Stephens City's Newtown Heritage Festival celebrated 32nd year

Stephens City’s biggest annual event got underway Memorial Day weekend, May 24-25. The 2024 Newtown Heritage Festival (NHF) entertained all who attended. This Lower Shenandoah Valley event was all about fellowship. There was something for everyone – live music, appetizing food vendors, broad and diverse craft tents, free guided history trolley tours, main street museums, 5K race sponsored by Heroes on the River to benefit combat veterans, classic car and truck show, pie eating contest, selfie garden, chess tournament, main street parade and fireworks.

Families schedule reunions around the event each year, old friends are back in town and children are mesmerized by the live experience. This two-day event was all about promoting a hometown experience. Come Saturday afternoon, Newtown Commons evolved into an electrifying fun packed, family filled get-together. It is what makes small towns like Stephens City, the heart and soul of America.

On Friday May 24, the festival music began at 6:30 pm with perennial favorite “Souled Out” performing on the Newtown Stage (5165 Main Street). Souled Out is a Funk/R&B/Soul/Rock band, from Winchester. This high-energy dance band encourages fans to dance the night away with a long list of tunes guaranteed to satisfy all age groups.

Saturday May 25, kicked-off at 8 am with a Veteran’s Day Observance on the Memorial -- Old Stephens City School. Mayor Mike Diaz provided the Welcome and the Closing Remarks. The featured speaker was Andrew Michael Chancey, a West Virginia native, who serves as the Veteran Outreach Program Specialist at the Martinsburg Vet Center, connecting Veterans and their families with crucial resources both within and outside the VA system. The Memorial Observance is growing in attendance each year. This year the crowd was estimated to be between thirty-five and fifty people.

BSA Troop 15 provided the Posting of Colors and Wreath-Laying. United States Army Chorus sang ‘Eternal Father,’ and VFW Post 2123 Honor Guard delivered a Three-Volley Rifle Salute and Taps. SCUMC pastor Bertina Westley offered the Invocation.

The Classic Car & Truck show was back for its 3rd year on Saturday May 25, 2024. Festival officials registered thirty-four cars, and trucks which cruised into the old Stephen City School campus (5516 Main Street) for the annual gala event, which ran from 9 am to 1 pm. Best of Show winner was Mr. Richard Houser from Stephens City, an original owner of a 1963 Chevrolet 2 door Impala. The Mayor’s Choice Award went to 91-year-old Stuart Spiker, from Martinsburg, WV with a 1966 Ford Fairlane. Spiker recently completed a total restoration spending over three years on the project. A total of thirteen trophies were awarded.

Twenty-seven craft vendors were on site hawking hand-made jewelry, basket making, wreaths, flower arrangements, crocheted items, prints, wooden toys, trivets, wood carved walking sticks, pens and wine bottle stoppers, face painting, balloon artistry, and decoupage inspired items.

The 2024 Grandville Hollow Pottery commemorative is a special tear drop vase to pay homage to Stephens City’s historic wagon making industry, and to serve as a lasting memory of our thirty-second festival. The commemorative included festival logo and date and was sold at the Information Tent located on the Commons.

Eight food vendors served customers traditional festival menu items such as kettle korn, street tacos and wraps, unique custom pickles, quesadillas, wood fired pizza, creative hot dogs, citrus drinks and funnel cakes, cotton candy and fried sweets.

For in depth Stephens City history, folks took a free guided history trolley tour titled “Serious about Business.” Rick Kriebel, Stone House Foundation, Manager of Collections and Programs, wrote the incredibly informational tour. He presented at 11:30 am and 4 pm. Lifelong resident Vickie Hollis has personal memories and connections to many of these businesses, and she presented at 10 am. All the trolley tours sold out quickly.

The exciting and extensive seven-stop history tour included:

The Flower Center located at the intersection of Main and Fairfax streets is Stephens City's oldest surviving commercial building. Successful businesses have occupied this space for almost 300 years.

Annie’s Millinery: a women’s clothing store and general store operated by a woman in the early twentieth century.

The Lemley Building: after witnessing the end of an era, it became defined by one of the most industrious people this town has ever seen.

Clem’s Garage: a 4th generation family business for vehicle repair, 24-hour towing, and heavy-duty towing that has stayed in the family for seventy-nine years.

High Point: this truck stop is the oldest business in town that has been in continuous operation. It is so old we do not know exactly when it started!

Mudville: it is hard to believe now, but an entire industrial district, train station, and commercial hub for Stephens City once thrived here from the 1870s until the transfer of commerce from trains to trucks.

Commercial Press: starting with a dream and a 1,110-mile truck ride, this print shop has been around for fifty-four years.

Open Museums, New Exhibits

There also were three museums open throughout the town from 10 am - 4 pm. The Tavern building at 5408 Main Street houses exhibits of local craftsmanship, the Civil War and early European and African American history. The Wagon exhibit at 5516 Main Street focuses on the local wagon making trade and tools of the early 1800's. The Steele & Bro Store at 5353 Main Street showcases items that were available for purchase during the early twentieth century.

New exhibits were presented at the Tavern building and the Steele & Bro Store. The Tavern displayed two eighteenth century stove plates made in the nearby Marlboro Furnace and Iron Works. They depicted a comedic marriage scene and have recently been cleaned up and restored by a professional conservator. The Steele & Bro Store had an exhibit dedicated to Venables, a family grocer that operated for most of the twentieth century (1893-1976).

Museum Hamlet

Finally, the Newtown History Center opened its property for other cultural organizations to set up booths. The Patsy Cline House, Clarke County Heritage Association, and Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, and Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation participated.

From 10 am to Noon, the Rev. Janice Marie E. Lowden provided historical tours of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church at 810 Fairfax Street. Organized in 1765 by sixteen German immigrants who migrated to the Shenandoah Valley from Pennsylvania, the church members now worship in the sanctuary built in 1906, and it is the third Lutheran worship space utilized by the congregation.

The Shenandoah Valley Chess Club sponsored Open Play from 11 am to 1 pm in the Trinity Lutheran Church parking lot. The Shenandoah Valley Chess Club is a vibrant community of chess lovers located in Winchester. Their mission is to promote the game of chess and provide a platform for players to improve their skills, socialize, and engage in friendly competition. The chess club is affiliated with US Chess and Virginia Chess Federations and partner with Handley Regional Library System.

Stephens City Volunteer Fire & Rescue hosted their famous Chicken Barbecue at the Firehouse on Mulberry Street. The event took place from 11:00 am to 1:30 pm and as usual, quickly sold out.

The 2 pm north-south Main Street, one-mile-long parade through the historic district highlights the hometown festival. The parade continuously wowed the crowd with an honor guard, local marching bands, business and church floats, Miss Newtown Pageant winners, dignitaries, boy scouts, civic groups, antique cars, firetrucks, military vehicles, and numerous walking groups. There is an excitement in the air come 2 pm when approximately 2,000 residents’ line both sides of the street and sit on curbs, fences, walls, porches and in lawn chairs, waving, shouting, laughing, and soliciting the attention of parade participants. The parade fosters a sense of affection and joy within our community.

There were more than fifty entries this year including a resounding performance by the award winning Sherando High School Marching Band. Lions Club sponsored plaques were awarded for Adrian O’Connor Best Display of Heritage, Best in Originality, and Best Overall Appearance. The parade included a Sensory-Free Zone near the start of the parade at the North end of Main Street, near Lantz's Pharmacy.

The music started up again on Saturday at Noon with the “Newtown String Band” at the Newtown Stage. The Lexington band is self-described as Acoustic/Bluegrass/Americana genre. The sweet-picking foursome, played the ‘Music of the Valley.’

This year, the all-day Selfie Garden welcomed you to visit for a memorable collection of Selfies! Standup images and hand-held head cutout boards provided great photo opportunities.

The Stephens City McDonald’s Restaurant sponsored a pie eating contest for both youth and adults at 5 pm on the Commons. Sixteen contestants pre-registered at the Information Tent. Prizes were awarded.

From 3 pm to 5 pm, the festival introduced “Gunner Heathe” and “A Little Too Serious.” Gunner Heathe, a great voice, and Front Royal native, performed a mix of Country/Rock/Alt covers, and his own original music. An Indie/Alt Rock band from Winchester, A Little Too Serious, played their own original songs.

From 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm, the “Chris David Band” took the stage. Chris, from Martinsburg, West Virginia, has a passion to be on the stage. He writes from the heart and about everything surrounding us from the time he was a kid until now. Chris claims he is basically a country boy with music in my soul and I hope everyone enjoys what I am doing and will be doing in the future.

Closing on stage at 7 pm to bring on the night was “Chris Darlington.” Chris Darlington, an independent country music artist, hails from the Eastern Panhandle Region of West Virginia, where his musical roots run as deep as the Red Oaks of the Shenandoah Valley.

The NHF Festival wrapped-up with a totally scintillating fireworks display, to the delight of 2,000 spectators, and sponsored by the Hollis Family Foundation.

A special thanks to NHF Secretary Angela Mohr for pulling all the festival statistics together.