2010 Pie Post - Round Hill Town Festival

The 2010 Round Hill Town Festival was filled with friendly neighbors. We had record attendance this year.

Preparation for the pie eating contest ensues. Hungry hopefuls linger on the sidelines just ahead of the competition frenzy.

Hmmmmm...dunno about this.

The peak of pie ingestion. The situation looks precarious here.

Note the colorful technical approaches. Some come out swinging with mouth agape, others slide in from the side.  

The gentleman on the ground caused the creation of a new pie eating rule this year; Jumping over the table is no longer allowed, serious stuff folks. His pie slid off the table and he quickly followed. Without missing a beat, the eater proceeded to finish the pie.

Serious dedication can be seen in the eyes of competitors. Another successful year of pie eating at the Round Hill Town Fest.

Round Hill Hometown Festival

Round Hill held it's annual Hometown Festival yesterday on what was the perfect day. This well attended event brought the town together for a day of fun, music and food.
















The park filled with neighbors and friends who listened to the Loudoun Valley High band start the day off.















The pie eating contest is a town favorite. The event, held later in the day, allows various age groups to compete by attempting to devour the 2500 calorie chocolate cream pie. This little guy looks all to ready.















Mary Ruth waves to the crowd from her antique shop as they make their way towards town. It looks like the town is saving on gas with pedal power.






















Everyone enjoyed the day, including this small dog. Can you say Mogwai? :)















A future gang of Fire Department candidates.















I've witnessed many pie eating techniques over the years while shooting this event. The "evil eye" is one of my favorites. After coaching our newly elected major (not shown here) on best approaches for this event, he executed magnificently. However, he left the table in mid-eat. Folks, we need to break this one in.

Loudoun Emancipation Association

While conducting Loudoun research this weekend I learned something about black history of the area. Loudoun's first county-wide organization was the Emancipation Association that formed in 1890. The group incorporated and bought 10 acres of land in Purcellville at the corner of 20th and A streets. The sign in this photo marks the former site. Elaine Thompson's book, In The Watchfires, provides a detailed history of these grounds which served the black community for more than 75 years.















After purchasing the book, I drove to the location to see it for myself. A church now occupies this place but remaining is a refurbished stone wall that once served at the gate to this property. While comparing photos in the book to the current site, I noticed debris next to a large tree (same tree but smaller is in the book). After a bit of digging I pulled out remnants of gatherings gone by. These Coca-Cola Soda Water bottles had markings from Frederick and Alexandria. A bottle cap shows a 2 cent tax stamp. After reading about the rich history of this place, it was thrilling to find actual artifacts used by former participants.

Soaring hawk / Community hug

The first photo shows one of the soaring hawks mentioned in my Monday post. The second photo is of my booth from the Arts in the Alley show this past weekend, my first outdoor show. I can't say enough about the community support I received. Thanks to everyone who visited, for the kind comments and for the sales. I met another Loudoun Photographer (Elizabeth) and a painter (Rayhart) from Ashburn, see their websites listed on my local artists list.

Pie eating contest gone wrong

Our Mayor wearing a pie tin hat and our festivities organizer looking all to happy to do it.













An unscathed scalp about to receive the pie treatment.












Round Hill held it's Hometown Festival yesterday where fun was had by all. The highly anticipated pie eating contest was kicked off with some of the town VIP's going head to head. After the countdown, however, pies were thrown into the air covering the contestants in French Silk. Nothing can compare to small town events where the community comes together for a rip roaring good time.