Mt. Hope, WV (WOAY) – The Mt. Hope Jubilee returns to Main Street on Friday and Saturday, and this year the celebration doubles as a fundraiser for the town’s historic stadium.
The festival features a parade, vendors, live music and fireworks. Jubilee Chairperson Patty Logan said the event keeps growing.
“This is the 35th year that we have had our jubilee … we are going to have more setups, more vendors than we’ve ever had,” Logan said.
Friday night includes gospel singer Karen James Buckland, a street dance and a fireworks show put on by the fire department. Saturday brings a parade, vendors and live music that runs through the evening.
This year, the city is also raising money for the historic Lonnie Warwick Stadium. Mayor Michael Kessinger said the stadium is central to the town’s identity and its plans.
“Our stadium means so much to us over here. It’s really the crown jewel for Mt. Hope,” Kessinger said. “The project is to develop an amphitheater inside the stadium … so we can have a venue there. We can have concerts.”
To raise the money, the city is selling Mount Hope T-shirts and tokens at a booth in front of City Hall. Mount Hope Treasurer Melanie Cadle said the tokens come in two values.
“The $5 token you can take to The Table and get a pulled pork sandwich,” Cadle said. “For the $10 token you can get a pulled pork sandwich, chips and a drink.”
The tokens are redeemable at The Table, the mayor’s own restaurant, which is backing the fundraiser.
“We will be partnering with the city … and those tokens will be accepted here for cash value. And all the proceeds will go to the stadium,” Kessinger said.
Mount Hope already has a federal grant for the stadium, but Kessinger said it covers only part of what the city envisions.
“We’ve got 700-some thousand as far as a grant, which … doesn’t go very far,” Kessinger said. “We probably need another million dollars to do it the way we want to do it.”
For this weekend, though, the focus is on the celebration and bringing the community together. Logan said she hopes the Jubilee shows visitors what kind of town Mt. Hope is.
“I just hope everybody will come out and enjoy themselves and see what a friendly town we have,” Logan said.
