KINGWOOD — Volunteers from past Buckwheat Festivals live on in each year’s event, said speakers at Sunday’s Royalty Banquet for the 77th Preston County Buckwheat Festival.
Pastor Barry Adkins, of the Shady Grove Church, spoke of “the state, the county and communities,” the festival represents. He said we are blessed and honored by the young people involved with it. Through them, “we see that there is hope for our future.”
Kingwood Volunteer Fire Department President Tom Robinson said his “bag full of memories” — this year’s festival theme — is filled with thoughts of past volunteers, both those he knew and those he has only heard about.
“As I walk throughout this building or around the festival grounds, I feel their presence,” Robinson said. “I’m talking about the gentlemen who laid the foundation for our organization and nurtured our Buckwheat Festival from infancy.”
They all understood, “what the Kingwood Volunteer Fire Department means to this community,” he said. “Through their dedication, they live on in this festival. Their legacy, whether it’s through the continued efforts of their children or the groundwork of service that this organization represents.”
Queen Ceres LXXVII Talia Goodwin said it has been a “true honor” to represent the Buckwheat Festival. She made the memories of a lifetime, Goodwin said, while having a lot of fun with her fellow members of the court. The amount of work put into the festival by volunteers is astonishing, she said.
King Buckwheat LXXVII Noah Thomas said he, too, “formed bonds that will last a lifetime,” and thanked the KVFD and all the leaders of the festival. “All your work has not gone unnoticed,” Thomas said.
Darla Moyers, general chairman for this year’s festival, was born to the festival — literally. She was born the Thursday of a Buckwheat Festival and has celebrated each birthday at the fairgrounds, she said.
“ ‘Rise and shine, it’s buckwheat time!’ For four generations, those were the words spoken signaling festival season in my
family,” Moyers said. “A bag full of memories expresses my memories from birth until today. … My bag now overflows with friends from the past, friends made today and experiences like tonight.”
The banquet itself is a long-time Buckwheat Festival tradition, as well, having been around for 68 years. Xi Tau Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi Sorority sponsors the banquet each year. The banquet kicks off festival week.
Clear Mountain Bank presented gifts to the king, queen and maids of honor. WEPCO Federal Credit Union presented gifts to
the first and second runners-up to the king. WesBanco and Beta Sigma Phi also presented gifts to the king and queen, and the KVFD gave them their formal portraits.
The court’s commemorative gifts, wooden med-allions, were made by Legacy Woodworking and CNC, LLC.
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