Brentwood Teen Overall Winner of Fiddler 5K and One Mile Fun Run

July 1, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

A Brentwood teen was the overall winner of the 25th annual Fiddler 5K and One Mile Fun Run this morning (Saturday)

(Click link below for all Fiddler 5K and One Mile Fun Run race results)

https://runsignup.com/Race/Results/143231#resultSetId-389787;perpage:100

16-year-old Callahan Fielder ran the course in 16:16 seconds. Meanwhile 17-year-old Ella VanVranken of Silver Point won the race among females. She ran the course in 20:31 seconds.

Winners in other categories were:

TOP MALE MASTERS (Age 40 and older): 61-year-old James Angel of Smithville at 20:01 seconds

TOP FEMALE MASTERS (Age 40 and older): 43-year-old Melissa Cunningham, Summerville, South Carolina at 22: 05 seconds

One-Mile Fun Run (age 12 and younger) winners:

TOP MALE: 12-year-old L. Brown of Smithville at 6:56 seconds

TOP FEMALE: 10-year-old N. England of Atlanta, Georgia at 9:06 seconds

Funds raised will support Habitat for Humanity of DeKalb County.

July 1, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

Visitors from places near and far are in town this weekend for the 52nd Annual Smithville Fiddlers Jamboree and Crafts Festival and a few of them were recognized with special honors during Friday night’s welcoming ceremony.

(View scenes from Fiddlers Jamboree by clicking link below)

https://www.wjle.com/fiddlers-jamboree/

After the introductions of several local public officials and community leaders, Congressman John Rose, State Senator Janice Bowling, and State Representative Michael Hale presented flags to persons who came from the longest distances to get here.

Congressman Rose and his family greeted the family of Jeremy Bell of Australia who recently moved here and acquired a business. State Senator Bowling presented a flag to Sue Conger, formerly of Smithville, who now lives in Camas, Washington while State Representative Hale had a flag for Elise Fleming of Memphis.

The opening ceremony at 6 p.m. began with a prayer by Jonathan Anderson of the Smithville Church of Christ and a performance of the National Anthem by Emily Phillips as two members of the Smithville Fire Department posted colors.

The Smithville Community Chorus later took the stage delivering a stirring patriotic performance and a tribute to blue grass. Near the end of the show, Faye Fuqua, who founded and has led the chorus since the 1970s was honored by the Jamboree Board. Fuqua’s daughter Kim Luton, President of the Fiddlers Jamboree presented her mother a plaque in appreciation.

Zeb Ross and the J. Creek Band, a star attraction of the evening, followed the chorus and was to be the last act before the finals competition, when the storms came and forced cancellation of the evening’s lineup.

The morning began shortly after 9 a.m. Friday with welcoming remarks by Luton, an opening prayer by minister Terry Little of the Smithville First United Methodist Church, and a performance of the National Anthem by Sarah Cripps. The preliminaries in each of the sixteen categories of music and dance competition then followed and were completed before the welcoming ceremonies at 6 p.m.

For more about the Fiddlers’ Jamboree including the weekend events from the festival click the links below

http://smithvillejamboree.com/

http://smithvillejamboree.com/scheduleEvents.html

June 30, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

FRIDAY WINNERS OF THE FIDDLERS JAMBOREE WILL BE AWARDED FROM THE STAGE TODAY (SATURDAY) AT 11 A.M.

The first day of the 52nd Annual Smithville Fiddlers Jamboree and Crafts Festival was cut short Friday evening after severe thunderstorms moved through.

Zeb Ross and the J. Creek Cloggers, a non-competitive star attraction, was in the midst of its crowd-pleasing performance during the 7 p.m. hour when word came that a severe thunderstorm was approaching from the north and the show had to be halted.

Like prior years, Jamboree organizers tried to wait out the storm, but it wasn’t to be this time with the threat of more severe weather on the way. After a couple of hours, the decision was made by members of the Jamboree Board of Directors to call it a night.

Since preliminaries in all sixteen categories of music and dance competitions had been completed earlier, the Jamboree Board decided that without being able to start and complete the finals, scores from the preliminaries would determine the top three places in each category.

The Friday winners will be announced after the Saturday show starts at 9 a.m.