Dave’s Drive-Through Weekend
Kids, step away from the iRobot Roomba and the box wine, it's time to bring the Mother's Day 'A' game.
Believe it or not Mother's Day is Sunday, May 14, and you can have it your way by celebrating it wild, mild or somewhere in between.
Here are a bunch of fun things to go do with mom this weekend to make memories and not a mess.
Roller Coasting With Mom
The 26-acre Camden Park just opened last weekend with its more than 30 rides and attractions.
West Virginia's only amusement park shows the love for moms on Sunday as they get in for $1 when someone else in the fam pays regular admission.
The Park is now open 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. weekends in May. Go online at http://www.camdenpark.com/ for more info about the park which has been a Tri-State favorite since 1903.
A New Vineyard in the Village
A new Barboursville wine fest, is Vineyard in the Village, a celebration of food, wine and art that takes place from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday, May 13 at the Nancy Cartmill Gardens, on Main Street in downtown Barboursville.
Ticket entry will include wine sampling from various regions around the world. Local food vendors will be on site, offering samples from their menu. The fest will also feature craft beer, local artisans that specialize in pottery, jewelry, portraits, and other household decor. Live music will be played from the Gazebo throughout the evening including a performance by WV Music Hall of Fame member and jazz great, Bob Thompson as well as Sasha Colette and Danny Miller. Tickets are limited at $35 to $50. Go online at https://www.facebook.com/BvilleCVB/ to find out more info.
A Glass Party With Mom
Head over to the family-owned Blenko Glass in Milton, where they are hosting their first music fest and glass fest called Glassapalooza that runs Friday and Saturday, May 12-13 at the factory.
The event, which features food on site, glass blowing classes, outdoor live music and more, kicks off Friday with a series of classes throughout the day (call 304-743-9081 to sign up and check on space) to make everything from vases and windchimes to suncatchers.
Friday's music runs from 6 to 9 p.m. with Holly and the Guy and Keyamo.
On Saturday, music runs from noon to 10 p.m. with a full plate of original indie music including Ally Fletcher, The Dead Frets, Zach McGlone, Aliens in the Attic, Dub V Funk, Emily Davis, Cutler Station, Jeremy Short, Holly & the Guy and The Dividends.
Admission to the grounds is free. Feel free to bring a blanket or chair for sitting on the hillside. Go online at http://www.blenko.com/ for more info.
My music picks this week ... the Paramount Arts Center in Ashland hosts the last night of Michael W. Smith's Revolution tour, at 6 p.m. Sunday, May 14.
The Kenova native and soon to be West Virginia Music Hall of Fame member has sold more than 18 million records and chalked up 31 No. 1 Christian music hits including such songs as "Place In This World," "I Will Be Here For You," "Healing Rain," "Above All," "Friends" and many more.
Come out at 6 p.m. Sunday, May 14 to the historic Paramount Arts Center, where the three-time Grammy Award winner and multi-platinum recording artist brings his The Revolution Tour, featuring with Love & The Outcome and Nathan Tasker.
Presented by Compassion International, the spring tour traveled to approximately 20 cities across the U.S. before wrapping up in Ashland.
Go online at paramountartscenter.com or call 606-324-0007 for tickets which are $22 to $36.50.
And in Charleston ... just camp out at the Clay Center, they have three nights of music with The Sound Check Sessions Friday night with Kick The Robot and The Horse Traders, a country themed West Virginia Symphony Orchestra concert on Saturday night and then a bluegrass-themed Mountain Stage on Sunday.
This time of year the grass grows uncontrollably, and even indoors. Mountain Stage themes out an amazing night of world-class bluegrass as they feature The Del McCoury Band (featuring two Tri-State natives, Jason Carter and Alan Bartram), the ground-breaking husband and wife banjo team of Bela Fleck Abigail Washburn, as well as some mountain flavor with Malcolm Holcombe and Black Mountain Bluegrass Boys. Show time is 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 14 at the Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences of West Virginia. Get tickets at mountainstage.org
Buckle Up Barboursville It's Rodeo Time
Looking for some old-school Friday night family fun? Kick up some dust by making tracks out to Barboursville Park where the Parks and Rec department is welcoming in H&H Ranch and Rodeo which is bringing its show out to the park starting at 7 p.m. Friday, May 12.
The first rodeo held at the park since 1999, H&H's Friday night (held rain or shine) will kick off the five-month Barboursville Buckle Series.
Sponsored by Cabell Huntington Hospital, the events will feature bull riding, team roping, steer riding, barrel racing, calf roping, steer wrestling, cowgirl break away, and mutton busting. There will also be a pig roast and full concessions.
Admission is $10, $5 for kids 6-16 and free for children 5 and under. Parking will be available at the soccer field and tractor rides available for getting to the ring.
Eyes Glowing In the Heart of Downtown
The March released WVU Press compilation," Eyes Glowing at the Edge of the Woods: Fiction and Poetry from West Virginia, (Edited by Laura Long and Doug Van Gundy, features 63 fiction writers and poets who
delve deep into the many senses of place that modern West Virginia, the
core of Appalachia, inspires.
Come out and celebrate the new 336-page book at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 13 at Empire Books and News at Pullman Square, with the editor Doug Van Gundy, and a host of the authors, reading passages from the book. Just a few of the award-winning writers who will be reading Saturday include: Marie Manilla, Mary Moore, Laura Bentley, Ace Boggess, Rajia Hassib, Andrea Fekete, Vincent Triboli, Doug Van Gundy, and John Van Kirk. Go online at https://www.facebook.com/Empire-Books-News-135800697763/ to keep up Empire's bevy of local author events. Go online at http://wvupressonline.com/node/665 to find out more about "Eyes Glowing."
My Road Trip Pick this weekend: My road-trip pick this weekend is to head upstream to Parkersburg, where Point Park
Marketplace is hosting Undercurrent Festival from 2 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday, May 13. Lineup include a
wide range of a couple dozen eclectic indie music acts from all over the region including Qiet, Angela Perley & The Howlin' Moons, The Horse Traders, Micah Kesselring, The Kind Thieves, Alasha Al-Qudwah and many more. Go online at https://holdthenote.ticketspice.com/undercurrent-2017 for tickets.
For craft beer fans, the place to be this weekend is Charleston for Foam at the Dome, which runs 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday, with over 50 breweries serving up more than 200 styles of beers with food from 10 restaurants, merch from 20 artisans and live music as well. Go online at www.foamcwv.com to buy tickets which are $35 general admission, $60 VIP, and $20 for designated drivers.
Proceeds to to Charleston's Main Street program. Go online at charlestonmainstreets.webconnex.com for more info on their programs, including Saturday's (the Old Colony Realtors East End Yard Sale) that takes place before Foam at the Dome.
Dave Lavender is the author of "Dave Trippin: A Daytripper's Guide to the Appalachian Galaxy of Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia" and his new travel book, "Mo' Dave Trippin" now for sale on Amazon.com and through CreateSpace.
Check out the new book at the Red Caboose, Empire Books and News, and now at Camden Park. Lavender covers regional travel. Follow The Herald-Dispatch reporter on Facebook and Twitter @DaveLavenderHD.