BLUEFIELD – The Bluefield Shriners kicked off their first carnival fundraiser Tuesday as not only a fundraiser for their charity, but as an additional community event leading up to the Graham-Beaver game on Friday.
The carnival opened at 5 p.m., and Bluefield City Manager Cecil Marson said he and the Shriners were very excited to get it started.
“We kicked off the week with the 5K this past Saturday, so that was great, but we’re really excited for the carnival,” he said. “All proceeds from this (carnival) will go to the Shriners. It goes to all the things they do for Shriner’s Hospital and all the great things they do.”
Due to the spread of COVID in recent years, the Shriners had struggled to raise money through the fundraisers they were doing, so they approached Marson about a carnival. He suggested having it during Beaver-Graham.
“It’s doing something good for all the businesses downtown and the community because we have all the reunion classes from both sides of the border coming in trying to figure out things to do and trying to find events. different,” Marson said.
Bluefield Shriner Rick Duncan said they came up with the carnival after realizing their annual horse show fundraiser was becoming more difficult for them due to the age of members and other external circumstances like COVID.
Shriners are all volunteers who work to raise money for Shriner hospitals because in these hospitals no one is given a bill because their goal is only to help sick children.
“We’re a free service, no Shriner gets paid for anything they do, not even gas reimbursements,” Duncan said. “Everything we do is for the kids.”
When Marson pitched the Shriners the idea of holding the carnival during Beaver-Graham, they thought it was a great idea.
“There’s going to be an influx of people coming for Beaver-Graham, and we’re also coinciding with Downtown Days and Lemonade Days,” Duncan said.
Duncan said the Bluefield Shriners hope this carnival becomes a tradition for the area and Beaver-Graham Week.
Game day will also be Mercer County’s first day of school, and Marson thinks Beaver-Graham is a great way to kick off the school year as well as the football season.
“I think the students are going to be pretty excited about the game,” he said. “I think it’s a good icebreaker to get them into it, start the day, do a series of pep rallies. It’s just going to be a nice welcome, and then they’ll be back at it on Monday and hopefully have a great academic year.”
Along with the carnival, there will also be a golf tournament in Fincastle at 10am and the Legends of the Rivalry in Granada at 7pm, both today, a Meet the Beavers parade and a big rally at 6pm: 00 starting on South Street and ending at Chicory Square on Thursday, Meet the G-Men at 6:00 pm at Graham High School on Thursday, and the race for the game on Friday will start at 9 am.
The big game will take place on Friday at 7pm at Mitchell Stadium and will be followed by the Lemonade Festival on Saturday starting at 11am.
— Contact Kassidy Brown at [email protected].
