The Galax Little Leaves of Galax, Va. took top honors in the Junior Band category. Members of the group include (from left) Ben Hill, Houston Caldwell, Asa Gravely, Grace Wilson and Macenzie Neff.

12th convention draws crowd

The 12th annual Alleghany County Fiddlers Convention drew 44 bands and more than 200 individual contestants on July 21 and 22 at the Alleghany Fairgrounds.

The convention is sponsored by the Sparta-Alleghany Volunteer Fire Department and benefits the department and the non-profit fairgrounds. Organizer Trever Nichols said the crowd was up this year as compared to last year. "The weather was pretty good to us," said Nichols.

"There was was a lightning storm sometime late Thursday night or early Friday morning that apparently hit our sound system. We offer our most sincere apology to contestants and fans for the poor sound quality Friday night." Nichols said the sound system was replaced using equipment borrowed from Mike Brinegar of the Brinegar Family.

"They really saved the day," he said. "It would have been hard to hold the rest of the convention without their help."

Nichols also said the department offers its thanks to Tim Varner and Jerry Smith, who provided sound system advice to the firemen. Steve Kilby also provided help, said Nichols.

"We had it all back up and going good for Saturday and everything went just as smooth as can be with no problems whatsoever," said Nichols.

The number of campers was similar to last year, said Nichols. Next year's convention will be held on July 20 and July 21.

Winners

Winners are as follows, beginning with first place.

Bluegrass band: Rich in Tradition of Lowgap; Blues Creek of Walnut Cove; Breaking it Down of Jonesville; Offset Grass of Bristol, Tenn.; and Seldom Herd of Warrensville.

Old time band: Smokey Valley Boys of Mount Airy; Loose Gap Loafers of Blacksburg, Va.; Buck Mountain Band of Independence, Va.; Grayson County Daredevils of Mouth of Wilson, Va.; and Old Time Boys of Meadow Bridge, W.Va.

Junior band: Galax Little Leaves of Galax, Va.; Pickin' and Grinnin' of Sparta;

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