Blue Ridge Folklife Festival
I think my favorite event had to be the coon-dog swimming races. But close behind were the quilting exhibit and the rockabilly display. I'm referring to the annual Blue Ridge Folklife Festival, held each Oct., for only one day, on the campus of Ferrum College. The college is located in the little town of Ferrum, about 10 miles west of Rocky Mount, Virginia, south of Roanoke, in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains. This event was the 36th annual fest. For some reason, I had never been to this fest before. I don't think it gets as much publicity as it deserves, and it is only one day a year, running 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Last year, I learned about it in the early afternoon. Driving time was 90 minutes, so I couldn't make it. The campus is really nice, with a mix of modern and traditional brick buildings, nestled in the rolling hills and mountains of the region. I'll read up on it more, but I'd say the campus serves primarily those in this region of the state. They have dormitories, so this is not totally a commuter college.At the center of the campus is a large pond, maybe 100 yards by 200 yards. And it is at that pond that they held the coon-dog races. Here's how the coon-dog races work: A lengthy "clothesline" pulley device is set up so it goes across the 100-yard-length stretch of pond. Imagine the clotheslines that women in NYC used in their high-rises before the advent of clothes dryers. The clothesline, like a giant rope fan belt with a wheel at each end, has a stinky, old raccoon pelt attached to it, so the race coordinator can drag the pelt across the pond, on the surface of the water, as if a raccoon were swimming. The 5-to-6 dog contestants are kept in their individual caged stalls at the edge of the pond until the start of the race. The coordinator has waved that stinky, old pelt under their noses to get them all excited. After the pelt has "swum" about 10 yards in the water, the dogs are released. They immediately jump into the water and...