JARRETT GOODMAN
Staff Writer
The town of Whitwell recently hosted various major Labor Day festivities and events that correlated into a successful turnout for the community.
The idea to bring back major Labor Day events to the community was presented back in February, when town resident Lucas Kilgore felt the community needed more annual activities and events for residents to enjoy, but also events which economically contribute to the town in general. Both him and co-director of the park advisory, Sandra Tenille, collaborated to help schedule all major events but also reach out to different vendors and prospective volunteers interested in participating in all the festivities.
All Labor Day festivities took place at Whitwell City Park, where vendors, visitors, and volunteers alike gathered in celebration of the Labor Day holiday throughout a four-day period. The four-day celebration kicked off with the Movie in the Park event on Friday, August 29, with an evening showing of George Lucas’ 1973 film, American Graffitti.
The following day, the first ever Labor Day Car Show was hosted , where collectors of various classic and newer modeled vehicles gathered together for all to see. Two participants of the event were Keith Griffith and Corky Childs, both of whom presented their rides for visitors to see. Griffith’s collection consisted of a 1992 Chevrolet Silverado, as well as a 1988 LX Fox Body and 2011 GT Ford Mustangs. Child’s sole vehicle, meanwhile, was a 1957 model Chevrolet Bel-Air, complete with a 356 engine in addition to all mechanical amenities such as built in power brakes and power steering installed to the vehicle. Numerous vendors including Straight to the Stomach, Chilly Bone’s, Leslie’s Luscious Treats and 2Moma Food Truck were in attendance providing food and treats galore, while Hudson Harvest, Pearls Masons Company and Southern Lee Sunflower also attended the car show to promote their wares to visitors.
“I wanted to make sure we got a car show, the burnout contest up here and the mud bog. Just stuff to draw in all kinds of different people,” said Kilgore.
Labor Day itself served as the community’s largest conglomerate of festivities, where the Labor Day Parade made a major return after being absent for many years. Hundreds from around the community and beyond gathered to watch as various policemen, firemen, school teams and businesses formed a large-scale line to wave and pass out different candies to on-looking spectators. The festivities were later followed by the burnout contest and mud bog, in addition to a Cake Walk event and the Bark in the Park Pooch Parade. The Pooch Parade was dedicated to both dog and dog-owners, where prizes were awarded to different dogs of the “largest dog”, “smallest dog”, “best dressed”, and “match your pet” categories.
The four-day event concluded with fireworks being shot off in the evening hours, capping off the major return of a bygone collection of Labor Day festivities for the Whitwell community, in addition to Marion County as a whole.