Community Events
Statewide pumpkin contest aims to keep youth and teens safe on Halloween night
Youth of Virginia Speak Out About Traffic Safety (YOVASO) is joining with the Virginia State Police (VSP), Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles Highway Safety Office, and State Farm to encourage youth and teens to make good choices and celebrate responsibly as part of the statewide Halloween Safety Campaign and Pumpkin Carving Contest. The campaign’s focus is to prevent a tragedy on what is supposed to be a fun night for youth.
The peer-to-peer campaign traditionally involves activities planned through school and youth group programs across the Commonwealth, however, this year students will participate from their homes. YOVASO is taking the campaign virtual with the #ProtectYourPumpkin Pumpkin Carving Contest. The only requirement for participation is to include a safety message (i.e. Buckle Up, Slow Down, etc.) and “YOVASO” on the pumpkin, and tag @_yovaso_ on social media with #ProtectYourPumpkin. Those who do not have social media can submit their entry to YOVASO by completing a simple entry form.
All are welcome to participate, but only youth ages 11-20 are eligible for prizes. Pumpkin entries are due to YOVASO by October 31, 2020 at midnight. YOVASO will pick 10 pumpkins for public voting November 2-4, 2020. Voting will close at noon on the 4th. The five entries with the most votes will each receive a $25 Amazon Gift Card.
Schools and youth groups that plan to participate in trunk-or-treats or other Halloween safety events may request activity books, safety banners, and posters with the message: Staying Safe is the Trick, Having Fun is the Treat. Buckle Up, Be Seen, and Make Good Choices.
Nationwide, between 2014 and 2018, there were 145 drunk-driving fatalities on Halloween night (6 p.m. October 31 – 5:59 a.m. November 1).* According to NHTSA, 41% of all people killed in motor vehicle crashes on Halloween night from 2014 to 2018 were in crashes involving a drunk driver.
“Halloween falls on a weekend this year and that typically means more celebrations and an increase in risk for drivers and young trick-or-treaters,” said Mary King, YOVASO program manager. “Poor decisions behind the wheel, such as texting and driving, underage drinking and drug use, speeding, and forgetting to buckle up can ruin what is supposed to be a fun occasion. Help keep this Halloween safe for all by celebrating responsibly and using extra caution when driving in neighborhoods.”
Here Are Some Suggested Safety Tips for Teens to Follow for a safe Halloween:
- Avoid driving during “Halloween Rush Hour” from 5:30-9 p.m. when children are trick–or-treating.
- Drive below the speed limit in residential neighborhoods and use alternate routes when possible.
- Scan ahead for trick-or-treaters and yield to pedestrians.
- Use caution around stopped vehicles in neighborhoods and proceed slowly.
- Drive distraction-free.
- Celebrate responsibly and resist any peer pressure to celebrate Halloween with alcohol and/or drugs or to drive while impaired—it’s illegal.
- Do not ride with any drivers who may have used alcohol and/or drugs.
- Be on the alert for drivers who could be under the influence of something other than sweets.
- Remember to always buckle up.
Safety Tips for Youth to Follow for a Fun and Safe Halloween:
- Avoid distractions and leave electronic devices at home while walking or biking
- Wear reflective clothing
- Carry a flashlight or glow stick
- Walk on sidewalks when possible
- Only trick-or-treat in well-lit neighborhoods
- Older students should always travel in pairs or large groups and let parents know where you are going
- Younger students should always trick or treat with a parent or adult supervision
- Never approach a stranger’s car
- Make good decisions and avoid any mischief that could ruin a fun night
- Stay alert and Be Seen on Halloween in case motorists are not be watching out for you
For more information on the Pumpkin Carving Contest and safety tips, visit the YOVASO website.
YOVASO is Virginia’s peer‐to‐peer education and prevention program for teen driver and passenger safety. Through YOVASO, teens work to advocate for safer driving among their peers and to develop positive prevention strategies for their schools and communities. The program, which currently has 115 active member schools and youth groups across Virginia, is administered by the Virginia State Police and funded through a grant from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. YOVASO also receives support from State Farm.
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Into its 5th Month, The Chester Street Tavern Focuses on Memorial Day Weekend Veterans ‘Salute to Service’ Event
Having kept an eye on the restoration of the historic Mullen-Trout House at 12 Chester Street and its opening with the New Year as The Chester Street Tavern, we spoke with Tavern owner and retired US Army veteran Jim Justice about an upcoming event he alerted us to this coming Memorial Day weekend. That event is a Veterans Awareness “Salute to Service” slated for noon to 7 p.m. Saturday, May 25th, across Chester Street in the Gazebo-anchored Village Commons town park.
“On May 25th, we’ve put together a memorial remembrance that is sponsored by the Tavern. It’s going to include a real nice live music lineup (beginning in the gazebo area), and we’ll have a number of exhibitors focused on veteran and agricultural-related support issues. They’ll be there with educational materials which will give them a platform to get exposure,” Justice began, adding a nod to the involved sponsorship team.
“We’re blessed to be doing this in partnership with Able Forces Foundation, led by ‘Skip’ and Kathy Rogers, who have become dear friends, and The Farmer-Veteran Coalition of Virginia (FarmVetCo), a national organization that does support for veterans in the farming and agricultural business. FarmVetCo is bringing their multi-band road trip show ‘Breaking Ground’ to support the entertainment at the Gazebo,” Justice said, adding that additional details are available on the Tavern website — www.ChesterStreetTavern.com — There’s a special event page for “Salute to Service” that has all the details.
“One of the things that Kathy and ‘Skip’ have coordinated is for the participation of a special guest Sam Tate, a Grammy award winning singer-songwriter who has won the Country music Song of the Year. Sam is coming up from Nashville to be our VIP entertainer guest. He is a Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient, and we are honored to have him as our guest helping to support our community and this memorial,” Justice said of his musically inclined fellow veteran.
Speaking of musically inclined guests, we noted that local, even neighborhood-generated, live music has become an integral part of the Chester Street Tavern’s business model, with Justice himself sitting in on harmonica on occasion. Would that continue with this event in addition to the imported entertainment, we asked.
“Yes, I think we have five or six bands that are going to play that day. Sam Tate, Nashville CMA Songwriter of the Year, Sunny Lane & The Dirty Hippies, FarmVetCo Breaking Ground will be joined by a number of local musicians that have played and supported the Tavern, helping us launch and build the live music program we have today,” Justice assured us of what will be a mix of familiar and not so familiar faces.
Among those familiar musical faces to Tavern patrons are John Landis, whose barbershop is about four doors down from the Tavern, the Vaughan brothers Dewey and James, whose family owns the adjacent building in which John’s Barbershop and the New Creations Hair Salon are housed. Others include Shae Parker, Hank Gorecki, Ralph Fortune, Lee Cameron, Bev Williams and The Sidemen, Passage Creek Rising, Shortness of Breath, among others including relative newcomers “Captain” Rich Coon and Michelle Beall, also known as The Hobo Mariners due to their time spent at sea in their sailboat sailing into coastal ports in search of local entertainment venues from Florida to Virginia.
“Richie and Michelle are the duo that make up the Hobo Mariners, and they’re the ones who introduced us to the opportunity to do this fundraiser. Michelle and Richie have been a driving force in getting this event organized and introduced to folks we want to support, the Farmer-Veteran Coalition in particular. The Hobo Mariners have done veteran-supporting fundraising through their singing-songwriting for many years,” Justice pointed out of the duo that has become a regular part of the Tavern entertainment rotation on Thursdays in recent weeks.
With the Gazebo Park area entertainment, vendors, and informational booths slated to run from noon to 7 p.m. the Saturday before Memorial Day, we asked Justice how that would impact the Chester Street Tavern’s hours of operation and entertainment. “The Tavern will be home base for the bands, and we are blessed to be right across the street from the Gazebo. We will have an area to support their logistics because there’s a lot involved with folks setting up and rotating to play. The setup for the day of the event is 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Saturday the 25th for our exhibitors and the bands – and we will have a couple of food vendors, a veteran-owned pizza company and a veteran-owned barbecue company.”
Justice noted the Chester Street Tavern’s regular open to public schedule is Thursday through Sunday, running from 3 p.m. to closing Thursday and Friday, and noon to closing Saturday and Sunday, with closing determined by when the crowd thins out.
“The Tavern will be open that day supporting everyone,” he said of the “Salute to Service” scenario. The plan is we will have an after-event party once we close down at the Gazebo,” as noted above at 7 p.m. “That week we will have our regular show on Thursday evening with the Hobo Mariners. Then on Friday we’ll open at 3 p.m. I expect with all the bands coming into town we will be doing some special stuff here at the Tavern,” Justice said of an improvised schedule of musical interactions.
Justice stressed the importance of live musical entertainment to his business model: “A lot of what I want to do here is support the live music scene” — which he has evolved to do with live music each day he is open on a weekly basis Thursday through Sunday. He traced the start of that commitment to live music to a private party hosted by the Tavern in its earliest days. “John (Landis) came down when we were having a little Friday night private party and said, ‘Hey, you mind if I set up and play for tips?’ The next thing I know the crowd is doing a sing-along. It reminded me of how important live music is to the spirit of the Tavern. I play a little harmonica, so I told John he can play as long as he includes a song I can blow harmonica to and “he better make me sound good,” Justice joked of the Tavern’s longest tenured musical relationship.
Speaking of long-tenured musical relationships, Justice acknowledged Dewey and James Vaughan and family, as noted above owners of the adjacent building to the south. “The Vaughans have become great friends of the Tavern. Dewey, James, sister Beth, and the rest of the Vaughan family have just really supported me in a lot of different ways. We are neighbors and good friends,” he said of the second of what he estimated as six to eight groupings of local musicians that have become part of the live music rotation at the Chester Street Tavern — “Just this whole, beautiful local community of musicians.”
But refocusing on what is on the horizon in his fifth month in business, that May 25th Veterans Awareness “Salute to Service”, Justice observed, “We’ll see how things flow and let people do what we always do in the Tavern, which is let folks come and spend time together. Our motto is: ‘We welcome friends old and new’ and it’s really played out that way, with new visitors socializing with a great group of locals.”
Justice also singled out Town of Front Royal Director of Community Development and Tourism Lizi Lewis for her role in bringing the Town on board with the May 25th “Salute to Service” event.
So, don’t forget to mark your calendar this month, not only for Monday, May 27, traditional Memorial Day events here, but Saturday, May 25, for the Salute to Service beginning with a noon “soft opening” in the Town of Front Royal Village Commons Park, and continuing across Chester Street at the Chester Street Tavern into the later evening hours. And if you’re mobile you can also swing by the Humane Society of Warren County Julia Wagner Animal Shelter for the also noon-convened, May 25th Salute to the Dogs of War, which ‘Skip’ Rogers will help kick off before returning to Chester Street for the 1 p.m. official Opening Ceremony of Salute to Service.
Community Events
Reaching Out Now Kicks Off Safe At Home: Join Us in Raising Awareness for Mental Health
The week has finally arrived, and Reaching Out Now is thrilled to launch the Safe At Home event! We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to Dr. Chris Ballenger, Warren County Schools, and the Warren County Athletics Department (Mr. Cupp, Mr. Hall, and the varsity baseball and softball coaches) for joining us to promote mental health awareness and its impact on our community. We warmly invite you to be part of this important event.
Nationwide, individuals and organizations are raising awareness of the challenges faced by those living with mental health conditions. Learn more about these efforts at the National Council’s Mental Health Awareness Month page: National Council – Mental Health Awareness Month.
We’re advocating for expanded access to mental health and substance use care while highlighting the value of mental well-being. Here’s how you can get involved:
JOIN US:
- Bring your families
- Sign up to play in one of our alumni games
- Volunteer or share information on how to contribute
Helpful Links:
Event Tickets:
Volunteer Opportunities:
Alumni Games:
The weather looks perfect for baseball on the 11th, so bring your friends and family. Let’s raise our voices, support mental health awareness, and make a positive impact together.
See you at Safe At Home!