During the week of May 3 through May 10, Tucker County was once more treated to the festivities that make up the Parsons Firemen’s Homecoming! The fun started with the Second Annual PVFD Poker Run on Saturday, May 3 that started at 9 a.m. with registration and breakfast. At 11 a.m. the bikes started out on the run and at 4 p.m. dinner, door prizes and the 50/50 drawing were held.
Patrick Darlington, owner of Performance Motors, in conjunction with the City of Parsons and PRO, the Parsons Revitalization Organization a member of ON TRAC, made it possible for the stage to be available for use throughout the course of the Fireman’s Homecoming. Joyful Noise, a local sound system owned and operated by Ronnie and Ellen Shaffer, provided the expertise and equipment that made hearing all the wonderful music possible.
Wednesday, May 7 the King and Queen’s Coronation was held on the downtown stage. Every contestant raised their own money “a penny a vote” by having raffles, bake sales, going door-to-door, having car washes and doing whatever else they could think of to raise money. A total of $2,421.17 was raised by all the contestants and all money raised went to the fire department toward equipment, fire gear, etc.
The PVFD Ladies Auxiliary decorated the stage beautifully and the appearance of the stage was enhanced because Mary Greenhouse provided some lovely red potted azaleas to be part of the decorations. To get the program off to a wonderful start, Keith McDaniel, one of our talented local musicians, serenaded the audience.
The candidates for queen were six year old Makena Evans, daughter of Ed Evans and Marcy Williams; 10 year old Adrianna Michelle Jones, daughter of Jeffrey A. and Amy M. Jones, grandparents Linda Cooper of Bayard, WV, James Moore of Oakland, MD, Stanley & Bea Jones of Pennsylvania, great grandparents Emegene Moore of Texas Mountain, WV and Harold and Helen Jones of Essex, MD; and 11 year old Autumn Knotts who is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Nestor of Hambleton, WV and Mr. and Mrs. Rick Largesse of Hambleton, WV.
Candidates for the PVFD king were nin year old Hayden Scott Smith, son of Kara and Joseph Uffman, grandparents Willard Ball, Sr., Roy & Lora Jones and Bill & Connie Kellar and five year old Sawyer Kohal Uffman, son of Kara and Joseph Uffman, grandparents Willard Ball, Sr., Roy and Lora Jones, and Bill and Connie Kellar.
The winner of the 2014 PVFD Queen Pageant was Makena Evans and the King was Sawyer Uffman. After the 2014 king and queen were announced, the 2013 PVFD king, Luke Barb, and queen, Brylee Wetzel, came on stage to crown King Sawyer and Queen Makena. The Ladies Auxiliary had overflowing gift bags for all the contestants, so every child participating was a happy winner!
Later that day the band Flatt Wound (as in wound your watch) played their debut show as an official unit. Even though this was the band’s first performance as Flatt Wound, the members have been playing music in this area for decades. Some of the groups various members were in over the years are No One You Know, Hardly Ever, Jumpin’ Tyme and Buck & Company. The band is made up of two families and some long time picking friends.
On Thursday May 8, at 6:30 p.m. the baby parade was held in downtown Parsons. All of the entrants were adorable, but the winners were: first place Emma Thornhill as Bo Peep wearing a dress made by her great – great -grandmother Violet Jones. This same dress has been worn in the baby parade down through the years by Emma’s mom, Emily, as well as her aunts Cammy Nestor and Abby Nestor. Grandmother Jeanie Burns said every time the dress has been worn in a baby parade the wearer was the winner! Second place went to Paityn Clower whose theme was Future Farmers of America. Third place winner was Jenelle Gibley whose theme was Wagon Cowgirl. The winners received cash prizes of $100 for first place, $50 for second place and $25 for third place. However, All of the contestants were winners and provided heart warming entertainment for parade goers!
Thursday evening Ryan Cain and the Ables were on the outdoor stage downtown in the middle of the Gabill Amusements carnival. The band is a high energy rockabilly band from Clarksburg, WV. Formed in 2011, this band plays traditional rockabilly/hillbilly and western swing music
In addition to original songs, a Ryan Cain and the Ables show is a history lesson on the early influences of rock and roll. Equally talented on guitar, standup bass (which Ryan actually STOOD ON at different times during the performance) and piano, Ryan covered music from Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eddie Cochran, Elvis Presley and a whole lot more. His ability to reproduce the vocal styles of various singers was astounding.
IBesides Ryan Cain, the group consists of Matt Eakle on guitar, Evan Jones on electric bass and acoustic guitar and Gary Hamrick on drums. The band kept the crowd entertained with music history, humor and a wide assortment of enjoyable songs Also, toward the end of the show they even played some requests by people in the crowd.
Friday evening at 7 p.m. residents, or natives, of Tucker County were able to sign up to participate in a talent contest. Danny Barkley provided a huge selection of karaoke songs for contestants to choose from. Each contestant had to choose five songs in case they made it all the way through the judging. Judges were D. J. Stout, the choir and band director at Tucker County High School as well as being a talented
Pamela Ruediger
The Parsons Advocate