Published: July 05, 2008 10:55 pm      

Full slate of activities planned for auto fair

With carnival rides, food, vendors, live entertainment, cars galore and activities scheduled at two different venues, the first day of the upcoming Friends of Coal Auto Fair is expected to give the perfect start to what event organizers promise will be a fun-filled weekend.

The event, which is in its fifth year, will take place July 18-20 at the Beckley-Raleigh County YMCA Paul Cline Memorial Youth Sports Complex on Grey Flats Road.

Activities will kick off at 10 a.m. July 18 with vehicle registration.

Also included in opening-day activities will be specialty vendors, a flea market, car corral, swap meet, children’s games and arts and crafts.

A carnival, courtesy of Meyers Entertainment, will start at 5 p.m. and run until 9 p.m., with rides and games for both adults and children.

While the carnival fun continues, at 6 p.m. the events will shift locations when vehicles line up for a cruise into uptown Beckley to participate in Beckley’s Cruise-in Car and Bike Show, sponsored by Beckley Renaissance and Friends of Coal.

Cars will be led by a police escort from the soccer complex to Neville Street with a second cruise-in scheduled for 7 p.m.

While visitors for Friday night’s festivities will have a chance to take a stroll down memory lane, viewing vehicles both new and old, both the YMCA’s Jay Rist and Jill Moorefield, director of Beckley Renaissance, say guests will also enjoy food vendors and live entertainment provided by the a capella group, One-A-Chord, and Ann Louise Sumpter, local winner of the 2007 Colgate Country Showdown.

Sumpter is scheduled to perform at the gazebo at the James Word Memorial Park from 7:15 to 8 p.m. and One-A-Chord will stroll through the crowd before taking the stage at 8 p.m.

“One-A-Chord is an awesome group that performs all oldies from those drive-in days,” Rist said.

The night will cap off with a 9 p.m. awards show where a unique variety of awards will be given in categories, including Mayor’s Choice, Miners’ Choice (selected by the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine) and awards decided by the Beckley Fire and Police departments.

A People’s Choice award, as well as a Kids’ Choice selection, will also be given.

“It’s a way of getting everyone involved,” Moorefield said. “We hope everyone comes out. We have some really good entertainment lined up and the cars are always a treat to see.”

Rist says Friday’s activities are a great way to rev up for the rest of the weekend’s activities back at the sports complex.

“Friday is the perfect primer for Saturday,” Rist said of the busiest day of the weekend, which has been dubbed “Friends of Coal Day.”

“We’re honoring all past and active coal miners for what they’ve done in helping us keep the lights on. The work they do is difficult and also very dangerous, and this is a good opportunity for the city and community to come out and show their appreciation.

“This event is an excellent example of its (Friends of Coal’s) efforts to make this state a better place to work, live and play.”

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Admission to the events at the sports complex are $2 per person per day. There is no admission for the uptown Beckley show.

Prices for the carnival, which will run all three days, are $15 per person Friday and $17 per person Saturday and Sunday. Admission includes unlimited rides.

Also, tickets for the July 19 Randy Travis/Taylor Made concert are on sale at area Little General Stores and the Beckley-Raleigh County YMCA. Prices are $15 for adult and $10 for students ages 7 to 18. Children under 7 will be admitted free.

All proceeds from the show go toward offsetting the cost of operating the youth sports complex.

Additional information on the auto fair can be found by visiting www. friendsofcoalautofair.com.

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Rist says the event would not be possible without Friends of Coal and the following sponsors:

Massey Energy Co., Cecil I. Walker Machinery, Fairchild International, Terex SHM, Cline Resources Bluestone Coal Corp., Ramey Ford, Riverton Coal Production Inc., Brooks Run Mining, WV Coal Recovery, Petroleum Products Inc., Marshall Miller & Associates, Nell Jean Enterprises Inc., Patience Inc., Pritchard Mining Co. Inc., Bucyrus America Inc., Eastern Arrow Corp., Coal News, Summit Resources Inc., Little General Stores, Vecellio & Grogan Inc., Brody Mining, LLC/Selah Corp./CK Coal Mining, Eagle Coal Sales Inc./Diamond Trucking, West Virginia Coal Association, Phillips Machine Service, Southern West Virginia Asphalt, Gould’s Electric, LAW River Co. LLC, TWP Enterprises, City of Beckley, Newtown Energy Inc., Kanawha Eagle Coal LLC, Delta Electric, NARCO Inc., Raleigh General Hospital, ICG Beckley LLC, Patriot Coal Corp. and Concept Mining Inc.

— E-mail:

mjames@register-herald.com