Benedum Festival: Days of Celebration About to Begin
By Julie Perine on July 10, 2012
Yes. It’s a festival, complete with carnival games and rides, live entertainment and even fireworks. But this weekend’s annual Benedum Festival is also a celebration of community history and pride.
“This is a town that’s still growing, but small enough that people are friendly and helpful,” said Harry Nehrig.
Nehrig, along with Mary Ellen Depue and Shirlene Isabella, have been chosen as his year’s Benedum Fellows. Upcoming Bridgeport High School freshman, Savannah Blythe, is the very first recipient of the festival’s Youth Service Award.
Those individuals will be honored at the annual Benedum Fellows Banquet, to be held 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Bridgeport Conference Center. Each of the honorees will address the crowd. Also delivering words to the audience is keynote speaker, West Virginia Athletic Director Oliver Luck.
Thursday night’s dinner kicks off a series of events, all to honor Michael Late Benedum and his philanthropic spirit. Benedum contributed not only financial resources, but also foresight to help build the City of Bridgeport into the city it is known today. Among establishments for which he is credited are the Benedum Civic Center, the Bridgeport United Methodist Church and the Bridgeport Cemetery.
At 4 p.m. Friday, the festival gets into full swing at Bridgeport City Park – activities to include Gambill Amusement attractions, Cartoon Headquarters inflatables and bingo, sponsored by the GFWC Women’s Club of Bridgeport. The stage opens with a 5 p.m. performance of Stacy Grubb, followed by a 7 p.m. show featuring Ryan Cain & The Ables.
The fun continues Saturday with a sunrise start. At 7 a.m., the annual Bridgeport Kiwanis Fishing Derby at Hinkle & Deegan Lakes kicks off action, followed by an 8:30 a.m. Benedum Festival 5K, sponsored by Bridgeport Physical Therapy and benefiting Bridgeport Little League’s Challenger Division.
A 9 a.m. pet parade and 10 a.m. chicken roast, hosted by The Bridgeport Bark Park and Bridgeport Lions Club, respectively, will pave the way for a noon opening of Cartoon Headquarters Fun Zone, Gambill Amusement attractions and bingo. At 4 p.m., a car show – sponsored by Glotfelty Tire – and a cupcake baking contest – judged by 2012 Benedum Fair Queen Allison Shaner - will get underway.
Also at 4 p.m., the stage show begins with Jocelyn Stout, followed by Bowyer Drive at 5 p.m. and The Chris Hendricks Band at 7 p.m.
“I think the musical line up this year offers something for everyone,” said Festival Chair Tim Brady. “We’ve got rock, country, bluegrass and rockabilly. We’ve got local and regional artists, as well as a group from North Carolina that has been featured in NHL arenas.”
Brady’s latter reference is about The Chris Hendricks Band, which includes BHS alumnus, Aaron Gallagher.
Carnival rides are making a comeback appearance, Brady said.
“We’ve had a lot of feedback that people missed those,” he said. “We do listen to the community when it comes to what they want to see. Our committee takes the approach that this truly the community’s festival.”
Drawing the festival to a close will be Saturday night fireworks, which will commence at dark as The Chris Hendricks Band winds down its live performance.
“With the 4th of July being mid-week, I noticed that fireworks were a bit hit-and-miss around the area,” Brady said. “Let me assure you that we’ll not only have fireworks on Saturday night, but they’ll be as good as any you’ll see this year.”
Making various appearances throughout the festival will be Benedum Festival Royalty: Jameson Trippett (Baby Queen), Ericka Trader (Tiny Queen), Hannah Wayne (Little Queen), Taylor Osbourne (Miss Queen), Samantha Weaver (Pre-Teen Queen), Katie Scarlett Rose (Teen Queen) and Allison Shaner (Queen).
The young ladies were selected during the Benedum Festival Pageant, held recently in Bridgeport, under the direction of Pageant Director Judi Giffen.
“I can’t say enough about the job that Judi Giffen does in coordinating the pageant,” Brady said. “Her job is year-round. She works hard to make sure that the Benedum Festival queens not only represent the festival, but the whole Bridgeport community throughout the year.”
For more information about the festival, including directions to various sites, call (304) 842-8240.
Although it sounds great that a carnival is coming back, I hope it's a full carnival. The last few years I took my children to the carnival part, I bought them ride all day wrist bands and then there were only 2 rickety looking rides there for kids bigger than 5. The lines were unbelievably long, well, believable when you only have 2 and hundreds of kids wanted to ride those, and the rides did not look safe at all. I hope it's better this time around.
Posted by Debora Sambol
Jul. 10, 2012 at 10:36 AM EST
Leave a Comment
Log in or create an account to post a comment.