Newport News & Hampton, Va

Celebrate Phoebus! Saturday, October 10, 2009

Phoebus Days is back and better than ever! Perennial favorites return, including the Phoebus Days Parade, the Peninsula Beer Festival (with an even larger selection of microbrews from which to choose), the pie-eating contest, and the family fun Stage.

Click here for a schedule of events - this is sure to be a super fun event!

White elephant and bake sale
9 am - 2 pm at Phoebus United Methodist Church

Phoebus Days Parade
10 am - Mallory and Mellen Streets

Family fun throughout the day
(at the Curry and Mellen Streets stage)
Zumba • Southeastern Woodland Indian Confederacy reenactors • Panamanian Folkloric Dance Group • Mambo Room Latin Dance
Group • Panamanian Folkloric Dance Group • Gospel Americana • Peninsula Caged Bird Society • Belly Dancing • Sheila Arnold - History's Alive interpretor

Chalk art for kids
After the parade, meet at the clock, get your chalk and create art on East Mellen Street

Freddie Dougherty Pie Eating Contest
2 PM in front of the Curry and Mellen Streets stage

Betty Casciano Window Decorating Contest
Winners announced at 2.30 pm at the Curry and Mellen Streets stage

Peninsula Beer Festival
Noon to 6 pm at the County and Hope Streets stage

Live music throughout the day at the County and Hope Streets stage

Art, crafts, antiques and live music throughout the day

As much as things change, many things stay the same. That's Phoebus and that's small town living at its best.

Click here for more information!

Arbor Day is an interesting holiday. It doesn't have a set date, the way the Fourth of July does, nor does it have a set day of the month, the way Thanksgiving does. Instead, Arbor Day varies in time of year from state to state, depending on one simple factor: when the best time of year is for planting trees in that state. To better understand this unique holiday, let's take a look at its history.

Arbor Day was first observed on April 10th, 1874, in Nebraska. The idea for Arbor Day was proposed by J. Sterling Morton, a newspaper man from Detroit who had moved to Nebraska twenty years before. He was an agriculture enthusiast, and came to be a prominent political figure in Nebraska. Over the course of his career there, he was famous for stressing the importance of trees for Nebraska's agriculture: trees keep wind from blowing away soil and newly planted seed, and also provided an important source of fuel and building material to Nebraska's farmers. In 1872, he proposed a holiday for the planting of trees to the State Board of Agriculture. The date was set for April 10th, since early April is a good time to plant trees in Nebraska.

The first Arbor Day was a wild success. Some people estimate that over a million trees were planted, and prizes were given out to people who had planted the greatest number of trees. Later, the Nebraska state government moved the date of the holiday to April 22nd, Morgan's birthday. In Nebraska, and several other states, the holiday is still celebrated on this date, or on the last Friday in April as an approximation of this date. However, in the spirit of Arbor Day, the states that celebrate it do so at a time that's right for the trees to grow and be healthy, ranging from January in some southern states to as late as May in the north.

Virginia recognizes Arbor Day on the last Friday in April, but you don't have to wait until then to celebrate, the Arbor Day Foundation inspires people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees all year long. Click here to see a comprehensive report on what's going on in Virginia to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees.

To kick off our newest blog for Newport News and Hampton, we're giving away a Gourmet Gift Bag full of wine and delicious goodies from Farm Fresh, courtesy of the Virginia Arts Festival and Vineyards on the Fountain.  Give us your two cents and you could win!  Here's the question:

What is your favorite thing about Newport News?

Email your response to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  All responses due by Sunday, Oct 4th at 5 PM. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The winner will be notified by email on Monday, October 5th and the gourmet gift bag will be mailed directly to you!  Please note that you must be 21 years old to win.