By Debbie Adams
Vinton Dogwood Festival officials are busy preparing to celebrate the 70 th anniversary of the
festival the weekend of April 25 and 26. The festival will include the traditional crowning of the
Dogwood Queen, a parade, bands, the antique car show, and streets filled with vendors and
spectators.
Most Vintonites know the history of the Vinton Dogwood Festival which began on May 5, 1956,
as an effort by the William Byrd High School Band Boosters to purchase new uniforms.
uniforms for the Tootin’ Terriers from William Byrd. (photos courtesy of Vinton History Museum)
In attending a football game between Byrd and Jefferson High School, Vinton businessman Otto
Goode, also a member of the Band Boosters, and WBHS Principal Charles Jennings noticed that
the Jefferson band “looked sharp,” especially compared to the Byrd band whose “shabby”
uniforms lacked the sparkle and shine of the Jefferson “Magicians.” They decided the Tootin’
Terriers Marching Band needed new uniforms, which would cost about $8,000. (They also
needed more instruments, but that was taken care of through U.S. Navy surplus.)
The Boosters decided to raise the funds by selling dogwood trees. They sold trees (both pink and
white) in late winter downtown at the corner of Lee Avenue and Pollard Street while the Byrd
band performed. Band Boosters made themselves available to plant the trees for customers. They
ended up selling over 100 dogwoods.
The idea of raising funds for uniforms mushroomed into plans for making Vinton the Dogwood
Capital of Virginia. (The dogwood had just recently been declared the state flower.) The
Boosters planned to plant 1,000 dogwoods a year for the next five years. Town Council gave its
approval and ordered the first 50 trees.
Mayor S.M. Craig, Band Booster President Mrs. Curtis Kirby, Chamber of Commerce President
Dr. Curtis Woodford, and Goode, uniform chairman (and eventually president of the Dogwood
Festival from 1956-1958), broke ground at the Vinton War Memorial to plant the first dogwood
in the campaign.
The tree-planting initiative evolved into the idea of holding a band festival and a date was
selected for early May 1956.
WBHS Band Director Jimmy Sims invited over 50 bands from across Western Virginia to
compete. Sixteen agreed to participate.
Someone else suggested that visiting bands each choose a “Dogwood Princess” who would
compete for the title of Dogwood Queen. (Nowadays, the princesses and queen are all William
Byrd seniors.) Even though William Byrd would only be hosting and not competing, the school
chose Shelvy Plunkett as its princess that first year.
Tom Bush from the Vinton Chamber made a trip to Richmond to ask Gov. Thomas B. Stanley to
serve as the first Dogwood Parade grand marshal.
Parade.
Numerous businesses, civic clubs, and organizations entered the parade including Burlington
Mills, the Roanoke Chamber of Commerce, the Lions Club of Vinton, the American Chapter of
War Mothers, the Vinton Garden Club, the Byrd Band Boosters Club, the Vinton Merchants
Trade Promotion Committee, the 4-H Club, the Vinton Woman’s Club, and the Vinton Chamber
of Commerce.
Other marching units included the local Girl Scout Troop of Vinton, the FFA Club of William
Byrd, the 116 th Infantry, and the Kazim Temple.
That first year, the parade followed a route marching down Washington Avenue from the War
Memorial, turning onto Maple Street, continuing three blocks onto Jefferson Avenue, one block
on Pollard Street, then back to Washington Avenue, finishing up at the Byrd field.
On Dogwood Festival Day 1956, the parade stepped off at 1 p.m. followed by a band
competition on the Byrd Field from 2-3:30 p.m. and the awarding of trophies at 3:30. At the time
the George Wythe High School band was highly esteemed and marched away with the most
trophies.
Janet Bowman from Jefferson High School in Roanoke was crowned as the first Dogwood
Queen.
An article in what was then the town’s newspaper, the “Vinton Booster,” predicted thousands of
spectators and an estimated 10,000 did come for the festivities.
The event was so successful that it became an annual event and was incorporated as a non-profit
community organization in November 1956. It has succeeded through 70 years because of the
huge number of volunteers who have given their time and hard work each year to plan, organize,
and produce the event.
This year’s 2025 Dogwood Festival kicks off on Friday night, April 25 at 6 p.m., with “Trial by
Fire,” a North Carolina-based Journey tribute band. Admission is $5; beverages are available.
Featured groups at the festival on Saturday, April 26, include Big Daddy Ray, Mason Creek, the
William Byrd Jazz Band, Andrew Nicely, and more.
Again, this year there will be a Dogwood Queen and her court riding in horse-drawn carriages, a
walking Dogwood Parade downtown, several bands (the William Byrd Marching Terriers, the
James River Marching Band, the Island Trio Steel Drum Band, the Virginia Tech Pep Band, and
a bagpipe band, the traditional antique car show, a free Kids Zone, streets filled with vendors,
and more.
Officers for this year’s Dogwood Festival are President Joey Nicely, Vice President Heather
Beamer, Secretary Susan Teass, Treasurer Jeff Teass, Publicity Chair Mary Beth Layman, and
Entertainment Chair Joey Nicely.
