VOLCANO - The final day of the annual Volcano Days Festival continued to draw people by the hundreds on Sunday.
The festival, which began Friday evening and ran through Sunday afternoon, experienced sunny skies and only slightly chilly temperatures through the weekend.
Laurie Arthur, park attendant at Mountwood Park, estimated attendance at the free festival was in the thousands on Saturday and she thought at least 2,000 more came to the county park along U.S. 50 east of Parkersburg on Sunday.
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Photo by Wayne Towner
Mike McIntyre, center, of Williamstown, checks out one of the exhibits in the Volcano Museum on Sunday with his son, Elijah, left, and friend, Jonathan Martin, right, of Waverly. The museum was one of the new features of this year’s Volcano Days Festival.
People seemed to enjoy the mixture of old and new activities and attractions at the weekend festival, Arthur said. The live entertainment has always been popular, with some new bands performing this year. The vendors, crafters and concession stands were also popular, she said.
Helicopter rides offered on Saturday - a new addition to the festival - were well received and an old Volcano Days staple, the Stiles Mansion Ruins tour, was sold out each of the five times it was held during the weekend, Arthur said.
"Everybody loves the engines, they love to come and see the engines," she added.
Another new attraction at this year's festival was the newly opened Volcano Museum in the former visitors center at the park marina. It features historic photographs and a variety of items on display, including things uncovered at the Stiles Mansion site during archaeological digs held there during the past two summers.
Williamstown resident Mike McIntyre was visiting the museum with his son, Elijah, and his son's friend, Jonathan Martin, of Waverly. The boys are Boy Scouts helping with one of the programs at the festival over the weekend.
McIntyre said he likes the different things to do and see at the Volcano Days Festival, especially examples of old equipment and tools that were once used in the oil industry. The festival has a positive family atmosphere with something for everyone, he said.
Jeanne Scott, of Stonewood, W.Va., has been coming to Volcano Days for several years and was enjoying the festival Sunday afternoon.
"I saw some things today that I hadn't seen before," she said, adding she likes the history surrounding the festival, especially that of the early oil industry in the Volcano area.
While the Volcano Days event is over for another year, Mountwood Park will be hosting another public event this coming weekend.
Woof Fest 2012, a dog-centered event organized by The Friends of Mountwood Park, will be noon-5 p.m. Sunday at the park. The event will feature demonstrations, contests, activities, concessions and a "Blessing of Animals."
