Delicious day of fundraising, fun at Watermelon Festival

Watermelon gave Daniel Fowler, 18 (left) and his girlfriend Lindsey Peck, 16, an excuse to get a little closer at the Carytown Watermelon Festival. On the right is Lindsey's mother, Lisa Sheldon. They are from Chester.

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By: Jeremy Slayton | Richmond Times-Dispatch
Published: August 08, 2010

A sea of bodies, many with two legs and some with four, moved along a crowded West Cary Street today. Everywhere the eye could see was watermelons in one fashion or another.

There were watermelons embroidered on T-shirts and watermelons as earrings; there was even the 2010 National Watermelon Queen, Jessica Southard, a junior at the University of Florida.

And, of course, there were watermelons to eat — nearly 800 of them sliced into pieces and sold for $1 a bowl — at the 27th Carytown Watermelon Festival. Martin’s donated the watermelons, and all proceeds from the sales support the Shriners Hospitals for Children, said Todd Fisher, of the Richmond ACCA Shrine Temple.

“The Richmond temple alone helps more than 485 children in 10 of 22 different [Shriners] hospitals at no cost to the child or the family,” Fisher said.

Melon wasn’t the only thing on the menu yesterday along that six-block stretch of Carytown. Smells of fried dough and other cooking food filled the air while live music blared from speakers.

Under the marquee of the Byrd Theatre, supporters raised money for the historic theatre by selling coupon pages to 20 area businesses and $1 raffle tickets. The Byrd, built in 1928, is under financial stress as donations slowed during therecession. That led people in the community to rally in support of the theatre at the watermelon festival.

“I care about the Byrd, like lots of people do,” said Emily Harrison, of the Area 10 Faith Community, which organized one of the fundraisers to benefit the Byrd. “It’s been great. We’ve been staying really busy.”

JHI, a local graphic design and advertising company, designed and sold T-shirts inside the lobby of the Byrd. Less than three hours into the eight-hour festival, all of the adult T-shirts had sold and only youth sizes remained.

“We underestimated the demand for shirts,” said Jo Watson, a partner with JHI, who filled up a notebook with additional T-shirt requests.

Beth Custer was just one of many to place an order for the T-shirt. She and her mother, Mabel, frequently attend movies at the Byrd, which primarily serves as second-run movie house.

“We’ve been coming to the Byrd for years,” said Beth Custer. “I don’t want to see it go away; I am more than happy to support them.”