre The Platters first formed the dawn of the rock-n-roll era in the early 1950s. The group included five teenagers Tony Williams (the legendary first lead singer), Zola Taylor, Herb Reed, Paul Robi, and David Lynch. Under the direction of their famed manager Buck Ram, and continuing to this day under the direction of his company, Five Platters Inc., some of the greatest singers in rock-n-roll history have passed through this group.

The list of hits turned out by the original Platters includes ten songs that qualified for Billboard's list of the 500 greatest rock-n-roll hits of all time, including three in the top 50. The Platters have had twenty-one top-10 records, nine million selling singles, five platinum albums, and five number-one songs. The Platters' total records sales exceed 200 million copies, making them one of the top-25 selling artists of all time.

It has been nearly 30 years since the last original members left The Platters. Still the group remains among the most popular and sough-after performing groups in the country. Over the year, great care has been taken to assure that each new member of The Platters carries on the tradition and maintains the calibre of the original group.

Among the great songs of The Platters: Only You, My Prayer, You'll Never Know, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, The Great Pretender, With This Ring, and many, many others.Time: 8:00 p.m.Tickets: $25.00 RESERVED SEATING. For tickets, more information or box office hours, please contact the Lincoln Theatre at 276-783-6093 or visit www.thelincoln.org