Rock Around the Clock beauties crowned during a pageant on Saturday at Fairfield Central High School include, standing: Young Miss Abigail Shaw; Preteen Miss Sara Denise Pullen, Teen Miss Ja’Niya Martise, Miss Rock Around the Clock Cali Ann Swearingen and Ms. RATC Amy Rose Calixto. Front: Little Miss Alexis Blair Montgomery and Wee Miss Molliegh Rose Talbert. Not shown: Baby Miss Anna-Leigh Hill and Toddler Miss Mason Cardon. Kylie Allene Jordan was named Miss Photogenic.
WINNSBORO/RIDGEWAY – This weekend will be jam-packed with festivals and activities in Winnsboro and Ridgeway for the whole family. On Friday, the Fairfield Memorial Hospital Foundation hosts their annual BBQ, Bluegrass & Blue Jeans benefit at The Farm at Ridgeway from 6 to 9 p.m. Winnsboro and the Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce will also be hosting the 20th Annual Rock Around the Clock two-day extravaganza starting Friday from 7 to 11 p.m. and continuing on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
BBQ, Bluegrass & Blue Jeans
BBB Guests usually begin arriving early at The Farm, many dressed to the nines in boots and jeans, for the fundraiser sponsored by the Fairfield Memorial Hospital’s Foundation Board. Now in its fourth consecutive year, the BBB features not only great barbecue and bands but a silent auction and door prizes. Heyward Mattox will be on hand again this year auctioning off everything from signed footballs to high dollar vacations. Proceeds will go to buying equipment for Fairfield Memorial Hospital.
“We wanted to do something a little different and new and more casual and during a time of year that’s not as busy as the holidays,” Dawn Catalano, Executive Director of the Fairfield Memorial Hospital Foundation, said. “People love barbecue and Bluegrass, so it was a good combination. It was just so popular that everyone wanted to do it again.”
Rock Around the Clock
Executive Director of the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce, Terry Vickers, recalls how, 20 years ago, she helped organize The Rock Around The Clock Festival after word spread that Walmart was coming to town.
“Our small businesses were worried,” she recalled, “fearful of how it would affect their stores and shops, their lives.”
This year, Walmart is gone, but the festival is going strong and continues to promote the County’s local businesses and community.
“I think the biggest thrill for me, after all of the work we put into it, is seeing everybody coming together and having a good time,” Vickers said. “If we could come together and interact with each other every day like we do for those two days for Rock Around the Clock, oh what a happy world this would be.” Friday evening is for partying in the street and Saturday is for shopping, live stage entertainment and one of the top car shows in the Southeast.
“It’s definitely a don’t-miss event,” Vickers said. “We’re looking forward to a beautiful weekend.”
