Hello. We are from Preston County, West Virgina. The topic that we have
picked to describe is the Buckwheat Festival which is held annually during 
the last week of September. Kingwood is a small, picturesque town with a 
population of just under 3500, but it attracts an average of 25,000 people 
during the four-day event. Because of the large crowds, school is called 
off for all Preston County students for half of a day on Thursday and all 
day on Friday.

     It was estimated that about 125,000 visitors came to the festival in 
1994 which was the largest turnout in its history. At the Kingwood 
Volunteer Fire Depatrment (KVFD) a record of 16,129 buckwheat cake 
and whole hog sausage dinners were served in just one building! It's 
amazing what the grocery list looks like when preparing so many 
dinners. For the festival in 1994, 11,422 pounds of pork were made 
into 37,204 patties. 12 pounds of Jamaican ginger, 18 pounds of black 
pepper, 150 pounds of salt, and 228 pounds of brown sugar were used 
to season the sausages. Some of the other supplies ordered were 
612 pounds of margarine, 4944 half-pints of milk, 288 #10 cans of 
applesauce, 1283 24-ounce bottles of syrup, 2 tons of buckwheat flour, 
50 pounds of yeast, and 700 pounds of coffee. 

     You can smell the buckwheat cakes baking and hear the yells of people 
on the amusement park rides all over town. Luckily, the smell of the 
delicious food overwhelms the odor of the livestock. Some of the 
best food  comes from the Buckwheat Festival. People come from 
around the country just to experience the mouthwatering taste of 
buckwheat cakes and sausage. For a treat, try some of the sweet, 
plump, and sticky candy and caramel apples or fluffy cotton candy. 
While you're at the snack booth grab some crunchy nachos and 
cheese or buttery popcorn. There are always long lines for the famous 
homemade festival french fries as well as scrumptious corn dogs 
served by a local church.  You can also try other mouthwatering foods 
such as funnel cakes, steak and pepper sandwiches, barbecued 
chicken, sloppy joes, burgers, pizza, ice cream, caramel corn, and 
doughnuts. To quench your thirst apple cider is freshly made. Don't 
let your mouth water any longer, join us at next year's festival.

     There are several buildings filled with beautiful, handmade crafts 
and numerous projects created by students and 4-H members. Looking 
at all of the exhibits, you wonder if you could do something just as nice. 

     The first Buckwheat "Homecoming" was held in 1938 and has been 
held every year since then, with the exception of 1942-1945 during 
World World II. The first queen, Louise Shaw, was crowned as 
"Queen Buckwheat" however a teacher of Latin suggested that the 
name be changed to "Queen Ceres" which is the goddess of grain 
and harvest. This was done in 1939. The first King Buckwheat was 
Scott Miller. Just like a fairy tale, the first king and queen got married 
and lived happily ever after.

     The exhibits at the Buckwheat Festival are very interesting.  There 
are many types of exhibits you can enter.  Some of them are crafts, 
art, food, and 4-H exhibits which consists of most everything from bugs, 
to wood, to food, to photography.  There are also livestock exhibits. There 
is a wide arrangement of sights in the exhibits section.  There are grains 
such as buckwheat, potatoes, squash, corn and many other fruits and 
vegetables.  You can also enter projects as a 4-H member, Future 
Farmer of America or a Future Homemaker of America.  These exhibits 
include animals or poultry, careers, leadership, home environment, 
clothing, communication, health, or plant science.  Anyone can enter 
any type of baked or canned goods, photography, needlework, 
drawings or ceramics.     

     Each day has a different parade. The first parade, the Fireman's 
Parade, is on Thursday and features more than 100 units of bands,
fire and emergency vehicles from four states. There is a "King Fireman" 
that has recently been joined by "Lady Fireman" and they ride in the 
parade every year.  Friday is the School Day Parade. It features floats 
made by students and community  groups and businesses. There are 
marching bands from each Preston County school and from other 
neighboring counties. The bands outside of Preston compete to win 
a Buckwheat Festival trophy. The are also school groups, football 
players, and cheerleaders that particapate in the parade. Satuday 
is the Farmer's Parade. In this parade the livestock Grand Champion 
and Reserved Champion ride on floats. The winner of the Lamb 
Dressing Contest also rides on a float for everyone's enjoyment.

     The Lamb Dressing Contest is always one of the most popular events 
of the festival.  The object of the contest is to catch a lamb and dress it 
according to the theme of the year.  The theme this year was a famous 
West Virginian.  The winner was an ex-governor of WV that had been 
sent to prison.  The lamb was dressed in black and white prisoner clothes 
with a bag hanging around its neck.  Themes from previous years include 
Famous Women, and Things With A Color (such as Pink Panther).  

     The livestock event is also a very popular event that draws a big crowd.  
There are barns filled with steers, milk cows, hogs and lambs.  Each of 
these animals is judged in their own class.  The grand champion animals 
ride in the Farmer's Day parade where the animals and their owners are 
all recognized.  There is an auction on Saturday night to sell the animals 
to the highest bidder.  Some people think the livestock show is the most 
important part of the festival.

     There are many games at the festival.  They are both fun and hard.  
Most cost alot of money.  You can win prizes, but you can also lose alot 
of money because most games are rigged.  The games are fun, though, 
if you are just killing some time or if you have some extra change.  
Some of the games are darts, ring toss, a water gun race, and basketball.  
The basketball games are usually rigged because the balls are 
over-inflated and the rim is slightly oval-shaped so it's almost impossible 
to get the ball in the hoop.  The most annoying thing is that when you 
walk by any of the games, the "carnies" yell at you to try and get you 
to play their game. Prizes for winning the games can be anything from 
giant stuffed animals to a goldfish.

     There are also alot of amusement park rides that include the Gravitron, 
Cobra, Slide, Rock & Roll, Yellow Jacket, High Flyer, Hurricane, 
Odessey 2000, Tea Cups, Merry-Go-Round, Ferris Wheel, and the Zipper. 
There are also lots of rides for youger children.

     Planning this event takes an entire year of hard work. Every year there
are different special events. Some of these include: Traveling Vietnam 
Memorial Wall, The Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, and Miss America 
crowned Queen Ceres one year. Hopefully, the following years of the 
Buckwheat Festival will be as enjoyable as the ones in the past have 
been and maybe if you would like to experience the excitement come 
visit us in the last week of September in Preston County, West Virginia.    
 
    

 
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