Lost Creek festival wraps up with beautiful day

The Lost Creek Community Festival seemed to have a little bit of something for everyone, including food, souvenirs, raffles, games, live music, vintage cars, fresh apple cider and even a monster truck.

“There’s a lot this year, because there’s no rain, so everybody wanted to set up,” said Rondal Lake, the festival president. “Usually it rains on festival day. The weather is definitely perfect.”

Pam Eakle, the festival vice president, said organizers wanted to focus on bringing a lot of variety to this year’s festival.

“There’s a little bit of everything,” Eakle said. “There’s just all kinds of stuff this year.”

Just off of Railroad Street, some area residents were competing in a mud volleyball tournament. Teams were slogging through the muck to try to hit the ball over the net, their clothes caked in dirt.

“It was a tradition for probably 25 years,” Lost Creek resident Janna Frazier said of the tournament.

The mud volleyball went away for a few years, but residents recently brought it back, Frazier said.

“I like getting dirty,” Frazier said. “You get stuck. You can’t maneuver nearly as quickly as you can in sand.”

Frazier said she was enjoying the beautiful weather Saturday, perfect for having fun outdoors.

“We’re lucky for this day,” Frazier said. “It usually rains. You’ve probably heard that from everybody.”

Lost Creek Town Clerk Kathy Goldsmith, who was watching the volleyball tournament, said the festival has become an important part of the Lost Creek community since it was started back in the early 1980s.

“It’s about family and friends and friends of friends,” Goldsmith said. “Even people that moved away from here come back for this festival.”

Goldsmith, too, was glad to see the sunshine Saturday.

“We don’t have many of these,” Goldsmith said. “And I’m glad I’m not in that mud.”

In another area, several men were busy pressing bushel after bushel of apples to make cider to sell at the festival.

Lost Creek resident Jim Rogers was one of those involved in making the cider, which he said they’ve been doing at the festival since 2010.

“We decided to do this a few years ago just for the history of it,” Rogers said.

Rogers said the Lost Creek Community Festival, to him, is a chance to reunite with family and loved ones.

“I think it’s a family homecoming is what it really amounts to,” Rogers said. “That is the main theme. It’s like a big family reunion.”

Lost Creek Mayor Gene “Frog” Alkire said he’s been a part of the Lost Creek Community Festival since the beginning.

“I’m the one that started it 33 years ago,” Alkire said. “We had over 5,000 the first year.”

Alkire seemed pleased with how many people came out to enjoy this year’s festival.

“I think it turned out great today,” he said.

Lake praised the efforts of the volunteers who helped make this year’s festival a success.

“I can’t really take credit for nothing. We’ve got an extremely good crew that volunteers their time and helps out,” Lake said. “It’s a joint effort here.”

Lake said he just wanted everyone who passed through Saturday’s festival to enjoy themselves.

“It makes me and my committee members really happy to see such a big turnout,” Lake said. “I hope everyone comes out and has a really good day and a lot of fun. And I hope everybody comes out next year.”

Staff writer Jeremiah Shelor can be reached at (304) 626-1409 or by email at jshelor@theet.com