Archive for ◊ 2016 ◊

Parking? We get that question a lot here in our office, and to make life a little less stressful for you & the Town of Clarksville during Lakefest we encourage you to use the shuttle service offered to you as our solution for everyone. (View the Shuttle Map here)

This service will help with the age old question of where to park? This way you don’t have to worry about being stuck on the side street with all those others trying & hoping to find a spot nearby. The side streets are really narrow  and if you are new to the area, you might not know the best way to navigate around the back roads, even though there are detour signs. Even if you are familiar and live out of town, there will be fewer headaches to park your car across from the YMCA, catch the bus and ride to the drop you off at 8th street. And any time you are ready to head back to your vehicle, a bus will be there within minutes to take you back.

Parking & Shuttle Service

Festival-goers are encouraged to Park & Ride.  Parking is $5 per vehicle; there is no charge to ride the shuttles to and from the festival.  Parking will be at the Lake County Business Park, on Noblin Farm Road.  The Shuttle will run from 8 am until 6 pm. If you want to participate in the night activities you will have to catch the last ride by 6 pm to retrieve your vehicle so you can then just park closer to town after 6 pm.

We are excited to announce that we are again working with the Mecklenburg County Public School division with renting two of their buses – one handicapped accessible – and hiring division bus drivers to operate them.

Sheila Cuykendall, Executive Director of the Clarksville Lake Country Chamber of Commerce said the chamber traditionally hired a non-local bus service to bring people downtown from the event’s remote parking areas. Last year we wanted to find a way to provide the same service while spending the money locally. She approached the school division about renting two buses – one handicapped accessible – and hiring division bus drivers to operate them. The school board once again approved the request at its last voting session.

Lakefest visitors seeking a ride to the downtown festival should look for the yellow school buses that will be shuttling people to and from remote parking sites.

!Attention!

For those Parking at Sunoco A Plus (past Uppy’s or Circle K) and walking over the bridge to get to the festivities. You will need to go retrieve your vehicle by 3 pm, there will be NO PEDESTRIANS allowed to walk or ride on the Bussiness Bridge after 3 pm. Only authorized personal.

One of the events major attractions to Lakefest each year is the Sand Sculpture. We wait for almost three whole days to figure out what great work of art will be carved out of that huge pile of sand. The attraction is located in the Pocket Park, located at the corner of 4th & Virginia Avenue, near the LOVE sign.

Back this year is Ed Moore who was here in 2014 and has been the main sand artist for Lakefest for many years. Ed is the Founder of the Sandy Feat sand sculpture group, who grew up to be an architect. But he never gave up on his childhood pastime, which resulted in ever more complex creations, from elaborate castles built on beach vacations to the scores of sculptures he has cut into blocks of wet sand since founding the professional sand-sculpting team Sandy Feat 26 years ago.

He has a Bachelor’s degree in architecture, is a N.C. State University Residence, lives in  Raleigh with his wife, Sally Moore. The Moore family has a long history at N.C. State, where he, his father and one of his sons all earned degrees. Moore says his father would often recall a tradition there from the 1920s called “Rush the Grand,” in which groups of students would take the trolley downtown to the Grand Theater. (Later called the Ambassador Theater, it has since been razed.) A large enough group would overwhelm the attendants, allowing the students to get in free.

Jim Moody from one of our Captain Sponsors: VETS

The Official 2016 Lakefest t-shirts have arrived and they are spectacular! Each shirt also has the official Captain sponsors, Clarksville Ruritans, & VETS, INC logo imprinted on the left sleeve and this year on right sleeve is the town & Chamber logo.

The shirts come in a variety of colors—white, metro blue, tropical blue, mint, daisy yellow, & orchid,  they range in sizes from youth small to adult 3xl. Youth shirts come in Mint & Tropical Blue and are $15, Adult sizes small to x-large are $20 and 2XL’s and 3XL’s are $22.

Tanks are back too in limited sizes & colors. Colors for the Ladies are: white, sapphire blue & Lime- for the men we have black, Sapphire Blue & Lime. Get yours before they are gone! Tanks will be $20 for regular sizes, 2XL are $22.

T-shirts are now available at the Clarksville Chamber Office (105 Second Street) and the Virginia Avenue Mall (317 Virginia Avenue). Proceeds from the shirts will help with the various expenses of Lakefest such as live bands, fireworks and hot-air balloons.

More than once…. And again…… The Virginia Lake Festival is awarded & named a “Top 20 Event” Winner!

ATLANTA, Ga. June 1, 2016– The Southeast Tourism Society has named Virginia Lake Festival one of the STS Top 20 Event in the Southeast for July 2016 .

This year’s Virginia Lake Festival is July 14-16, 2016. The STS Top 20 Festival and Event Awards have highlighted programs around the Southeast since 1985.
Travel industry experts select 20 events per month, and STS publicizes them throughout the United States. The complete list is published on two websites: EscapeToTheSoutheast.com and Travel Media Press Room.

We are finally ready to cast out! Tickets are now on sale for our 2016 LAKEFEST Raffle!

Our angling skills netted us a great catch of prizes which we hope will bait you into buying tickets! There are no fish bones about it, that one winner is going to be hooked up with over $1300 in prizes! Everything in this raffle is filled with items most of us either are already “hooked on” or considered a must have that will lure you into buying tickets, whether you want all the items for yourself or have a special someone in mind to gift it too.

We all love the summer & the best way to cool down is time on the water. This raffle comes equipped with great water toys that the whole family will enjoy, from the 6 x 12 Paradise Pad donated by A & K Dock service, to keep your drinks on ice a floating bobber cooler, along with plenty of kids items for the beach or water. Hooked on Lake Life? We have Lake life accessories donated by Hite’s. Also a GPS Navigator for land or water donated by Southside Marine & Xtreme Life Jacket by Clarksville Water sports. Love to shop…who doesn’t, well the Chamber and Karin Kuhn both have hooked you up with $200 in CHAMBER bucks, which can be redeemed at over 20 of our Chamber merchants. So whether you want to shop or dine you have a choice where to spend your $200. We all love Disney princesses & Star Wars, the kids will love the Disney characters included in the raffle as well. Also included is merchandise that will be a great accessory to anyone’s home…from wall décor, donated by Grandfather’s Country Creations & Hall’s Art Gallery, to a Swan creek Candle donated by Charlotta Howell, fish themed cutting boards donated by H & E Enterprises, copper fish bone art, gift basket of Meck Electric apparel donated by Mecklenburg Electric, as well as his & her Buggs Island tees & hat set. Lastly, cute fishing lure earrings made locally and it wouldn’t be LAKEFEST without our Hot air balloons, so included is a handmade wooden wall art of a Hot air balloon, made by Traci Watson of 2 Mermaids Cottage painted with our theme this year…“Hooked on Lakefest”

Tickets are $5 each, three for $12, or six for $20 and the great thing is you do not have to be present to win. The winning ticket will be drawn Friday, July 15th at the end of Opening Ceremonies around 9:30 pm. Proceeds from the raffle will benefit projects of the Clarksville Lake County Chamber of Commerce. For more information, call the Chamber at 434-374-2436. or stop by the office and view the items.

We want to say a special thank you to all those who contributed to this year’s raffle, all other items that weren’t donated where purchased locally by the Chamber of Commerce.

We would like to finally reveal our Official LAKEFEST LOGO for this year!! Whoop Whoop! Beginning of each year we have a contest calling all artist to submit their creative design for a possibility to have their artwork chosen and win $250. Keeping in mind that the design has to be won over by all the judges and transfer and work best with the tee shirts. With literally only a handful of entries it was a bit challenging for the judges to decide between the submissions with those guidelines in mind for the BEST logo this year. Well we finally worked with a submission that was able to make some tweaks and add in some special request…they have opted to be unnamed and donated the money back to help with funds for the Virginia Lake Festival…here is this year’s design!

Show your patriotism to the great United States of America and salute our Veterans—by being a participant or a spectator at the 2016 Independence Day Parade in Clarksville On the Lake! This year’s event, sponsored by the Clarksville Ruritans, is slated for Historic Downtown Clarksville on July 4th, at 11 am.

Entry categories include floats, antique cars, trucks and tractors, golf carts, fire trucks and bands, plus, all area youth are encouraged to decorate their vehicle of choice—tricycle, bicycle or battery operated mini-vehicles. Each entry into this year’s parade must be decorated in the patriotic theme and the first 1,000 participants and attendees will receive an American flag upon arrival. Parade applications may be printed by clicking HERE —there is no fee to register or participate; requested date for application return is June 30.

Immediately following the parade, everyone will be treated to free hot dogs and soft drinks, compliments of the Clarksville Ruritans. For more details about the parade and the cook-out, contact Ruritan Committee Chair 434-374-0794.

Come to Clarksville, Virginia Saturday, May 7, to the Big Lake Flea Market, for more unique finds and great bargains. Virginia Avenue will be a buzz with a special selection of vendors and downtown merchants offering arts and crafts, fresh produce, antiques, yard sale items and one-of-a-kind treasures. Treat your tummy to delicious tastes including freshly picked strawberries straight from the patch. Come hungry, too, because the best of the food vendors will be onsite preparing your favorites and the local restaurants will offer specials on their menu throughout the day.

Vendors will be located on the pavement (in the parallel parking spaces) along Virginia Avenue from 2nd Street to 6th Street. Thus, vehicle parking will be available in the lots of Wells Fargo Bank and behind the Virginia Avenue Mall, plus on the side streets of Downtown Clarksville.

So, hit the streets early (vendors will be ready at 8:00 a.m.) and make your plans to spend a fun day in Virginia’s only lakeside town.

New Look & New Features!

Just like Fine WINE, We are getting better with Age! 

Official Announcement!!! As much as we have planned and were looking forward to celebrating our 10th year in the designated BRIDGE location with LAKE views, we have decided it is best that we do change the venue back to original location due to high wind chances. It makes a big difference when your above water, it might still be breezy uptown, but we won’t blow away like we would on the bridge. 😉 We did take this into account when all the planning began, so we did plan to have past location secured for that reason. So, we will try the bridge again next year. We feel it is best decision for our vendors and attendees. …! Join us at 412 Virginia Avenue for our 10 year celebration of the Lake Country Wine Festival in historic downtown Clarksville! Come t one of the most favorable WINE FESTIVALS in our area!

Please spread the word!! Thank you, Clarksville Lake Country Chamber Board

Join us at 412 Virginia Avenue for our 10 year celebration of the Lake Country Wine Festival in historic downtown Clarksville! We invite you to come, relax, enjoy the music, the wine, craft beer, the great food offerings. Enjoy 16 Virginia Wineries, live music by our favorites, Jeff & Brian, great food from local restaurants and hand selected artisans and local merchants. We will have seating available but feel free to bring your own.

While enjoying Virginia’s only lakeside town, take a stroll and visit the unique one-of-a-kind downtown shops and restaurants. This is a 21 and older event, no strollers, large coolers or children beyond the gate.

*This is a rain or shine event. In case of higher than normal winds or low temperatures the event will move off of the bridge and back to the original location at 412 Virginia Avenue.

WINE FEST TICKETS are IN and also on sale online for the upcoming Clarksville Lake Country Wine Festival in Clarksville! This year marks a special  milestone as we celebrate 10 years and with that we have lots of new and exciting things planned for this year’s event held on Saturday, April 9, NOON to 5 pm.

We have a new logo, new location and new features added this year, so you won’t want to miss this one!!! We are hosting 16 Virginia wineries,  a selection of craft beer, great food from local restaurants, hand selected artesian vendors and a few local merchants &  live music by Jeff Bailey and Brian Parks. We have special ordered New “Celebrating 10 Years” commemorative wine glasses & wrist bands for the FIRST 1000 people at the gate, so you don’t want to be late!!

Mecklenburg County Tourism has confirmed with us that the Sea Plane Splash-in will be back again this year. Also happening that morning at 8 am is a 5K and Fun Run organized by Miss Eure’s third grade class at Clarksville Elementary who raising money for the Lake Country SPCA. Check out our Clarksville Lake Country Wine Festival Event page on our Facebook for updates on all the happenings.

So mark your calendars and make it a day or weekend here in Clarksville, starting your day off by entering the 5K, then mosey downtown and shop the stores & restaurants then stroll down to the Lake Motel back parking area to view the Sea Planes and for those who are 21 and over, at high noon the gates to the Wine Festival located this year at second street will open to the business bridge.

You can purchase online (left or below depending on your device) via PayPal or at the Chamber office, Galleria on the Lake, The Virginia Avenue Mall, Century 21 on the Lake & Cooper’s Landing Inn. Tickets in advance are $25, $30 at the gate, ticket includes a souvenir wine glass. For non-taster/DD tickets in advance are, $12, $15 at the gate.

All festival proceeds will benefit the Town’s Chamber of Commerce and will go towards future projects.  For more information, contact the Chamber at clarksvilleva.com or 800-557-5582.

Live Acoustical for Lake Country Wine Festival

Jeff & Brian Wine Festival musical favorites, Brian Parks and Jeff Bailey will be performing live acoustical music at the Ninth Annual “Lake Country Wine Festival” on April 9 , from noon-5 pm in Downtown Clarksville.  Parks and Bailey have roots to Lake Country, as they both grew up in Chase City; they have been playing music together for more than 13 years.  Their music genre goes from Van Morrison to Bob Segar to the Allman Brothers—the best of rock, blues, and pop.  Both are accomplished musicians with their vocals and both play guitar; Brian also plays harmonica and saxophone.  Not only will they entertain those at the Wine Festival with their music, they will also entertain with their jokes and fun-loving conversations—these fellows really like to have a good time.  They perform monthly in Raleigh and Cary, as well as performing locally in Clarksville and South Boston, and South Hill.

Join, Get plugged in & Stay Connected, is our campaign for the 2016 Membership Drive Campaign here at the Clarksville Lake County Chamber of Commerce. Every January we send out well over 300 membership packet applications to partner with area businesses & organizations. In 2015, we had 205 members of the Clarksville Chamber.

Our primary purpose of this Chamber is to our members. Members are “preferred” businesses because they make the commitment to the purposes of the Chamber – to promote civic, economic, and area enterprises. Chamber members promote job readiness for youth, efficient public services, a positive business climate and solid customer service. This Chamber refers only investing members’ information throughout the year. We make thousands of referrals yearly via telephone, email and person-to-person, In our office alone, we handled more than 18,000 inquiries in 2015—phone calls, emails, social media contacts (Facebook) and people walking through our door, all asking questions and needing assistance with information.

While the media continues to speculate on the future economic conditions that are ahead, let’s keep in mind that the benefits of a Chamber membership far out-weigh the cost–in most cases, the cost is less than 50¢ a day! Can you really afford to have your interest be omitted from one of the biggest community promoters of your business or organization? Join the “Force” in 2016, and the force is you and all the other businesses, organizations and or individual that will rejoin or join this year . We are confident that you will realize the value of being part of a network of businesses & organizations here in the heart of Lake County and the benefits it provides.

We hope you will consider being a part this great “force” (team) and we really look forward to assisting you, the visitors & residents and promoting this great community we all love so much! Join in 2016, great it will be.

Let us help promote your business or special interest! Join forces with the Clarksville Lake Country Chamber of Commerce- Us, working together is all the power we need to Succeed!

Stop by 105 Second Street, Clarksville or call and we will more than happy to send you a benefits packet, 434-374-2436

3rd Annual Volunteer Fair! February 27th 2016

Held at the Clarksville Community Center, 103 Woodland Drive from 10 am to 2 pm and Absolutely FREE!

Could your wallet use an extra $250? Consider putting your talents to work for the 2016 Virginia Lake Festival (Lakefest) and become the winner of the reward. The Clarksville Lake Country Chamber of Commerce encourages area artists to enter the winning logo design for the 39th Lakefest that is scheduled for July 14-16, 2016. In addition to the cash reward, the winning artist will have their design featured on the official 2016 Lakefest t-shirts and on brochures, flyers and other media promotions of the three-day event, plus be promoted in area newspapers for their accomplishment.

Those wanting to enter the contest may download an entry form, pick up an entry form at the Clarksville Chamber of Commerce, 105 Second Street, or pick one up at the Virginia Avenue Mall or call the Chamber and one will be mailed to you. For artwork designs to be considered in the judging, original and signed entries must be delivered to the Clarksville Chamber Office or submitted by mail to the Lake Festival Committee, P.O. Box 1017, Clarksville, VA, 23927, no later than March 13th, 2016. For more information call the Clarksville Lake Country Chamber of Commerce at (434) 374-2436 or contact us.

From the Flipkey article:

“We compiled a list of the top historical spots in each state worth traveling for. With this list, you’ll be able to plan a pilgrimage this year to see a gun fight in the Old West, sit in a centuries-old theater and listen to an opera, or tour a ship that sailed in the 17th century. Or maybe just schedule a little detour from what you already had planned, so you don’t miss out. These living legends embody the history and culture of their region, and you’ll be proud you stopped in when on vacation in any of the fifty states.” …read more.