The Bloom is on its way
April 12th, 2008You can’t live in the Shenandoah Valley without having some knowledge of the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival.
Locals probably have memories of going to the festival as children and they probably have taken their children and maybe even grandchildren to this 81-year-old tradition that takes place each May in Winchester.
The Apple Blossom Festival has many parts. Events this year start in April with the Old Town Wine and Fine Arts Festival on the Loudoun Street Pedestrian Mall Friday and Saturday, April 25-26.
The carnival starts on Tuesday and runs through May 4. There’s a golf tournament on Wednesday and things switch into high gear on Thursday starting with the Westminster Canterbury Breakfast Walk and ending that evening with a disco dance party.
More concerts and luncheons and celebrities and even the Cole Brothers Circus are some of the Friday highlights. This year’s Queen is Jaqui Rice - the daughter of football great Jerry Rice (known recently for his turn on Dancing With the Stars) and the Queen’s Ball will take place on Friday night as will the Jimmy Buffet tribute band concert. Fireworks will start at 9 p.m. on the Handley High School campus.
Then there is the penultimate event which is the Grand Feature Parade which snakes its way from Old Town Winchester to just beyond Handley High School. The parade starts at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 3, this year and is once again coordinated by the Winchester Lions Club which does an amazing job of recruiting interesting entries. Dignitaries, floats, animals, marching bands - no local parade can hold a candle to it.
My personal favorite Apple Blossom memory took place in 1993.
The grand marshal of the parade that year was none other than Mary Tyler Moore. It seems that she has a familial relationship with the city of Winchester. Her paternal grandparents were from Winchester and her great-great grandfather rode with Stonewall Jackson in the Civil War. I believe she spent several summers in Winchester when she was a girl.
I know these facts because my friend, Adam, is a monster fan of MTM. He has seen all of her movies - good and bad. He is addicted to her old sitcoms. In other words, she could turn his world on with her smile.
So we ventured to Winchester during Apple Blossom in hopes that Adam would at least get the chance to breathe the same air as Mary Tyler Moore.
We positioned ourselves near the end of the parade route and waited with great anticipation.
Then we spotted her. Sitting in a convertible, waving graciously to the crowds and flashing that bright-white toothy smile - there she was.
Adam was trembling like a Chihuahua. And when the woman of his dreams was right in front of us and he was about to meet her eyes - she looked the other way and waved at some children on the other side of the road.
With one twist of her head, she had crushed my poor friend like a winemaker stomping a grape.
Because we were so close to the end of the parade route, I grabbed Adam’s hand. “Come on!” I shouted and we started jogging behind the crowd.
Just as it looked like we might converge with her motor vehicle at the end of the parade route, the driver started to speed up. Adam dashed into the street and impulsively shouted “I love you Mary Tyler Moore!” to the accelerating vehicle.
She heard him and told the driver to slow down. Flashing her high-wattage smile, she reached down and shook Adam’s hand. “Would you like an autograph?” she asked.
He looked for something she could write on, but we had nothing on us.
He thrust his hand upward and she signed her name on his palm with a black marker.
Some people think of the Apple Blossom Festival as a celebration of spring - as an event the family can share.
I think that is appropriate. For me (and certainly for Adam), when I think of the Apple Blossom Festival, I hear the words to the MTM theme song “…you’re going to make it after all…” and I see Adam victoriously holding his hand in the air as he waved good-bye to Mary.
Find out more about all the fun you and your family can have at the 81st annual Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival at thebloom.com.