More fun for the folks at Smith Mountain Lake is at hand.
March 8-9 and 15-16 – 50th Annual Highland Maple Festival – Take a step back in time to Highland County, “Virginia’s Switzerland.” Travel back roads and mountain byways to the annual Highland Maple Festival. Held on the 2nd and 3rd weekends of March, the Maple Festival has been an annual event in Highland County, Virginia, since 1958. Each year, thousands of visitors are drawn to this unspoiled, rural region of Virginia to celebrate the “opening” of the trees and observe the process of maple syrup-making. Sugar camp tours provide a unique and educational experience that portrays a rapidly vanishing way of American life. – Highland County, Monterey, Virginia – 540-468-2550 – www.highlandcounty.org
Mar 8 – Booker T. Washington Monument presents Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl – 2:00 p.m. – “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” by Harriet Jacobs on Saturday, March 8 at 2:00 p.m. Jacobs learned to read while enslaved and wanted to write her story once she escaped in 1842, but knew she was not a proficient writer. She worked on her book by writing a series of letters that were published in the New York Tribune with the help of a friend, Amy Post. Her writing skills improved so that by 1858 she had completed her manuscript. Jacobs wrote, “I am well aware that many will accuse me of indecorum for presenting these pages in the public; for the experiences of this intelligent and much-injured woman belong to a class which some call delicate subjects, and others indelicate. This peculiar phase of Slavery has generally been kept veiled, but the public ought to be made acquainted with its monstrous features, and I willingly take the responsibility of presenting them with the veil withdrawn.” Park volunteer Lillie Head will lead the discussion on this provocative narrative. Books may be purchased at the monument bookstore and or checked out at the local public libraries. – Booker T. Washington National Monument, Route 122, Hardy – 540-721-2094 – www.nps.gov/bowa
Mar 8 – Outdoor Show 2008 – 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. – Got the Winter Blues? Nothing to Do? Get a jump on spring and join us for the day. Main Attraction: Predator/Prey Wildlife Display. Featuring the works of O.T. Taxidermy. Dart Hunting Simulator for the kids. Retriever Demonstrations at 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Live auction at 12:30, and many other things. Sponsored by the Bedford Outdoor Sportsman Association, Inc. – Bedford Armory, 29A Omaha Beach Circle, Bedford – $2.00 Under 12 Free – 540-977-3902