Waynesboro gears up for busy weekend

Let the wild weekend begin.
From extreme sports to pro wrestling, from public works to muscle cars displayed on Main Street and the “women” posing at a beauty pageant, Waynesboro could see as many as 8,000 people at the convergence of events today.
“We’ve got public and private working together for one cause: to publicize Waynesboro to the people that don’t live here,” said Rick Moyer, event coordinator for Waynesboro Downtown Development Inc. “And this allows the people that live in Waynesboro to see what’s in their backyard.”
Three events are being marketed together — the Public Works Department is hosting Public Works Day, WDDI is putting on the Main Street Muscle car show downtown and the Parks and Recreation Department is sponsoring the all-day XtremeFest of the Blue Ridge at Ridgeview Park.
Moyer said the muscle car show has grown by about 20 percent every year, and he is expecting the same this year. He said the show, which features 150 American-made muscle cars, is a throwback to the days of old when Main Street used to be a cruising spot.
He said all three events were essentially marketing to the same demographic – families – and decided to coordinate their marketing efforts.
Public Works Day is in its ninth year, with the car show and XtremeFest being more recent additions.
Deana Desjardins, the office manager for the Public Works Department, said the three groups came together last year to see if there was a way for them to work together.
“At first, I didn’t know if any of us knew where we were heading,” Desjardins said.
She said, however, that it has been a positive experience working with other groups, and the team spirit among them has given the department “a shot in the arm.”
“I’m very thankful that we’ve been given new blood, if you will, by this collaboration,” Desjardins said.
She said she hoped city residents – children and adults, alike – would come away more educated about public works infrastructure. She said the department has tried to model its activities “like a children’s museum.”
In the evening, there will be two more events at Kate Collins Middle School. Vector Industries will be hosting its second annual Womanless Beauty Pageant in the auditorium, while a pro wrestling event takes place in the gymnasium.
Desjardins said she planned to go to the three daytime events with her family. She said her two teenage children, like other teens, have cited a lack of activities for young people in the city.
However, today, she said, “is not going to be one of those days.”

Wild Weekend
Public Works Day: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at its operations location, 900 Essex Avenue
Main Street Muscle car show: 2 to 5 p.m., downtown
XtremeFest: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Ridgeview Park