Andrews – The day was about to be changed just prior to the Spring Fling & Nature Expo Festival due to weather; however, Saturday shaped up to be an unexpectedly nice day, so on went the yearly anticipated event as scheduled.
Clouds and winds persisted but craft and food vendors, musical entertainment, kids events as well as the 2nd Annual Doxie Derby went on as planned. The streets were packed with locals and visitors alike as everyone appeared happy to be out and about enjoying all that the festivities had to offer.
Elizabeth Hay, president of the Andrews Garden Club, was enjoying the sunshine while selling plants that included herbs, flowers and other botanicals.
“It’s a beautiful day,” she said, “and I’m delighted to be out here.”
The food court was the place to be for eats and drinks and chats. At one point, what appeared to be a slight gust of wind ended up being several children racing to the KidZone activities, including a bouncy house, which was taken down during the event due to winds as organizers erred on the side of caution.
The family festival brought out plenty of pets as well. A “bark-brawl” broke out in the street between a Doxie and another dog, but was quickly resolved by each one’s owner. No one sniffed out the true cause of the momentary spat.
The wiener dog contest was not only fun to watch, but successful for some Doxies. Robin Sargent of Andrews’ dog, Tedd, took fourth place in the running portion of the contest.
Since Sargent and a co-worker each had Doxies of their own, they started the Doxie Derby last year as the two thought about doing something fun for the town. Last year’s derby had a couple of dozen people; this year, the number grew to about 50.
“All the proceeds of the wiener race go to the Valley River Humane Society,” Sargent said.
Sue Jordan of Andrews had two dogs in the race: Shadow and Harley, both 3 years old. Shadow took first place in the grand finals, while Harley took second. They also won third and fourth places in the costume division.
One man was spotted wearing different attire. Jeff Haskill of Topton said was wearing his Scottish clan’s hunting tartan. The tartans come in different fabrics and colors; however, the brown, green and black plaid tartan he had on was from the Monroe Clan.
A chicken was spotted crossing the road. When asked why, 11-year-old Jordan Colbert, who was dressed in a chicken costume, said, “I love it. I come out like this to make people laugh and be happy.”
Downtown restaurants and shops were open for business as well.
Steven Lash is the owner and executive chef of Sage restaurant, which has been open for three months.
“This is great, and we’re really excited to be out here, especially now that we’re actually open,” he said. For some inside info, Lash’s two favorite dishes are the pork tenderloin and crab cake.
Brandon West is with Western North Carolina Youth Shooting Sports, a nonprofit organization that raises money for youth shooting sports by having raffles for guns and ammo.
“Everything we raise goes straight back to the kids in western North Carolina. Last year, we raised $1,000 toward a scholarship for an Andrews student,” he said.
This year’s Spring Fling was nicely summed up by Andrews Chamber of Commerce Director Nola Cooper.
“It’s been an absolutely gorgeous day,” she said. “We’ve had some wind but a great crowd, wonderful music and the vendors were incredible. I can’t say enough about today’s event.”