TODAY'S column shares details on a festival to benefit Reedville's "Save the Stack" effort and reader responses to a recent trip column.
Woodstack 2 Music Fair is what the Save the Stack organizers are calling the second annual concert and celebration that one organizer described as "a small-town celebration on steroids."
It kicks off next Saturday, Aug. 27, at noon at Buzzard's Point Marina on Cockrell's Creek near Reedville, and features blues and rock tunes from Steve Bassett and a slate of local bands throughout the day.
Also on tap: a volleyball tournament, boat taxis for rides on the water and a wide selection of food and drink.
A limited number of tickets are available in advance for $15, with tickets at the gate going for $20. Children under 12 get in free; tickets can be purchased by calling the Reedville Fishermen's Museum at 804/453-6529.
Proceeds from the day go to the effort to restore and preserve a tall, brick stack that has become a monument to the menhaden industry in the Chesapeake Bay.
The 130-foot-tall stack was built around 1902 and has served as a navigational landmark for working watermen and boaters and as a welcoming beacon to the historic town of Reedville and surrounding areas.
The stack was built by the Morris-Fisher Co. as part of its fish processing plant.
A few years back, a group of folks in and around Reedville began an effort to restore the stack, which was slowly crumbling after having been struck by lightning.
A target of $250,000 was set, and fundraising efforts of different kinds have enabled the group to complete the rebuilding and restoration, shore up and landscape the area around the stack's base, and arrange for large plaques to honor families and businesses that have contributed.
Woodstack 1 was held last year and, along with another musical event at Christmas, helped supplement a general fund drive. Organizers hope that this year's music fair will put the effort over the top.
"We see this as a way to cap off the fundraising project and put a nice bow on it," said Becky Haynie, one of the organizers.
Read the full article at fredericksburg.com
Read more about efforts to preserve the Reedville smokestack:
Fredericksburg.com: 'Save the Stack' drive starts