Fun and food at Driver Days
Published 5:11 pm Saturday, October 21, 2017
Brother and sister Collin Rohr, 7, and Sophia Crabb, 6, square off in the children’s amusement area at the Driver Days festival in Suffolk on Saturday.
Suffolk resident Kenny Harrup plays music while checking out the car show at the Driver Days festival on Saturday.
Andy Ficklen performs his Colonel Cobb ventriloquism act at the Driver Days festival in Suffolk on Saturday.
Riley, 11, Grayson, 12, and Kena, 14, Heimes have a close encounter in the JB’s Rattles reptile tent at the Driver Days festival in Suffolk on Saturday.
Ruck’s BBQ Hut owner Cathy Rucker with Sharon Duffee, Madison Pelo, and Caitlyn Rucker at the Driver Days festival in Suffolk on Saturday.
Witch costumes are worn proudly at the Driver Days festival parade in Suffolk on Saturday.
Cub Scouts Pack 88 marches down King’s Highway during the Driver Days festival parade in Suffolk on Saturday.
The driver in the t-rex costume keeps moving along with his costumed compatriots that are flinging candy to kids at the Driver Days festival parade in Suffolk on Saturday.
The Nansemond River High School Air Force JROTC organization marches down King’s Highway during the Driver Days festival parade in Suffolk on Saturday.
Minnie Mouse waves to the crowd at the Driver Days festival parade in Suffolk on Saturday.
Students of Master Hwang’s World Class Taekwondo studio show their skills at the Driver Days festival parade on Saturday.
Members of Lion’s International wave to the crowd at the Driver Days festival parade on Saturday.
A smiling woman and her horse greet the crowd at the Driver Days festival parade on Saturday.
Parade participants dress as their favorite superheroes at the Driver Days festival in Suffolk on Saturday.
World Class Gymnastics of Suffolk athletes perform during the Driver Days festival parade on Saturday.
Chic-fil-A cows wave to the crowd at the Driver Days festival parade on Saturday.
Maddox, 6, and Easton, 5, Sigmon got lollipops and Tootsie Rolls thrown from parade cars at the Driver Days festival in Suffolk on Saturday.
American Legion Post 88-member Luis Escalante and Chesapeake resident Bill Perry chew their way through the Buffalo Wild Wings wing-eating contest at the Driver Days festival in Suffolk on Saturday.
Competitors aim to win at the Driver Days Cornhole Tournament during the Suffolk festival on Saturday.
Atticus Melendez, 5, takes a swing in the children’s amusement area at the Driver Days festival in Suffolk on Saturday.
Driver resident Wishona Penn sits in a 1960 Austin-Healey Bugeye Sprite at the Driver Days car show on Saturday.
Kenzee Ellis, 9, holds a tiny alligator in the JB’s Rattles reptile tent at the Driver Days festival in Suffolk on Saturday.
Sarah Nagy and Christian Baucom with their dog Citizen at the Driver Days festival on Saturday.
Diane and Richard Wash, residents of Suffolk’s Driver community, enjoy the food at the Driver Days festival on Saturday.
Competitors aim to win at the Driver Days Cornhole Tournament during the Suffolk festival on Saturday.
Davin Brook and Orlando White prepare smoked, succulent turkey legs at the Driver Days festival in Suffolk on Saturday.
Michael Edwards works the grill at the Driver Days festival in Suffolk on Saturday.
Wesley Moore, 4, and his 10-week-old Boxer puppy Otis at the Driver Days festival in Suffolk on Saturday.
The weather was warm and skies were clear as hundreds of people visited Driver on Saturday for sweet funnel cakes, cornhole, arts and crafts and more. The 24th annual Driver Days festival continues Sunday with an open invitation to enjoy a family-friendly setting filled with wild activities.
King’s Highway and Driver Lane were filled with the smells of fried Oreos and smoked turkey legs. Visitors ate fried pickles and kettle popcorn while they watched the morning parade of performing martial arts, drivers in t-rex costumes and other crowd-pleasing sights.
“If you can’t find it here, you don’t want to eat it,” said Diane Parsons, daughter of Joan Parsons Mayo of the Knot Hole Station store in Driver.
Classic cars were proudly showcased at the Driver Days Car Show. Driver resident Wishona Penn got to sit in a 1960 Austin-Healey Bugeye Sprite. She said she loves cars, along with her “cute” community and its annual event.
“It’s an awesome day for the community to come together,” she said.
The Driver Cornhole Tournament drew 94 of the best competitors from four different states, with a $3,000 payout for the top four teams, according to Ken Parsons, cornhole organizer and owner of the Knot Hole Station in Driver.
Others took their chances with extremely hot, ghost pepper-spiced wings in the Buffalo Wild Wings eating contest.
“I was really looking for milk afterwards,” said Chesapeake resident Bill Perry as he cleaned sauce from his fingers.
Children enjoyed some ventriloquism at the Colonel Bob act on the porch of Arthur’s General Store. They wore themselves out in the bounce houses in the amusement area, and some got to hold tiny alligators and large snakes in the JB’s Rattles reptile tent.
For 12-year-old Jason Dickinson, the food was one of the best parts of the day.
“Funnel cakes are awesome,” Jason said.
Driver Days was started by the late Craig Parker in 1993 as way to honor his late sister Sherri and to bring the community together by supporting the businesses that are filled with new customers during the festival.
Shops like Twisted Art & More and the Knot Hole Station were packed with customers. About 70 vendors had tables and tents on Saturday, selling a wide range of items, according to event chairman Terri Moore.
“I got me a ‘Dukes of Hazard’ lunchbox this morning,” said Karen Rannings, a Horton’s Wreath Society member and the owner of the 1960 Austin-Healey Bugeye Sprite at the car show.
Driver residents Diane and Richard Wash already got a request from their daughter Sydney for a souvenir.
“She already pointed at a Simply Southern T-shirt,” Diane said.
Sunday will keep the festivities going with a pet costume contest, the Sherri Parker memorial bike show and more food and shopping. As for Saturday, Moore said it was a great success for the Driver community with equally great weather.
“I don’t think we could ask for a better weekend,” she said.
