Plans underway for 100th Anniversary of the Two Virginias

May 4—By GREG JORDAN

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BLUEFIELD — Plans are coming together for events this July to celebrate the centennial of an historic symbolic marriage between the city of Bluefield and the town of Bluefield, Va.

One hundred years ago on July 12, 1924 a man named Wingo Yost of Graham, Va., which later became Bluefield, Va. married Emma Smith of Bluefield in a marriage between the two communities separated by a state line. The couple actually married and stayed together until Wingo Yost's death 60 years later, according to earlier reports in the Bluefield Daily Telegraph.

Felicia Holcomb, executive assistant to the city manager, briefed the Bluefield Board of Directors last week about plans for the 100th Celebration of the Two Virginias this July.

Holcomb said she has been working with Omi Oakes of the town of Bluefield, Va. on arranging the festivities. She said that the plans were still tentative at that point.

"We've been together planning events. It's going to be the week of July 6 through July 14," she told the board of directors.

Several events are being planned to start off the centennial celebration on July 6.

"We're going to do a big kick-off at Bluefield City Park with a 5K (Run), we're going to have music, bouncy houses, vendors. We want to do an animal show. We're going to have food trucks, an ice cream truck, lemonade stand and we want to do a 100-car car show."

A parade would conclude the first day's celebrations at 3 p.m.

Another plan is to have a 100-voice choir perform at the Granada Theater in downtown Bluefield on July 7.

Choirs from area churches in Virginia and West Virginia will be invited to participate, Holcomb said. A movie night at the Granada would follow on July 8.

Other events being organized for the celebration include a Read Across the Bluefields contest in which children going to local libraries will be challenged to see which one can get 100 books read. A 100-Year Swim at Harmony Acres, Bluefield State University students presenting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) experiments for local children. Another plan is to work with the Graham Historical Society to create a time capsule that could be exhumed in 2124.

A reception on July 13 at Bluefield City Park and Bluefield Ridge Runner Baseball game on July 14 would be part of the festivities.

"As more happens, I will make you more aware, but this is what we have planned so far," Holcomb said.

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com

Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com