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Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival

Monday, May 02, 2005

The Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival is one of the oldest civic celebrations in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Winchester and the surrounding towns and counties in Virginia and West Virginia were settled before the French and Indian War. By the time of the Civil War, the town was considered "old" by soldiers who fought here.

When the Festival started in the 1920s, floats with spoked wagon wheels and celebrities in Model T Fords were the norm. Now we find ourselves carrying our Festival forward into the new millennium. The Festival and the people of the area share two great sources of pride: our past and our future! The Festival is a leader in the development of statewide organizations for festivals and special events and has become one of the premier events in the eastern United States.

Each spring the citizens of Winchester unite in preparing for the year's Festival, there is a special emphasis placed on beautification and making the city a model for spectators and visitors to enjoy. When festival days arrive Winchester is draped in bunting of pink, white and green as far as the eyes can see. (source: http://www.thebloom.com/)

It was really fun to see the Apple Blossom Parade last Saturday in Winchester, VA. Since the city is not too far from the place where we live, it is one of our favorites to visit on weekend to get fresh fruits at farm market and cheap stuffs from the auction, to enjoy the mountain's view, or just to dine out sometimes.

I think this parade was sort of exclusive because most of the celebrity who joined the parade were politician instead of famous actress or actors like in any other big parade. I saw congress man, senator, major, colonel, councillor, etc. Some actors who I recognized well in this parade are Larry Hagman (famous as "J. R. Ewing" of Dallas), Richard Kiel (best known for playing the menacing, steel-toothed "Jaws" opposite Roger Moore in the James Bond), and Lynn Anderson (country music legend). Some other well-known figures are Ken Mease from sports broadcasting, Don Shula from National Football League history as Head Coach of the Dolphins, etc.

The point why I brought up this festival's subject is here, in USA, I found many kind of festivals to celebrate for which some of them are related to the nature, for instance Cherry Blossoms Festival, Apple Blossoms Festival, Strawberry Festivals, and the others are related to history such as St. Patrick's Parade, Thanksgiving Parade, Christmas Parade, Halloween festival, and so on. The bottom line is I enjoy each of them, whatever you name is, as long as it's fun and makes me happy.

More pictures (click here) ...