Sad News:  The Big Store in Coalwood was torn down on March 29, 2008, by the owners of the historic Coalwood properties, Alawest.   You can see photos and read more about this on David Goad's web site: www.coalwoodmemories.com  Click on "Company Store Now Gone,"  and be sure to look at all four pages of photos.   Also, for an incredible video on the Big Store, please see Steve Date's web site: www.coalwoodmovie.com.

2008 West Virginia Teacher Achievement Award
The purpose of this award is to recognize a West Virginia educator who has overcome challenging obstacles in their career and has had a positive impact on students.  Deadline to apply for the 2008 award is June 30, 2008.  Please click here for full rules and an application form.

Please join us in Coalwood, West Virginia,
Saturday, October 4, 2008
for the 10th Annual
October Sky Festival!

October Sky Festival
Coalwood, West Virginia
The annual October Sky Festival is held in Coalwood the first Saturday of October.  We will post more information on this page as soon as the 2008 October Sky Festival has been officially announced.  In the meantime, here are some photos of the 2007 Festival!

A scene from a recent October Sky Festival!

The annual October Sky Festival is organized by the members of the
Cape Coalwood Restoration Association, Ltd, a non-profit organization
dedicated to helping Coalwood.

For Booth Rental Information --
Please e-mail Peggy Blevins in Coalwood.

Each year, the October Sky Festival follows the same schedule.  Here is what you need to know:

Plan to arrive in Coalwood around 9:00 a.m.  Be sure to leave enough time to get to Coalwood from where ever you are staying.  If you are in a hotel in Bluefield, for example, the trip can take you from 1 hour to 1.5 hours.  Remember to follow all speed limits!

As soon as you arrive, find a place to park in Coalwood Main.  There is plenty of room near the machine shop buildings and north of there towards the park.

Avoid parking in front of the Company Store, Clubhouse, and Coalwood Community United Methodist Church.  Avoid parking on Snakeroot between the Clubhouse and Coalwood Community United Methodist Church.  (Too much traffic and too many people.  Plus the tour buses will be parking in front of the Company Store.)

There will be Porta-Potties behind the Coalwood United Methodist Church on Snakeroot.  There is also a small bathroom beside the Coalwood swimming pool but it doesn't offer a lot of privacy once you are inside.

We recommend your bringing along some moist towelettes to wash your hands during the festival.

There will be a tent set up in front of the Coalwood Community United Methodist Church selling copies of Homer's books.  If you'd like to get Homer (and the other Rocket Boys) to autograph your book, you may buy a book here.  You may also bring your own copies from home and get them autographed.

Important: At or next to this tent, someone from the Festival Committee will be handing out numbered tickets to get your books autographed.  Again, you don't need to buy your books there, but you will still need to get a ticket.  The tickets are free; just ask for one.  Later in the day, Homer and the Rocket Boys will sign autographs in numerical order by ticket number.  Since the book signing goes on all day, this system allows you to do other things without having to stand in line all day.

There will be many booths set up around the Clubhouse and Coalwood Community United Methodist Church.  Normally, there are representatives from NASA, and Space Camp USA.  (Sometimes you'll even find real NASA astronauts!) You'll also find booths selling food and drinks along with souvenirs.

The parade begins!

At 10:00 or shortly before or shortly after, there is a small parade on Main Street coming from the direction of the Country Store.  You'll usually see the Coalwood fire truck, a McDowell County ambulance, and then the dignitaries (Homer, Linda, the Rocket Boys, local politicians, etc.) arrive.

Visitors will listen to the dignitaries speaking from the
front porch of the Clubhouse.

The dignitaries are let out in front of the Clubhouse.  They climb the steps onto the front porch and welcome-speeches are made.

As soon as the speeches are over, Homer and the Rocket Boys move to the front porch of the Coalwood Community United Methodist Church and start autographing books.  Someone from the Festival Committee calls out a block of numbers in numerical order.  You may get in line any time after your number is called.  The current number is also written on a flip chart in front of the church.  Again, you may get in line anytime your ticket has a lower number than the one currently written on the flip chart.  (For example, if they are already up to number 400, and you have been doing something else all day but have ticket number 33 in your pocket, you may get in line.)

Also after the speeches, live music begins from the Clubhouse porch.  You can expect singers, musicians, and a lot of dancing in the street.

Now is the time to visit more booths.

About this time, the Coalwood Community United Methodist Church starts serving lunch in the basement of the church.  (Enter through the door that faces the Clubhouse and go downstairs.)  Lunch includes typical Coalwood food like fried chicken, rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, cornbread, brown beans, drinks and dessert.

You can walk around town and talk to many local Coalwood residents and explore the Coalwood sites you've come to know and love from the book and movie.  You'll also have a chance to meet visitors from all over the country who have come to Coalwood just for the festival.

Shuttle Bus

A shuttle bus will pick you up near the Coalwood Community United Methodist Church and take you to Cape Coalwood where a local rocket club will be shooting off rockets all day.

Visit McDowell WV Has Information on Local Attractions
http://visitmcdowellcountywv.com/default.aspx

Have a great day in Coalwood!