Trail Days in Damascus, Virginia

'Friendliest town on the A. T.' rolls out the carpet (and gorp!)
by Daved E. Sandefur
Driving to Damascus is a simple matter on most days,
but not today, June 7, 1997.The two-lane road from
Abingdon, Virginia, rises and falls, then winds its way into
a long valley. This time of year, the mountains are a rich,
mottled green, and, in the distance, there is an occasional
glimpse of White Top Mountain. The sun is shining; the air
is fresh. It is a day to celebrate nature.
.
Today,there is much more traffic than usual. Two
miles from town, it becomes like stop-and-go city traffic in
a small town. Signs indicate there is parking ahead and a
shuttle, or one can jump into the first open parking spot.
Then, leave the car and walk. Walking, even on this warm
day, is perhaps necessary to set the right mood. Walking is
the whole purpose of being here. Damascus is celebrating
the 11th annual Appalachian Trail Days, a weekend
dedicated to those who brave the challenges on the
Appalachian Trail.
Walking into town offers a good opportunity for a case
of culture shock. In a region that prides itself on its conservatism, one sees every conceivable costume imaginable,
even one bearded, tanned hiker in an attractive print
sundress. Country music fills the air at this particular
moment, and the town's park is teeming with people and
lined with tents touting food, crafts, T-shirts, and, of
course, hiking equipment and apparel. One often sees
hugs as veterans of the Trail find others with whom they
shared hiking.
There are hikers everywhere. Most are young, but
among them can be seen a few who have the weathered
faces of veterans of the outdoors, and they are usually at
the center of a group listening to tales of the Trail.
Sitting at a picnic table in front of the Methodist hostel
that has served as a welcome haven for many hikers over
the years, one hiker is a good example of the spirit of the
hiker and the town. Mary Ann Yarboro, now known on the
Trail as "Meltdown" after her tent burned a week before,

left the Trail to come into Damascus for Trail Days and is
waiting to get a ride back to where she left off.
"Damascus is what it's all about. You come here to see
all the people that you started out with that are already
ahead of you and those that are behind you, and it's like
family meeting family," she said. Sitting with her is Henry
Farmer, known in 1990when he thru-hiked as "Esau".
After 42 years with American Electric Power, he retired
and spent one January reading about the Trail. Deciding
this was a challenge he couldn't resist, he thru-hiked the
trail in 138 days. Now, he comes back to Damascus during
Trail Days to see those who are on the Trail and, occasionally, someone he knew from the 1990 hike.
When asked why Damascus goes to the lengths it does
for Trail Days, he responded, "I see it from a hiker's
perspective and from a visitor's perspective. I know that
they're extremely hiker-friendly here. They like hikers, and
that's quite obvious from the fact that the Methodist
church is willing to maintain this hostel. The townspeople
bend over backwards to help hikers. I know the hikers
hold a special place in their heart for Damascus."
"In 1990," he continued, "on my first thru-hike, when I
came into Damascus, I had never been here before. I was
dirty and grubby, and I asked one of the locals where the
hostel was. He said, 'Well, just come here. I'll just take you
there.' He walked up the road with me. There is a magic
about Damascus."
The hikers describe the others with whom they share
the Trail as family, and perhaps that is the connection that i
comes with Damascus. In a town where family is important, where everyone knows one another, and the people
share the identity that comes with a small town, that sense
of family connects them to the family of hikers that pass
through the town every year. The family reunion is Trail
Days.
This year saw the largest turnout ever for the three-

The parade down Main

Street (the Appalachian
Trail).
Damascus Trail Days photos
by Laurie and Dick Potteiger.
September/October 1997

Higrilonds Festival hod

humble beginning but now
is loodlnq S()Utt,80St festival
l

By

E.

DAVED

SANDfFUR

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on the venues

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the festival, and all are volunteers,

It Is lrorn

here

that one

of the

largest Crall and Antique shows

on the east coast takes place, True
to its rounding, this year will ellcompass a WIde array of crafts.
visual art s. music. and activltlus
from the region and around UH~
world.
The Highlands Festival hegan
forty-rune
y(~ars ago as the hr.unchild of Hobert Porterfield,
founder
of the Hnrt er 111('(1tn', I le wanted
to sholVcr!'w Illl' ralent thai rxtsf s
In the rCllioll of sout hcnst Viq(jllia,
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ex((~ncling as far west as illinols. In
add it ion arc 8rt exhibits, photography r-xl ubu and competitions, writand a

short story corn-

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what at Ilrst
was D SIH)\"(,~lS(,
of rctional talent.
the Ilil.!ldanr!', F('sU\'~tI now reaches
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outgrown the small area it once oc-.

cu pied, Though
the dealers
and
craftsmen are centered at the Barter
Green under immense tents, activtties and displays will aJso be held
downtown, at nearby churches, and
at the community-college
on the edge
of town, Shuttles are coordinated to
insure lhal everyone Is able to get to
where they want to be with the least
trouble,
Though the festival has taken on
an international
flavor. its founding
iO!'<1 Is still

alive

and

well, Walking

through the antique market and seeing the Items from the past arid
watching
the craftsmen
working
wood, or metal. or the \-";0 rk s of art
that they have sewn, seeing apple
butter being made, and many other
craft s tha t wcrr once a part of daily
lite ill the mountains
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Henderson Racing Back

on Track
For most fans, finishing 33rd
in a race wouldn't seem like much to
cheer about, but those at Henderson
Motorsports didn't agree.
"We're really excited about
this," Debbie Henderson- Creasy said
on Monday. Crew Chief Ron Denton
echoed that sentiment in an interview
at the Abingdon shop.
"We're really excited about
the way the team performed, about the
way everybody performed in their first
race," Denton said, sitting at a wooden
table with Blue and red race cars
sitting in the background, "This was
really the first Busch race, but
everybody got together, and this was
Kelly's first race, this was my first
Busch race. Bristol is a tough race
track, but we made the race, we ran
really good, nobody passed us, we did
the passing."
Denton drove the Food
Country in heavy Bristol traffic all day
and had worked up to 12thplace before
fate took a hand. Going into turn 1 on
lap 150 the #75 car went up high,
wiggled momentarily, looking like
Kelly might just be able to reign her in,
then into the outside wall.
He
continued around on the high side
. trying to get into the pits, but heavy
traffic prevented him from diving
down until NASCAR threw the
caution.
"Everything looked real good
until the pedal hung up on him,"
Denton explained, "Kelly had called in
and said the accelerator had started
getting lazy, wasn't following his foot
back as fast as he thought it should and
he had started easing up going into the
corners. Then that last time going into
one and two, it stuck. He couldn't get

his foot under it, so he put both feet on

the brake and reached over to try to cut
the switch off, but he couldn't reach it."
"We still haven't -quite set up a
Kelly Denton car," Ron added wryly.
Damage to the "A" frame, ball
joints and rear end put the team behind
the wall until lap 221. They came out
determined to put laps in and when the
checkered fell, they had finished 33'rl.
"Before that happened,
we had a top five car. We were running
with cars in the top five, so who knows.
We made some mistakes, but we noted
them and now we're getting ready for
rh"rlottp "

"These guys worked like dogs

on the car yesterday and this morning we
changed everytI1ingon the car. To come
in with a victory here is just great." An
exuberant Sadler said after the race. He
explained that a friend had given him a
silver dollar and assured him that if he
sat on it during the race, it would bring
him luck.
"It was in the seat of my car,
and it is going to be in every seat from
here on out." Sadler said.
Finishing close behind Sadler
was the Earnhardt #3. This number was
blue and white and the Dale Earnhardt
that was driving was Junior, but in the
closing laps, it seemed that Dale, Jr. was
a chip off the 01' block. In the final
twenty five laps, the Blue and white #3
came charging from seventh and with a
gentle nudge along the way, he fought

BGN Excitement at
BMS
To show off his ex..panded and
improved track, many may have suspected
that Bruton Smith ordered the clear blue
skies and warm temperatures. Probably
not, but race fans took advantage of rare
good weather, flocking to the track in Tshirts and shorts. Fans that came to see
exciting racing were not to be
disappointed.
Busch Grand National racing
continues to grow in popularity, and the
reason was clear on Saturday as fans were
treated to an action packed show in the
Moore's Snack 250.
Emporia,
Virginia native,
Elliott Sadler would take his fourth career
win in a race that was marred by only nine
caution flags. The twenty-five year old
Sadler would take the lead on lap 152 and
hold on to the end, taking home $31,335
for the effort.

his way to -a second place finish.

Before the green flag had even fallen,
the younger Earnhardt gave a good
indication of his being a mature driver.
As the cars were going around on the
pace lap, Buckshot Jones in the "00"
car got into the side of the 3 car,
leaving a pattern of black "donuts" in
the paint job. Earnhardt jumped out to
the lead when the green flag waved,
but Jones was close into him the first
ten laps. When the "00" finally got his
nose under Earnhardt, the youngster
wisely backed off and let Buckshot
take the lead.
Jones, who has a history of
being in or conspicuously nearby when