Town manager invites input on festival

Altavista officials are still interested in hearing citizen input about Uncle Billy's Day.

In September, Town Manager J. Waverly Coggsdale III invited residents, businesses and clubs to submit ideas on "what you want next year's Uncle Billy's Day to look like." Coggsdale said Friday he didn't get a lot of response.

So, here's another chance before the topic lands back on Town Council's table.

On Monday, Oct. 6, Coggsdale will be in council chambers from 3:30-5:30 p.m. to talk to anyone interested in offering thoughts on their vision for the annual festival or anyone who wants to assist with organizing it.

"Town Council is interested in seeing what the community's vision is for future Uncle Billy's Day festivals," he said.

No appointments are needed. Just stop by Monday afternoon and talk to Coggsdale.

He wants to know what residents want the festival to look like in the future and what will make them participate.

Coggsdale said people with ideas can still call town hall at 434-369-5001, drop comments off at the office, fax them to 434-369-4369, put them in the outside payment box, mail them to P.O. Box 420, Altavista, Va. 24517 or e-mail suggestions to townhall@ci.altavista.va.us.

He said the town wants to make sure everyone has an opportunity to offer input.

After the Oct. 6 meeting, Coggsdale will take citizen input to council.

All of this is happening after the Altavista Volunteer Fire Company indicated it didn't want to continue organizing the festival under the current agreement with the town and manpower requirements. The fire company has organized the festival the last few years as its primary fundraiser.

The company said if the town decided to hire an outside group to handle the festival, it would be interested in talking about an amount to continue running the event.

The fire company and the town were criticized this year because of a first-ever $5 admission fee for the festival, held the first weekend of June.

Next year will be the 60th annual Uncle Billy's Day.

The celebration is named after W.G. (Billy) Lane, who started bartering vegetables, farm tools and livestock in 1910. He would ride into the countryside, inviting farmers to bring their goods into Altavista for sale, usually on the first Saturday of each month. To make sure there would be something for everyone, he also requested auction items from local merchants.

The first Uncle Billy's Day was held in 1949.

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