Young Pickers (from left) Lynn Powell of Mocksville, Dalton Cranford of Statesville, Johnathan Dillon of Wirtz, Va., and sisters Nalia and Gina Furtado of Front Royal perform during the Alleghany County Fiddlers Convention. Nalia Furtado took fourth place in bluegrass fiddle competition.

Fiddlers out in force despite rain

The 11th annual Alleghany County Fiddlers Convention, held July 15 and 16 at the Alleghany Fairgrounds in Sparta, was wetter than usual, but spirits did not appear to be dampened. According to event sponsors, the number of campers and attendance both seemed to be up this year despite persistent rainfall preceding and throughout the event.

The convention is sponsored by the Sparta-Alleghany Volunteer Fire Department and held the third full weekend in July each year. The next convention is July 21 and 22, 2006.

“It started raining on Monday night and we had showers every day,” said organizer Trever Nichols of the fire department. “We had a cloudburst on Thursday night that dumped a lot of rain. It finally cleared up on Saturday and we had a pretty evening.”

Even so, Nichols noted that the fiddlers are a die-hard lot. “I don’t think it hurt us that bad as far as

ABOVE LEFT: Faithful Duo — Frank Lawson (steel guitar) and Louis Bedsaul of Galax, Va. perform during the convention. In the background is co-emcee Harold Mitchell. Lawson said they had never missed a convention in Alleghany County.

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