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Good morning, Blacksburg.
Today is both National Lobster Day and National One-Hit Wonder Day, which means the B-52s get to celebrate "Rock Lobster" twice.
Have a great weekend, see you Monday!
In today’s Blacksburg Connect
⚾ Tonight! Fall ball at English Field
🌳 Lend a hand to Heritage Park on Saturday
🐑 The greatest of all time, with sheep and goats
Let’s get to it.
Friday, September 25
Virginia Tech Baseball Fall World Series, Game 2, 2pm at English Field. Free general admission.
Indigo Mountain Fest, Friday and Saturday from noon at 564 Indigo Mountain Rd in Floyd. Two days, two stages of live music, plus art.
Ladies Night, 6:30 to 10pm at a Chateau Morrisette Winery
Saturday, September 26
Rotary Pancake Breakfast, 8 to 11am at Church on Main, Blacksburg. The Rotary Club of Montgomery County's annual pancake breakfast fundraiser.
Blacksburg Farmers Market with Furious Jones, 8am to 2pm at Market Square Park, 100 N Main St. The weekly producer-only market, with a concert from Furious Jones this week.
National Public Lands Day volunteer event, 9am to noon at Heritage Park. A volunteer morning caring for one of Blacksburg's largest green spaces; wear sturdy shoes, bring water and gloves. More in the longer summary below.
Christiansburg High School Craft Show, 9am to 3pm at Christiansburg High School.
G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time) Sheep & Goat Festival, 9am to 4pm at the New River Valley Fairgrounds, Dublin. Free. Sixth annual; sheep shearing, wool spinning, sheepdog demos, petting zoo, live music, and member vendors. More in the longer summary below.
Sinkland Farms 35th Annual Pumpkin Festival, 10am to 5pm in Christiansburg. USA Today voted it the nation's 4th-best pumpkin patch and corn maze in 2025.
Chili Pepper Challenge, 11am to 5pm in Floyd. $20.
NRV Fall Plant and Seed Swap, 1:30 to 2:30pm at the Blacksburg Library. Bring plants, cuttings, and seeds to trade with fellow gardeners.
Narrows Fall Festival, Saturday in Narrows. Fresh fall produce, baked goods, and pawpaw trees and seeds.
Inaugural Pulaski MTN-X Gravel Bike Race, Saturday in Pulaski. Pro and elite national and international riders expected.
Grease screening and street dance, 7pm at the Lyric Theatre, 135 College Ave. Grease on the big screen, followed by a free street dance at 8:45pm.
Square dance with caller LP Kelly, 7 to 9:30pm at the Floyd Country Store. A community square dance evening.
⚾ Tonight! Fall ball at English Field
Virginia Tech baseball opened its fall slate this week with the annual Fall World Series, the intrasquad Maroon vs. Orange series at English Field. Game 1 was Wednesday, Game 2 is Friday at 2pm, and Game 3 goes Monday at 2pm. Entry is free and seating is general admission, so it is an easy afternoon at the ballpark.
The highlight of the fall comes October 3, when the Hokies face Virginia in an exhibition at Virginia Credit Union Stadium in Fredericksburg, home of the Fredericksburg Nationals. First pitch against the Cavaliers is 4pm.
The Hokies round out the fall with two home exhibitions against NJCAA programs: Florence-Darlington Tech on October 16 and Walters State Community College on October 22, both at 3pm at English Field. Both are serious competition. Florence-Darlington is coming off its fourth straight 50-win season, and Walters State went 53-13 in the spring on its way to a second straight NJCAA Division I World Series.
One note from the program: fall exhibitions can vary in length and format from the usual nine innings, at the coaches' discretion, and all dates and times are subject to change. hokiesports
🌳 Lend a hand to Heritage Park on Saturday
You can spend Saturday morning caring for one of Blacksburg's largest public green spaces. The Town of Blacksburg and Southwest Virginia PRISM are hosting their annual National Public Lands Day event at Heritage Park, 9:00 a.m. to noon.
Volunteers meet at the Glade Road parking lot (2300 Glade Rd.) and will remove invasive species along the Huckleberry Trail corridor near the trail crossing at Linwood Lane, then plant native trees in the area. Tools and gloves are provided. Sign up here to reserve a spot.
If you'd rather work farther afield, most Virginia State Parks are waiving parking fees Saturday and hosting their own volunteer projects across the state.
🐑 The greatest of all time, in sheep and goats
The New River Valley Sheep and Goat Club throws its sixth annual G.O.A.T. Festival Saturday at the New River Valley Fairgrounds in Dublin, and every bit of it is free. The festival runs 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
G.O.A.T. stands for Greatest of All Time, a name the club picked for the sheer number of activities packed into one day. Club president Jennifer McClellan told WFXR the lineup this year includes live music, local vendors, sheep shearing, wool spinning, sheepdog demonstrations, and a petting zoo. In past years the club has also offered goat milking demos, a breed display, a kids' craft area, a photo booth, and a spinning prize wheel.
The vendors are the club's own members, selling what they make from their flocks. Past festivals have featured wool clothing, yarn, goat cheese, soap, and lotion, along with hay mazes and lamb burgers. Students from the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine have given talks on raising and caring for sheep.
The fairgrounds sit at 5581 Fairgrounds Circle in Dublin, about 30 minutes from Blacksburg down I-81. The festival runs rain or shine.
📰 News Around the NRV
Lane Stadium's new video board: Virginia Tech is installing a new Daktronics end-zone LED display plus audio upgrades, just in time for the Hokies' Friday night game against Pitt on October 2. BVMSports
Early voting is open: In-person early voting runs weekdays 9am to 5pm at the Montgomery County Office of Elections, 1546 N Franklin St in Christiansburg, through October 31, with Sunday hours October 18 and 25.
A greener campus: Virginia Tech approved student-proposed sustainability projects, including expanded bicycling infrastructure, waste and water reduction, and LED interior lighting through the Green RFP program. Virginia Tech News
Blumenthal steps down: After 33 years, Shelley Blumenthal is retiring as Blacksburg High's boys soccer coach, leaving with 637 wins, 13 state championships, and an undefeated 2026 season capped by the Class 4 title. Blumenthal, a former Blacksburg High counselor who holds a PhD, said he had been thinking about it for a couple of years and the time seems right: "Our program culture is strong and our standards are high." Link
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