Another year of photos for Driver Days
Published 8:25 pm Wednesday, October 17, 2018
It’s hard to believe that I’m covering another Driver Days Fall Festival in Suffolk on Saturday. I had only been at the Suffolk News-Herald for about eight months when I was at last year’s Driver Days, and the past year, months have seemed to fly by in a flash.
The time warp is disconcerting, but at least I’ve got the Driver Days snacks and fanfare to think about instead.
There will be the annual fan favorites for the proceedings, starting with the Saturday parade that bends around the intersection of Kings Highway and Driver Lane, right past Arthur’s General Store. Crowds gather around the path with their children and cameras in their hands to watch martial arts students show off some moves alongside a wide range of vehicles. I remember the costumes from last year, including one driver inside an inflatable T-rex.
Vendors will be plentiful, and everyone will go in for a closer look while pushing their strollers or holding their leashes. Tents will have even more craziness inside, like the one last year that had youngsters holding up massive pythons and other lizards.
The Saturday car show should have a few new rides that will impress visitors. Some might be even more impressed by the winners of the weekend’s wing-eating contest. I’m a regular at Buffalo Wild Wings myself, but I still couldn’t catch up to their biting speed.
Cornhole players can be seen squaring off for most of Saturday and Sunday. The weather last year was fantastic, and as long as the rain is minimal this weekend, there should be another good turnout of competitors.
That’s only Saturday’s agenda, and many of those attractions will carry over into Sunday along with the Sherri Parker Memorial Poker Run and Bike Show. This marks the 25th year since Sherri Parker died in a hit-and-run accident, after which her brother Craig Parker started the fall festival in her memory.
Friends of Sherri and others will ride into the neighborhood on Sunday for the crowd-cheering Parade of Bikes. They’ll hang out and enjoy the festival while their motorcycles are judged for the show. Sherri’s twin sister Holly Hoffler said it’s been amazing to see riders come out every year for support and camaraderie since Driver Days first began.
“It’s been nothing but a wonderful way to remember her, and the love, respect and support from the biker community these last 25 years has helped me more than I can even explain,” she said.
Newcomers and seasoned Driver Days enthusiasts alike should go to driverevents.com for more information on everything scheduled for the small-town community. I’ll be there with my camera to capture everything fun under the sun (hopefully with few clouds in the sky). Enjoy yourselves!