Discover Statesville
Welcome to "Discover Statesville," the show that takes you on a captivating journey through the heart of one of North Carolina's most charming towns. Co-hosted by community advocates, Richard Griggs and Cindy Sutton, this weekly show brings you the pulse of Statesville, recording live at various spots throughout Statesville in partnership with Sow Media studios.
Join Richard and Cindy as they uncover the hidden gems and local treasures that make Statesville truly special. From the top-notch attractions and exciting events to the remarkable individuals who shape the community, "Discover Statesville" promises to leave no stone unturned.
Hungry for a culinary adventure? Tune in for their delightful restaurant reviews, where they'll guide you to the best places to eat in town. Whether you're a resident or a visitor, this podcast is your ultimate guide to all the things that make Statesville great.
You're invited to come along on this immersive journey, as "Discover Statesville" brings you closer to the heart of our vibrant town. Be prepared to be entertained, inspired, and enlightened each week, as Richard and Cindy share their passion for all things Statesville!
Discover Statesville
Statesville's July Extravaganza: Sports, Markets and Fireworks
Get ready to fill your July calendar with an array of vibrant events happening in Statesville, North Carolina! Ever wondered where you can catch some thrilling baseball action this summer? We've got you covered with all the details on the Statesville Owls' home games at West Iredell High School. With five opportunities to cheer for the Owls on July 1st, 2nd, 10th, 11th, and 12th, it’s a perfect outing for the whole family. Plus, don’t miss the City's spectacular fireworks celebration on July 3rd – we’ll let you in on all the prime viewing spots around Signal Hill Drive to make sure you have the best seat in town.
But that's not all! The Wild Goose Festival is making a grand return to Van Hoy Farm from July 11th to 14th, bringing a colorful mix of music, storytelling, and theater to Statesville. It's an event that draws over 3,000 attendees, turning the town into a hub of lively activities and energy. We also dive into the eerie adventures of the Haunted Statesville Ghost Tours, happening every fourth Saturday from March through September. Tune in to Discover Statesville and let us guide you through these exciting events, ensuring your summer is packed with unforgettable experiences!
You'll be ready to knock it out of the park in Statesville, North Carolina, after you hear our July event rundown. Tune in now.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Discover Statesville, the show that takes you on a captivating journey through the heart of one of North Carolina's most charming towns.
Speaker 1:Welcome back everyone. We're so excited to have you here at Discover Statesville for yet another event rundown. I cannot believe it's July. It's well, I guess it's been summer. I've been feeling the heat.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but it's moving by fast Already for a while, but I'm ready for cool weather again. But summer fun is what we're all about today. So we've been kind of highlighting that we have a local wooden bat league here in Statesville. So exciting to have the Statesville Owls playing their home games right here at West Iredell High School in Statesville, north Carolina. So if you want to come out and root for the home team, you want to make sure to catch them July 1st, 2nd, 10th, 11th and 12th. So five opportunities to catch the Owls right here in Statesville. Bring the family out for some good baseball summer fun. We're excited about that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they're good competitive baseball games. I went several years ago when they were at Statesville High. School. So yeah, Hooty-hoo.
Speaker 1:Yeah, hooty-hoo.
Speaker 3:Hooty-hoo, yeah. So the City of Statesville annual fireworks celebration. We're excited to host that again with our partners and sponsors, Country Boy Landscaping and Tim Johnson Landscaping.
Speaker 1:Shout out to those guys.
Speaker 3:Thank you, great community partners, for a long time on this event, but our fireworks celebration will be on Wednesday, july the 3rd. We always launch from an area off of Signal Hill Drive that's not accessible to the public, so your best viewing locations are going to be the usual suspects. So you know, the mall parking lot, the shopping center there by Cozumel and everything, probably the shopping center where the old by-low was. Those will be all sort of the prime viewing locations. We will allow people to park and view them from the soccer complex. But we do have that. We have staff there. So I mean that parking lot will fill up at some point and we will not allow anybody else in there. I've heard people can see them good from King of the Sea, so I mean pretty much anywhere around that signal area. You should have a good.
Speaker 1:I can see them from my house.
Speaker 3:Well, there you go. Perfect, go over to Cindy's house Come on over. But that launches at 930, weather permitting. But, you know, once again thanks to those, partners and, yeah, always the 3rd Yep.
Speaker 1:I did not know that. You probably said that I was not being a good listener. Well, thank you to the City of Statesville for doing that with your partners, because I think that's a nice thing for the community and park early.
Speaker 3:Get there and park early. Yeah, people line up and park early Tailgate.
Speaker 1:Yeah, obey all laws and legal practices the things you have to say. Excited to share that for the third year in a row, the Wild Goose Festival is returning to Van Hoy Farm. Wild Goose Festival is a weekend of music, storytelling, theater, spectacle. It's a spirit, music and arts festival. They come in and bring over 3,000 attendees I think is what they had last year and a lot of people camp out there at Van Hoy, but our hotels are always full. The town is buzzing with visitors enjoying Statesville. So if you do not know about the Wild Goose Festival yet, I encourage you to go out online. I think it's wildgoosefestivalcom. That is July 11th through the 14th. It is a multi-day event and they have an amazing lineup. Go out there and check out the agenda and be a part of the great stuff they have going on. So thank you to the Wild Goose Festival for choosing Statesville for your event. Very cool, yeah. Thank you to the Wild Goose Festival for choosing Statesville for your event Very cool, yeah.
Speaker 3:So Haunted Statesville Ghost Tours. We've mentioned really probably every month for the event rundown because they've expanded this program to run every fourth Saturday from March all the way through September.
Speaker 1:I love that we have people coming from out of town just for ghost tours. Yeah, that's cool yeah.
Speaker 3:So you've got two options on that fourth Saturday there's one at 8 and there's one at 8.30. You've got to purchase tickets in advance or we would recommend purchasing tickets in advance. They're $15, and they meet at City Hall.
Speaker 1:Okay, so downtownstatesvillecom is where you can go. This is one of their signature events. Thank you to those guys for putting that on. They partner with the Historic Sharp House Players. Yeah, have some great acting going on.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:It's an exciting time.
Speaker 3:So, speaking of the Historic Sharp House Players, yeah, they'll be hosting this is also an annual event. I believe Tom Dooley Barbecue and Bluegrass this year featuring the annual event I believe Tom Dooley Barbecue and Bluegrass this year featuring the Local Boys, who are a really great bluegrass band. So you've got great food. The doors open at 530. The Local Boys start at 6. So you've got barbecue varieties, sauces, potato salad, all the things.
Speaker 1:Milk-sopped corn.
Speaker 3:Milk-sopped corn. I'm going to have to go just because I don't know what that is. Lots of desserts, yeah, so just a really cool spot, and that space back there behind the Sharp House is really beautiful.
Speaker 1:All the events at the Sharp House are amazing and they make some good food.
Speaker 3:Great addition to the downtown.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so you won't want to miss out on that. Also, you know, tickets in advance Go out to the Stork Sharp House and that's July 27th July 27th from 530 date.
Speaker 1:That's right, yeah, and I think if you go out to the Facebook page for Stork Sharp House, they have tickets on event break that you can buy there. If you've been following along, you know that coming into summer I always get very excited about U-Pick agriculture. We have an amazing lineup of U-Pick agriculture in Iredell County, but specifically more Statesville Harmony. You know the greater Statesville area and this year I'm excited to share that lavender picking is back. So we had a lavender farm back in 2019 coming through the pandemic. You know they went a different way and lavender isn't easy to grow. We shouldn't take it for granted. But we have two lavender farms one Second Wind Perennial Farms in Stony Point and the other Farmer's Daughter at Keeper Creek. So Keeper Creek's been in Mount Ulla. Keeper Creek's been around for a long time. It was taken over by family and they now call it Farmer's Daughter at. Keeper Creek's been around for a long time. It was taken over by family and they now call it Farmer's Daughter at Keeper Creek. They do a lot of other things too, like blueberries, but both of those have lavender picking happening right now, so you don't want to miss out on that. Also, it's blueberry picking time. So last weekend we were told by a lot of our partners that do blueberry picking that blueberries are ripe and ready for picking. So last weekend we were told by a lot of our partners that do blueberry picking that blueberries are ripe and ready for picking. So we actually have six blueberry picking farms in our area.
Speaker 1:I'm just going to mention them real quick Cowan Farm and Vineyard on Snow Creek Road in Statesville. Greachy's Garden on Mosswood Road in Olin. Again Farmer's Daughter at Keeper Creek on Triplet Road in Mount Ola. Knox Blueberries they do a great job out there at Oak Forest Drive in Statesville. P&c Berries they kind of have a year-round greenhouse. They do really cool things out there, greenhouse with all different vegetables and flowers, aquaponics they do out there, pea and seed berries and then Prevet Family Farm on Williamsburg Road in Olin. So if you are looking for something to get out and explore with the family blueberry picking, I highly recommend it.
Speaker 1:And then something new that we found at Beaver Farms. Beaver Farms just finished up Howard Farms and Beaver Farms just finished up with strawberry picking, just in time to jump right into you pick flowers. So Beaver Farms has wildflowers. That's happening now that you can pick and they're on Beaver Farm Road here in Statesville, and then our friends the Howards, amy and Brian, out at Howard Family Farm I saw just this last week. They have these beautiful sunflowers and they're doing you-pick flowers too. So lavender, wildflowers, sunflowers, blueberries.
Speaker 2:Very cool Tis the season.
Speaker 3:That's awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you want to make sure and not miss that here in Statesville.
Speaker 3:No, and that's awesome and you know great to be able to go get that agriculture, that produce and have sort of an engaging experience as well. But if you don't have time to get to all of those different farms, make time. We've got several farmer's market opportunities here in Statesville where they bring all this stuff to one central location.
Speaker 1:A lot of these farms bring them in too, yeah.
Speaker 3:So the Rotary's Farmer's Market is downtown, that's the corner of West Front Street and Meeting Street. That's Saturdays from 7 to noon, and then the evening. Farmer's Market is every Thursday at Pecan Park which is back behind. It's in the corner lot behind Groucho's and Red Buffalo and everything their. Thursday is from 3.30 to 6. And then there's also the first and third Tuesday of every month. Fort Dobbs has the artisan market there up at historic Fort Dobbs. So you get to go sample, purchase some cool products and enjoy Fort Dobbs as well.
Speaker 1:So lots of cool opportunities. There is no reason that you cannot take advantage of fresh produce in the states of North Carolina and these farmers markets. They do a really good job. Lots of farmers come out, so please get out there and support them. Saturdays, tuesdays and Thursdays, that's right. You can run the gamut and go to all of them or you might find your favorites, but they all do a very good job and we are thankful for them. We are also thankful for our friends at Randy Mary and Ford Lincoln for making our community events calendar possible and, as we always say, there's no way. I think there's 3,400 events out on the community calendar right now. Now those run from fitness and activity classes which are also amazing.
Speaker 1:You've got some amazing Lazy River things going on at the pool now yeah, the leisure pool stuff. But we have live music happening at least four if not five nights a week downtown outside of downtown, if not five nights a week downtown outside of downtown. And if you go to statesflinccom and you click on the events calendar, you can filter by live music, you can filter by performing arts, you can filter by all these amazing things to really dig in to what's important to you, to see what's happening in Statesville. So we encourage you to do that. There's no way we could possibly highlight them all. We try and highlight the top things that could be for everyone when things pop up.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, I mean like there may be organizations that all of a sudden it's like oh, we've got this pop-up concert that's going to happen in two weeks that we weren't aware of. So, yeah, I think, using the community calendar to kind of drive your interest and then follow those organizations that feel like promote the events that you're into and that way you're in the know.
Speaker 1:And if you're a business, the community calendar is free. So you know, reach out if you don't know how, make sure, the further in advance you put your events out there, the more likely it is we can see them and feature them. But we appreciate your partnership.
Speaker 3:Despite there being nothing to do here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, nothing to do in Statesville, north Carolina folks, but we invite you to Discover Statesville. Thank you, see you next month.
Speaker 2:Thank you for joining Discover Statesville. You can email us at discover at statesvillenccom. Check us out on Facebook at Discover Statesville, NC hashtag Discover Statesville and our website, statesvillenccom. Catch us next week as we continue on our journey to uncover the hidden gems, culinary adventures, entertainment, and to be inspired and enlightened as we Discover Statesful.
