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Editorials - 04/25/02

Festival's 'fabulous fifth' features 5K race, music, crafts
It's festival time in the mountains, and we hope to see everyone Saturday at Sylva's Earth Day extravaganza - a springtime showcase of mountain music and crafts, family-focused fun, games, races and food also known as Greening Up the Mountains.

Now in its fifth year, Greening Up is a joint effort of Sylva Partners in Renewal, Catch the Spirit of Appalachia and the Sustainable Business Community. It grew out of earlier Earth Day celebrations and reflects the desire of diverse groups to come together and put on one big celebration for the whole community to enjoy.

Main Street's festival has grown with each passing spring as more events are added. Saturday will see the inaugural running of the Greening Up 5K road race co-sponsored by the Canary Coalition, as well as more leisurely exercise - tree walks hosted by the Sylva Garden Club on Friday and a Saturday stroll led by the Jackson County Greenways Commission.

If it's music you want, it's music you'll get. This year's festival comes with two stages - one sponsored by CSA and one hosted by WRGC Radio. Headliners are the Larry Keel Experience, which boasts both national flatpicking guitar champ Keel and Grammy-winning dobroist Curtis Burch, who is featured on the "O Brother, Where Art Thou" sound track, this year's winner in the Best Album category. Local talent will also shine Saturday through the strains of Caney Fork's Queen Family Band, Wayehutta's Fiddling Dills Sisters, Dillsboro's Josh Bulla and Sylva's own Matt Stillwell.

Of special interest to area kids is the second floating of "Ducks on the Tuck," a ducky derby dedicated to raising funds for college scholarships. Kids can compete in the "Walk Like a Duck" fun walk prior to the 3 p.m. launching of rubber ducks.

Festival-goers can gaze in awe at the beautiful spring photos entered in The Sylva Herald's annual "Mountain Spring" photography contest. Winners and a selection of entries will once again beautify our large display windows.

Last, but definitely not least, let's remember the hard work that has gone into lining up this once-a-year street fair. Let's demonstrate to all the volunteers who donated their time to organize this event how much we appreciate their efforts.

Let's all show up on Saturday and make a day of it as we celebrate spring in our mountains.

Back to Archive: 04/25/02.